While most of the traditional women's fraternities or sororities were founded decades before the start of the 20th century, the first ever specifically Christian-themed Greek Letter Organization formed was the Kappa Phi Club, founded in Kansas in 1916. Kappa Phi was a women's sisterhood that developed out of a bible study and remains one of the largest nationally present Christian women's collegiate clubs today. Later organizations added more defined social programming along with a Christian emphasis, bridging the gap between non-secular traditional sororities and church-sponsored bible study groups, campus ministries, and sect-based clubs and study groups.
History All collegiate fraternities and sororities, beginning with Phi Beta Kappa in 1776, had, at inception, either a tacit or overt spiritual component. This may have been as simple as an official opening or closing prayer, expanding to Biblical lessons contained within rituals, and rules regarding behavior that are modeled on various Christian or Jewish strictures. Over time, traditional (~original) fraternities and sororities have relaxed some of the wording of their rituals and codes to allow a more pluralistic model and open membership to a broader group of collegians.
Insularity, then integration The rise of specifically Jewish, then Catholic, then Black, and then specifically Christian fraternities and sororities was a response (by the Jewish and Catholic groups first, then by students of non-white ethnicity) to the desire for fraternal membership where membership was barred. But it was important to note that, in context, America was far more insular in the pre-WWII era; in many cases Jewish and Catholic families, and their rabbis and priests wished to ensure that their children socialized primarily within their own religious traditions, thus establishing their own, competing Greek Letter organizations (GLOs) distinct from the "WASPy" traditional Greeks. After the integration of World War II GIs and the war's immediate aftermath, colleges and workplaces were abruptly far more integrated. Before WWII, relatively few Black or Hispanic students entered college in the US. But this would change with the passage of the G.I. Bill. Soon, the separate Jewish national fraternities and scattered locals began to merge, responding as traditional Greek chapters became more open to religious integration, adding Jewish and Catholic members. Today, only a fraction of Jewish fraternities remain, after multiple mergers, but Jewish students maintained strong participation in fraternities and sororities. Similarly, Catholic nationals and locals merged, began opening chapters on non-Catholic campuses, and welcomed students of Protestant heritage. Interestingly, predominantly Black, then Hispanic and Asian GLOs, which likewise began to form, have remained widely popular, some using the moniker "Multicultural" although they and all national GLOs have removed "bias clauses" from their governing documents and policies, and all are racially integrated.The first "ethnic"-themed national fraternities included Alpha Phi Alpha for Black Americans, formed in 1905, Rho Psi, for Asians sojourning in America, formed in 1916, and Phi Eta Mu, serving Puerto Rican students, formed in 1923.
The idea of separate, thematic-focused fraternities and sororities continued to interest a portion of Christian students, their families, and spiritual leaders. Long-established Bible study groups took on Greek Letter names, the first being Kappa Phi, a Bible-study and service club on twenty-four campuses; Yet the Kappa Phi Club still does not self-identify as a social sorority. Some organizers, assuming that the traditional GLOs lacked sufficient moral guardrails in pursuit of social programming, emerged to create the first objectively Christian (Protestant, then Evangelical) fraternities and sororities.
Traditionally, the formation of the Christian sororities, later to become national organizations, has followed the establishment of Christian fraternities, some as independent groups, and some in a "brother/sister" relationship, except in the case of Alpha Delta Chi, the first such Christian-emphasis organization on its campus. That sorority was founded in 1925, while Alpha Gamma Omega was founded in 1927, two years later, likewise at UCLA. Viewed broadly, these Christian Greek organizations enjoyed local success in their early years, but they did not experience the national growth seen by more traditional Greek organizations.
1980s resurgence A more novel situation occurred in 1987 when Chi Alpha Omega was founded as a co-educational Christian Greek organization. It wasn't until 1998 that Sigma Alpha Omega broke off from Chi Alpha Omega to form a women's-only ministry. Sigma Alpha Omega is now governed by a separate national president and board of trustees, and has grown to include 33 chapters throughout the country.Explained more fully in the Who We Are section of its national website, accessed 5 April 2022. Chi Alpha Omega continues as a men's organization.
In 1988, the founding of Sigma Phi Lambda on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin sparked new growth among Christian sororities. "Phi Lamb" was founded by women who saw value in the brotherhood exemplified by Beta Upsilon Chi and wished to create a female counterpart, since was a male-only organization.Noted among the member testimonies provided by the national website, accessed 5 April 2022. Sigma Phi Lambda today has an executive director, national board of directors, and regional directors, and is the largest Christian social sorority in the nation, with thirty-one chapters.
List of sororities Where collegiate, several are noted in the Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities. Where there is no current information on the number of chapters, a question mark appears; these groups may be dormant. Name Symbols Chartered Founding locationScope Type Secondary emphasisActive chaptersStatusAlpha Alpha Gamma PsiChester, South CarolinaRegionalCommunity-basedAfrican American4Active Alpha Delta Chi 1925 University of California, Los AngelesNational Collegiate Social22Active Alpha Eta ThetaMitchellville, MarylandLocalCommunity-basedAfrican American1Active Alpha Lambda Omega University of Texas at AustinNational Collegiate Inter-denominational, multicultural16Active Alpha Nu Omega Morgan State UniversityNational Collegiate Multicultural, fraternity and sorority21Active Alpha Omega Chi Cincinnati Christian UniversityLocal Community-based African American1Active Alpha Psi Alpha2017United StatesLocalCommunity-basedAfrican American1Active Alpha Psi Gamma 2007 United StatesLocal Collegiate Multicultural0Inactive Alpha Theta OmegaTennessee State UniversityRegionalCollegiateAfrican American12ActiveChi Nu AlphaUnited StatesRegionalCommunity-basedAfrican AmericanActiveDaughters of Christ Soarority2010United StatesCommunity-basedAfrican AmericanInactive Delta Alpha Chi 2006 Florida State UniversityLocal Collegiate Social1Active Delta Alpha Chi' FSU campus portal, accessed 7 April 2022. Delta Iota Delta Gainesville, FloridaNational Community-based African American7Active Delta Omega DeltaAtlanta, GeorgiaLocalCommunity-basedAfrican AmericanActive Delta Phi Psi United StatesLocal Community-based African American1Inactive Delta Psi Epsilon Oakwood UniversityNational Collegiste African American18Active Elogeme Adolphi Bradley UniversityNational Collegiate African American16Active Eta Alpha2015United StatesAfrican AmericanInactive ? Eta Iota Sigma 1992 Texas Christian UniversityRegional Collegiate Social2Active Gamma Alpha Lambda 2003 United StatesNational Collegiate Social4Active No known national website; several campus portals available.Iota Sigma ChiMcDonough, GeorgiaLocalCommunity-basedAfrican American1ActiveKappa Gamma SigmaChicago, IllinoisNationalCommunity-basedAfrican American5Active Kappa Phi 1916 University of KansasNational Collegiate50Active Lambda Chi Omega 2020Huntsville, AlabamaRegional Community-based African American6Active Lambda Chi Omega national website, accessed 5 March 2022. Lambda Omicron Chi Old Dominion University National Community-based Multicultural15Active Lambda Psi Alpha Columbia, South Carolina International Community-based African American6Active Mu Alpha Mu 2016United StatesNational Community-based African American 25Active Mu Epsilon Theta University of Texas at AustinLocal Collegiate Catholic1Active Phi Beta Chi University of IllinoisNational Collegiate Social7Active Psi Delta Chi University of Wisconsin–MilwaukeeLocal Community-based African American1Active Sigma Alpha Omega North Carolina State UniversityNational Collegiate Social36Active Sigma Omega Mu 2010 United StatesLocalCommunity-based African American0Inactive Sigma Phi Chi2001Austin CollegeLocalCollegiate1Active Sigma Phi Lambda University of Texas at AustinNational Collegiate Social32Active Sigma Tau Sigma Lithonia, GeorgiaNationalCommunity-basedAfrican American5ActiveTau Beta Gamma Lithonia, GeorgiaLocalCommunity-basedAfrican American1ActiveTau Rho Mu Montgomery, AlabamaLocalCommunity-basedAfrican American1Active Theta Alpha Florida State UniversityRegional Collegiate Social3Active Theta Phi Sigma 2009 United StatesInternational Community-based African American33Active Zeta Iota Chi 2003 United StatesLocal Community-based African American0Inactive Zeta Nu Delta South CarolinaRegional Community-based African American5Active Zeta Phi ZetaChicago, IllinoisLocalCommunity-basedAfrican American fraternity and sorority1Active
See also Christian fraternities Cultural interest fraternities and sororities List of social fraternities and sororities
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