College of William & Mary fraternity and sorority system
The College of William & Mary fraternity and sorority system recognizes chapters of national organizations belonging to the Panhellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the National Pan-Hellenic Council, and also recognizes one local fraternity without Greek letters (Queens' Guard) and the local chapter of one national fraternity (Kappa Sigma) that abandoned membership in an inter-Greek consortium.[1] The school also offers a variety of honor and co-ed service fraternities as well. The first collegiate fraternity within the present borders of the United States, the Latin-letter F.H.C. Society, was founded at the College of William & Mary on November 11, 1750. The new country's first Greek-letter fraternity was founded at the College on December 5, 1776, though the Phi Beta Kappa Society no longer is a social fraternity but, instead, the leading American academic honor society. Some fraternities and sororities are limited to graduate students at William & Mary, while others may only be joined at the undergraduate level. Still other Greek-letter organizations operate without recognition or approval[2] from college administrators.[3]
In the Autumn of 2013, 11 new fraternity houses and a Greek community center were opened. Each of the 11 new houses accommodates 17 men.[4]
Six fraternities previously lived in fraternity houses located on campus in a complex of interconnected buildings known as "The Units". Each house, which can hold up to 36 residents, opens onto a patio and holds a large social room for official fraternity events. These buildings have now been converted into freshman dormitories known as the "Green and Gold Village". Before erection of the new fraternity houses, one on-campus fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, was located in the lodges (which served as fraternity houses after the Second World War, then were used for classrooms and faculty offices), and the Delta Phi fraternity had retained its own house on Armistead Avenue, adjacent to sorority court. After the new fraternity buildings were opened, Delta Phi acquired one of the 11 new fraternity houses and Alpha Epsilon Pi took over Delta Phi's old house on Armistead Avenue.
All sororities are located near the Old Campus of the College, in a complex known as "Sorority Court", on Richmond Road directly across from the Wren Building and the President's House. There are twelve individual houses in the complex. Sorority Court is within walking distance of Merchants Square in Colonial Williamsburg and of the campus quadrangle known as the Sunken Garden.
At the end of the 2007–08 academic calendar year, 25% of undergraduate men and 27% of undergraduate women participated in the Greek system.[1] The average fraternity size was 38 while the average sorority size was 70.[1]
- Note: Numbers after the dashes indicate the fraternity's or sorority's year of its national founding.
IFC social fraternities
- Alpha Epsilon Pi (ΑΕΠ) – 1913
- Alpha Tau Omega (ΑΤΏ) – 1865
- Beta Theta Pi (ΒΘΠ) – 1839
- Delta Chi (ΔΧ) – 1890
- Delta Phi (ΔΦ) – 1827
- Kappa Alpha Order (ΚΑ) – 1865
- Kappa Delta Rho (ΚΔΡ) – 1905
- Kappa Sigma (ΚΣ) - 1869
- Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠΚΑ) – 1868
- Phi Kappa Sigma (ΦΣΚ) - 1850
- Phi Kappa Tau (ΦΚΤ) – 1906
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ΣΑΕ) – 1856
- Sigma Chi (ΣΧ) – 1855
- Sigma Phi Epsilon (ΣΦΕ) – 1901
- Sigma Pi (ΣΠ) – 1897
Suspended or inactive fraternities
- Chi Phi (ΧΦ) – 1824 (Inactive since 2015)
- Lambda Chi Alpha (ΛΧΑ) – 1909 (Suspended since 2013)
- Theta Delta Chi (ΘΔΧ) – 1847 (Inactive since 2012)
- Sigma Nu (ΣΝ) – 1869
- Pi Lambda Phi (ΠΛΦ) – 1895
- Psi Upsilon (ΨΥ) – 1833
Panhellenic social sororities
- Alpha Chi Omega (ΑΧΩ) – 1885
- Chi Omega (ΧΩ) – 1895
- Delta Delta Delta (ΔΔΔ) – 1888
- Delta Gamma (ΔΓ) – 1873
- Gamma Phi Beta (ΓΦΒ) – 1874
- Kappa Alpha Theta (ΚΑΘ) – 1870
- Kappa Delta (ΚΔ) – 1897
- Kappa Kappa Gamma (ΚΚΓ) – 1870
- Pi Beta Phi (ΠΒΦ) – 1867
Suspended or inactive sororities
- Phi Mu (ΦΜ) – 1852 (Inactive since 2012 as a result of low membership, returning Fall 2016)
National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities and sororities
- Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ) – 1906
- Delta Sigma Theta (ΔΣΘ) – 1913
- Kappa Alpha Psi (ΚAΨ) – 1911
- Phi Beta Sigma (ΦΒΣ) – 1914
- Sigma Gamma Rho (ΣΓΡ) – 1922
- Zeta Phi Beta (ΖΦΒ) – 1920
Honor and service fraternities and sororities
- Alpha Kappa Psi (ΑΚΨ) – 1904; co-ed professional business fraternity
- Alpha Lambda Delta (ΑΓΔ) – 1924; co-ed freshman year honor society
- Alpha Phi Omega (ΑΦΩ) – 1925; co-ed service fraternity
- Alpha Psi Omega (ΑΨΏ) – 1925; co-ed theatre fraternity
- Beta Gamma Sigma (ΒΓΣ) – 1913; co-ed business fraternity
- Delta Omicron (ΔΟ) – 1909; co-ed music fraternity
- Eta Sigma Phi (ΗΣΦ) – 1924; co-ed classical honor society
- Kappa Delta Pi (ΚΔΠ) – 1911; co-ed international education honor society
- Nu Kappa Epsilon (NKE) – 1994; female-only music sorority*
- Phi Alpha Delta (ΦΑΔ) – 1902; co-ed professional law fraternity
- Phi Alpha Theta (ΦΑΘ) – 1921; co-ed history honor society
- Phi Beta Delta Society (ΦΒΔ) – 1986; co-ed international studies honor society
- Phi Beta Kappa Society (ΦΒΚ) – 1776; co-ed academic honor society*
- Phi Eta Sigma (ΦHΣ) – 1923; co-ed freshman honor society
- Phi Mu Alpha (ΦMΑ) – 1898; male-only musical social fraternity
- Phi Sigma Pi (ΦΣΠ) – 1916; co-ed academic honor society
- Pi Delta Phi (ΠΔΦ) – 1967; co-ed French honor society
- Pi Gamma Mu (ΠΓΜ) – 1924; co-ed social sciences honor society*
- Pi Sigma Alpha (ΦΣΑ) – 1920; co-ed political science honor society
- Psi Chi (ΨX) – 1929; co-ed psychology honor society
- Sigma Gamma Epsilon (ΣΓΕ) – 1915; co-ed earth sciences honor society
- *Original charter founded at the College of William & Mary
References
- 1 2 3 The College of William & Mary Fraternity/Sorority Life – Greek Chapters. Accessed September 30, 2008.
- ↑ Information on "Omega Beta Delta" from the Office of Greek Life. (PDF) 20 August 2008. Retrieved on 17 February 2010.
- ↑ Fraternity Council. The College of William & Mary. Retrieved on 17 February 2010.
- ↑ on New Fraternity Housing. Retrieved on 5 May 2013.