- Greek life for women on college campuses has traditionally been about sisterhood. As black women began to attend college, black sororities originated out of a shared need for unity and support, as blacks were excluded from joining traditionally white sororities at that time.
- In 1908, Ethel Hedgeman Lyle led eight fellow university students on the campus of Howard University in founding the first black sorority. Just one generation removed from slavery, these women formed Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Other black sororities sprang to life to provide the strength of organization. Delta Sigma Theta was formed by 22 Howard University students on January 13, 1913. Howard University was also the birthplace of Zeta Phi Beta, founded by five coeds on January 16, 1920. On November 12, 1922, at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, seven young school teachers founded Sigma Gamma Rho.
- As of 2010, Alpha Kappa Alpha with 959 chapters internationally, Delta Sigma Theta with more than 940 chapters, Sigma Gamma Rho with more than 500 chapters, and Zeta Phi Beta with more than 800 chapters, are the only four sororities in the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the coordinating body of the nine historically black fraternities and sororities. Two additional national black sororities exist -- Iota Phi Lambda, with more than 100 chapters, and Gamma Phi Delta, with 60 chapters.
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