Cross & Crescent

In April, within view of the Pentagon, the Joint Services Color Guard of the Military District of Washington opened the centennial meeting of the North-American Interfraternity Conference House of Delegates. To acknowledge the growth of the fraternal movement, and to recognize that the 73 NIC member fraternities represent both national and international organizations, the executive directors and guests sang both the Canadian and American national anthems. With the House of Delegates session launched, so too was a year-long centennial celebration that will highlight interfraternalism, brotherhood, and collaboration.

The National Interfraternity Conference was founded at the University Club of NYC on November 27, 1909, by delegates of 26 fraternities. At the NIC’s 75th anniversary, one dinner speaker noted that in 1909, “the climate was such that the country, the fraternities and the people were ready for change.” And in the 100 years since fraternities agreed there was value in collaboration, the fraternal movement has indeed changed – the country, the fraternity system, and the people involved with both.

Today there are 127 inter/national fraternities and sororities, and 73 fraternities hold membership in the NIC. In the 100 years since the NIC’s founding, two additional important trade organizations have developed, reflecting how the fraternity world and the country have developed. The National Pan-Hellenic Council Inc. represents nine fraternities and sororities with predominantly African-American membership, and the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations has a membership base of 23 fraternities and sororities.

The industry continues to evolve with the development and growth of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Panhellenic Association (NAPA) and the National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC). Combined, the 12,000 fraternity and sorority chapters on more than 800 campuses in the U.S. and Canada have membership of more than nine million, with 750,000 of those being today’s undergraduate members and the world’s future leaders.

Leadership development is one of many strengths today’s fraternity and sorority community offers as the largest and most visible values-based organizations on campus. Without question, fraternities and sororities provide the most successful leadership development programs for college students and provide the largest network of volunteers in the U.S.

How large? Millions of hours of volunteer service are given by fraternity and sorority members annually. Just last year, NIC member fraternities provided more than 1.3 million service hours and raised more than $12.8 million for philanthropy.

But leadership is more than service and philanthropy. Fraternities encourage their development and promote their importance as a foundation for life-long success within the context of being values-based organizations. Many success stories demonstrate how men live their fraternity’s values. You can find many of these on www.fraternityinfo.com, the website devoted to telling the fraternity story and celebrating the impact of fraternities on campus, within communities, and on individual lives. Illustrating the point of the speaker at the NIC’s 75th anniversary, the men highlighted there have indeed changed the world, the fraternity system, and the people involved with both.

The roots of the NIC go back to 1883, to a meeting of fraternity editors in Philadelphia. Ten years later, the “College Fraternities Congress” was held at the Chicago’s World Fair; and in 1895, more than 300 fraternity men met in Atlanta to form The American Panhellenic Society. The idea for a permanent society was formalized in 1909, and in the 100 years since, the NIC has grown nearly threefold. Throughout the century it has changed to meet the needs of its members and the fraternity world. Today, through advocacy, collaboration, and education, the NIC works to ensure that fraternities can operate in an environment conducive to their success. That is the NIC mission.

How does it do that? Through local, regional, and international representation on campuses, in communities, within the fraternity industry, and on Capitol Hill; through public and media relations; web-based initiatives that now include promotion and recruitment assistance through fraternityinfo.com; through position statements that are clear about the values of fraternity men; and through campus intervention and guidance on policies, IFC recognition, colonization, voting, expansion and more.

The NIC’s annual recognition and awards program emphasizes the NIC Standards and rewards men, chapters, and fraternity members who exemplify them. The awards also encourage fraternities to tell their stories that demonstrate the benefits of fraternalism. The NIC Awards of Distinction celebrate the endeavors and triumphs of those men who “live their ritual” everyday.

The NIC provides extensive programming for IFCs and campus leaders to learn through the IFC Academy and the INTERCHANGE Resource Network. It also provides extensive programming for IFCs and campus leaders to develop their leadership through undergraduate programming that includes the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI), the IMPACT Institute, the Alumni Academy, and the Jon Williamson Futures Quest. In 2010, the NIC will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of UIFI, a program from which over 10,000 fraternity and sorority leaders have graduated since 1990.

The nine-man NIC board of directors planned the year-long celebration that began in April in Washington and will conclude at the NIC’s annual meeting in April, 2010. To kick off this 100th year, the leaders of the National Panhellenic Conference, the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, the National Pan-Hellenic Council Inc., and the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors joined the crowd in Washington at the Centennial Banquet to recognize the successes of the fraternity world and to discuss what that work will look like over the next 100 years. The banquet room was filled with a memorabilia exhibit recounting 100 years of the NIC; and reminiscent of a Harry Potter movie, the flag of every member fraternity was hung from the ceiling. NIC Board Chair Bob Marchesani reflected on the history of the organization, but Dud Daniels, who was present at the 50th anniversary celebration, offered many anecdotes from having lived through much of it. Other luminaries from the fraternity world, men whose leadership have put the fraternity movement in the position of strength it is in today, also took the podium and entertained the crowd.

The celebration will continue throughout this year. A Centennial Charter was created and displayed at the annual meeting in Washington, and all 73 members will receive a framed edition. To return to the roots of the NIC, the winter meeting of the board will be held in New York City to coincide with a reception in the University Club where the group will replace the 75th anniversary plaque with one commemorating the centennial. Most importantly, to involve undergraduates in this historic occasion the four Greek regional conferences will present a video shot during the 2009 annual meeting, one involving undergrads, as well as alumni, in telling the story that is interfraternalism.

While the 26 founding member fraternities could not have envisioned videos, websites, and twitter being part of a centennial celebration, certainly they envisioned the interfraternity cooperation that existed then growing into the collaboration that exists today. That collaboration, among 73 international and national men’s fraternities, with a focus on advocacy and education for each member, is the mission of today’s North-American Interfraternity Conference.