Kappa Alpha Psi (KAΨ) is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin. The fraternity has over 150,000 members with 700 undergraduate and alumni chapters in every state of the United States, and international chapters in the United Kingdom, Germany, Korea, Japan, the Caribbean, Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Nigeria, and South Africa.
Omega Psi Phi (ΩΨΦ) is a fraternity and is the first African-American national fraternal organization to be founded at a historically black college. Omega Psi Phi was founded on November 17, 1911, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The founders were three Howard University juniors, Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty adviser, Dr. Ernest Everett Just. Each of the founders graduated and went on to have distinguished careers in their chosen fields: Bishop Edgar Amos Love became Bishop of the United Methodist Church; Dr. Oscar James Cooper became a prominent physician, who practiced in Philadelphia for over 50 years; Professor Frank Coleman became the Chairman of the Department of Physics at Howard University for many years; and Dr. Ernest E. Just became a world-renowned biologist.
Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ) was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and the founders are collectively known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha is the first intercollegiate Greek-letter organization established by African Americans. It uses motifs and artifacts from Ancient Egypt to represent itself and its archives are preserved at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.
The fraternity expanded when additional chapters were chartered at Howard University and Virginia Union University in 1907. From 1908, Alpha Phi Alpha became the prototype for other Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). The fraternity has over 185,000 members and has been open to men of all races since 1940. Today there are over 680 active chapters in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Caribbean, and Asia.
Phi Beta Sigma (ΦΒΣ) is a predominantly African-American fraternity which was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914 by three young African-American male students. The founders A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to organize a Greek letter fraternity that would exemplify the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, and service. The fraternity is the only one of its kind to aid in the creation and holds a constitutional bond with a predominantly African-American sorority, Zeta Phi Beta (ΖΦΒ). The fraternity was incorporated on January 31, 1920 in Washington D.C.
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity (ΙΦΘ) is a nationally incorporated, predominantly African-American fraternity. Founded on September 19, 1963 at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, it presently consists of over 35,000 members. There are currently around 300 undergraduate and alumni chapters, as well as colonies located in over 40 US states, the District of Columbia, the Bahamas and South Korea.
Sigma Gamma Rho (ΣΓΡ)was founded on the campus of Butler University on November 12, 1922, by seven school teachers in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was incorporated within the state of Indiana in December 1922 and as a national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, at which time a charter was granted and the Alpha chapter was established. The sorority is a non-profit whose aim is to enhance the quality of life within the community. Public service, leadership development and the education of youth are the hallmark of the organization's programs and activities.
Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΆΚΆ) is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle. Forming a sorority broke barriers for African American women in areas where little power or authority existed due to a lack of opportunities for minorities and women in the early twentieth century. Alpha Kappa Alpha was incorporated on January 29, 1913.
Delta Sigma Theta (ΔΣΘ) is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta was founded on January 13, 1913, at Howard University by twenty-two young women. Today, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is the largest African-American Greek-lettered sorority in the world. Membership in Delta Sigma Theta is open to any woman who meets the membership requirements, regardless of race, nationality, or religion. Women may join through undergraduate chapters at a college or university, or after acquiring a college degree through a graduate chapter.
Zeta Phi Beta (ΖΦΒ) is an international, historically black Greek-lettered sorority and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
Zeta Phi Beta is organized into 800+ chapters, in eight intercontinental regions including the USA, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. In 1948, Zeta Phi Beta became the first Greek-letter organization to charter a chapter in Africa (in Monrovia, Liberia). It was also the first organization to establish adult and youth auxiliary groups and centralize its operations in a national headquarters. Today, there are also chapters in U.S. Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Bahamas, Japan, Korea, Barbados, and Haiti.
