The shirt the baby boy wore last week when he and his mother returned to Syracuse University to celebrate Greek Unity Fest said volumes about his future.

‘My mom’s a Zeta.’

‘It’s like it’s his destiny,’ said Jason Jackson, president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council that hosted the event. ‘From the time he’s little, he’ll know that he’s going to be a (Phi Beta) Sigma, because they do a lot with Zeta (Phi Beta).’

And so, the next generation is brought up to inherit the traditions, history and heritage that are so much a part of the NPHC fraternity and sorority chapters that call SU home.

The traditionally-black NPHC was founded in 1906 at Cornell University with the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity to help increase unity among black students. It now includes nine nationally recognized fraternities and sororities. Six are represented at SU.

‘They were formed at a time when (black students) weren’t allowed to be a member of a historically white organization,’ said Don Sawyer, assistant director in the Office of Greek life and Experiential Learning and advisor for NPHC.

This history has become important, Jackson said, at a predominantly white SU.

Jackson joined Alpha Phi Alpha in fall 2003 and is now president of both Alpha and the NPHC. The NPHC centers on heritage, ancestry and family history, and it is this focus that attracts many of its new members, including Jackson himself.

‘It represents me more,’ he said. ‘I align myself more with the ideals.’

NPHC is special because of the culture that shapes it, including the step shows, the language and the influence of African culture, Sawyer said.

For many, the NPHC is a home away from home, Sawyer said. Coming to SU means branching out for many students, stepping out of their comfort zones, he said. Some students are first-generation college students, and being an NPHC member helps them navigate the system.

‘Being a member of an NPHC organization gives them some grounding, something to hold on to while they’re here,’ he said.

For Hawa Jalloh, a junior communications and rhetorical studies major and president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, joining the house was, well, her destiny.

With three aunts graduating as AKAs from SU, Jalloh always had the presence of AKA and NPHC women in her life.

‘This is something many girls have had an experience with,’ she said.

It’s the kind of story you hear over and over, Jalloh said. Mothers, teachers and Girl Scout troop leaders are NPHC women, affecting the young girls who eventually follow in their footsteps.

‘The bonds you form between the people in your sorority or fraternity are a lot more long-lasting,’ she said. ‘I have a special bond now with their families … of course it grows.’

Grows, and lives on. Each of the NPHC chapters is affiliated with a graduate chapter in the Syracuse area, where AKA or Alpha graduates can continue to participate in the national organization, even after their undergrad days are through. Alumni members are very involved in their undergraduate houses, Jackson said.

‘Brothers come through the chapter and are still involved after they graduate,’ Jackson said. ‘It’s a lifelong commitment.’

Joy Smith’s teachers wore AKA’s pink and green letters, as did the members of her church in her hometown of Irvington, N.J. She joined SU’s Iota Upsilon chapter of AKA and was NPHC president in 2001.

The NPHC embodies the characteristics a woman should have, she said, especially in the black community: strong, independent, a ‘servant to her community.’

Now a graduate student in the cultural foundations of education program at the School of Education and counselor in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Smith is an active member of the Iota Nu Omega, the graduate chapter of AKA in Syracuse. She is still in touch with most of her sisters, even though many returned to homes in California or New York after graduation.

While some Interfraternity Council chapters have alumni that still live in the Syracuse area and have a hand in the chapter’s life, most have lost their alumni until Homecoming or major sporting events roll around.

‘We really don’t have a lot of support … something that really wasn’t instilled in older alumni is that it’s sort of a lifetime responsibility,’ said Chris VanDeWeert, IFC president, of his own experiences in Sigma Phi Epsilon. He added, though, that recent graduates are becoming more involved as life-long members.

Some Panhellenic Council chapters have generations of legacies, especially in the older chapters, said Panhellenic Council president Dana Lucas, a former Daily Orange columnist. As for alumni relations, the council, like IFC, sees most of its alumni return for Homecoming and graduation, though the young alumni are especially active.

‘I know that Alpha Kappa Alpha is one of the most prestigious black sororities in the country, so I’m sure that they have a lot of legacies,’ Lucas said.

The undergraduate AKAs are very involved with their graduate chapter, Jalloh said.

Both undergraduate and graduate members meet to go to church, Jalloh said. Each chapter meeting begins and ends with a prayer and hymns, indicating the importance of religion in the NPHC.

‘Religion is a big part. It is definitely a big part,’ said Jackson, whose chapter also has similar practices.

‘You can come and talk about your relationship with your salvation – your relationship with your Savior – with your fraternity brothers, and it’s not weird,’ he said.

Community service, too, is an important part of the NPHC, and one where graduates and undergraduates work together. Both AKA chapters sponsor a Girl Scout troop of about 25 girls of ages 4 to 11.

Community service is the foundation of the NPHC, Jackson said, making the distinction between community service and philanthropy, which is for organizations that aren’t necessarily part of the community.

‘The difference between community service and philanthropy is that when you’re part of that community, you’re lifting yourself up, too’ he said. ‘It’s a different perspective.’

The long list of other service projects includes book drives, blanket drives, canned food drives and more.

‘We do tons of community service,’ Smith said. ‘No one can argue that. We are not just a party council.’

Every cent the chapter raises in service projects goes right back into the community, Jalloh said. The only way that the members could make money for chapter is from alumni.

The NPHC is funded through membership dues, alumni, grants and the Student Activity Fee, which Jackson called essential.

‘It is not a game,’ Jackson said, suddenly serious. ‘Part of the business of our organization is to raise money. A sold-out party in Schine can make your chapter $7,500.’

The financial situation makes cutting corners and efficiency the key to NPHC’s programming.

‘We have an overtone on everything that we do that we have to hustle, we have to cut costs, we have to make it happen by any means possible,’ Jackson said, only shortly after giving a fellow NPHC member directions and advice on how to get advertising flyers up on short notice.

The Jadakiss concert last Friday was set up using the same channels that University Union uses, but an alumni contact helped make the connection. The DJ from the Saturday night party is one the council tries to use for many events.

The vast majority of council events are alcohol-free, Jackson said. There is minimal violence and no drug history, despite the stereotypes that the organization is ‘delinquent,’ Jackson said.

‘It’s not knowing enough to get past the stereotypes,’ he said, a sentiment seconded by Jalloh.

‘You can ask Public Safety; they have the least problems out of NPHC,’ he said.

Director of Public Safety Marlene Hall said she didn’t believe there was any distinction between the IFC and NPHC in terms of frequency of incidents, nor could she think of any individual issue with either council. She also noted that it would be difficult to compare the organizations or associate either with individual incidents.

All organizations have been willing to work with Public Safety for their special events programming, Hall said.

The council has also eliminated hazing from its rush process by eliminating the traditional rush altogether. Membership intake is done through each chapter’s national organization. NPHC facilitates the process, making itself visible through programming, tabling and information sessions, an approach accentuated by the strong sense of tradition and the push from family and community that many potential members feel.

Though the chapters do not have houses, it hasn’t been a barrier to the council. Not living with the sisters or brothers is sometimes a good thing, Jackson and Jalloh said. Members see each other every day and a little time apart is necessary, just like in any other family, Jalloh said.

‘It is such a family,’ Jalloh laughed. ‘You have your good times and you have your bad times.’

While the NPHC boasts strong unity within its chapters and council, it continues to work to bring that same unity across the campus to all greek organizations.

‘A lot of people don’t know what NPHC is, even within the greek community,’ Sawyer said. ‘I don’t think we’ve reached the point where we can say it’s one greek community.’ Connecting the six greek councils has been something Dean of students Roy Baker has been working on, Sawyer said.

The racial divide that made SU No. 8 on the Princeton Review list for least race and class interaction is not so prevalent within the greek community, Jackson said.

‘In greek life, it’s a lot easier to work with other greeks on this campus,’ he said. ‘We don’t have that problem because we have common ground.’

Much of the NPHC’s programming is devoted to racial issues and collaborates with the different governing bodies. Phi Beta Sigma, both Jalloh and Jackson said, is the model for cross-campus work.

‘We’re taking leaps and bounds to bridge racial gaps on this campus,’ Jackson said.

The numbers now are on the rise. In 2001, AKA was returning from a four-year absence, and many chapters were struggling to become recognized, fighting the rule that a chapter must have four members for recognition, Smith said.

As for the future generations of NPHC members, Smith will ‘absolutely’ encourage her children to join someday.

‘There is nothing like the sisterhood and camaraderie that you share,’ Smith said. ‘There’s nothing like knowing that anywhere in the country or in the world that I go, wherever there’s a chapter, I have that connection.’

Published on April 20, 2005 at 12:00 pm