When senior Danielle Williams joined the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) her freshman year at Elon University, she knew that she wanted to be heavily involved in the organization. By her sophomore year, she accomplished that by becoming the president of NPHC and the youngest member of the executive board.
“I was worried that people wouldn’t want to hear my voice because I was younger, but they were very open,” Williams said. “I love the direction that we are going now.”
Her passion and commitment are obvious for NPHC by the excitement she has simply speaking about it. Her current efforts are aimed at NPHC’s programming week, which began Sunday, Sept. 6, includes various events to promote NPHC.
“We normally have our programming week directly after The Org Fair because we want to introduce people to what NPHC is before we introduce them to our specific organizations,” she said. “We want people to know that they’re not just joining their organization, you’re still going to be a part of something bigger.”
Junior Kennedy Ojimadu is also excited by NPHC’s future. He’s now the treasurer of NPHC.
“Even though we are a smaller council this year, there is a greater sense of unity between our organizations, as well as support for each other,” Ojimadu said.
NPHC at Elon consists of seven different historically black sororities and fraternities including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. According to Williams, there are about 30 current members in NPHC. Internationally, there are nine Greek letter sororities and fraternities in NPHC.
Depending on the amount of credits required to join the fraternity or sorority, each organization will accept new members this year as a part of their intake process, making new members usually sophomores.
To get potential new members more familiar with NPHC, the programming week will feature different activities each day. But Williams stresses that these events are open to everyone.
“It’s a great opportunity for anyone to come to learn more about us,” Williams said. “Last year some people came from Panhellenic, which was awesome.”
For as many similarities that exist between NPHC, the Panhellenic Council (PHC) and the Interfraternity Council (IFC), there are an equal amount of differences. Williams stressed that first and foremost NPHC is a service organization, not a social organization.
“While we do function as social organizations, service to our communities is a big aspect of what we do,” Ojimadu said. “It is important to give back, especially when you sit and think about how privileged and blessed your life is.”
The NPHC council encourages anyone to join and help them in their efforts, whether they are a part of NPHC or not.
When Ojimadu was considering joining, he saw the value in NPHC’s dedication to service, as well as the brotherhood of his organization, Alpha Phi Alpha.
“My chapter brothers are a group of men who I support and work with every day, and our bond will last beyond our college days,” Ojimadu said.
Williams also feels the strong connection in her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, as well as NPHC as a whole.
“We know everyone in the council, and I feel like there aren’t that many places where you can say that,” she said. “I feel like it’s a powerful thing, and we have room to do so many productive things.”
Both Williams and Ojimadu expressed their intentions to collaborate with other organizations on campus this year.
“I have had a lot of conversations with members of IFC and PHC, and I look forward to seeing them support our programs and vice-versa,” Ojimadu said. “I am even more excited to build lasting relationships with the people of these neighboring organizations.”
Ojimadu believes through these relationships more people will know what NPHC stands for.
“We cannot expect everyone to just know what NPHC is off the bat, and it is our responsibility to educate others to create a more inclusive fraternity and sorority community,” he said.
He is especially excited for NPHC’s events on Tuesday and Wednesday night, The Lifetime Commitment and The History of Stepping, respectively.
Through events this week, NPHC hopes to make their family a little larger.
“Both of these events highlight the uniqueness and richness of our organizations, and I am excited to help share that with our community,” he said. “We’re a community, we’re a family. Our slogan is, ‘Five organizations, one family.’”