On October 7, 1995 at the close of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) meeting at which Harriet Rodenberg, Sigma Delta Tau, presided, Jean Wirths Scott, Pi Beta Phi, was installed as Chairman for the 1995-97 biennium.
I was at that meeting at the Regal Riverfront Hotel in St. Louis, as were all the Pi Beta Phis who were serving as Directors and Grand Council members during that biennium. Pi Phi’s Director’s meeting that year was purposefully scheduled to coincide with the NPC meeting. What a thrill it was so see someone whom I admire so very much take the lead of NPC! Jean is a remarkable woman and she has served the fraternity world at-large and our own organization with the utmost of dedication, commitment to the future, and earnestness of purpose. (I could go on with the accolades, but I know Jean would get upset with me.)
At the third NPC meeting* held at the Columbus Safety Deposit Vault in Chicago on September 16-17, 1904, it was decided by the consent of the conference body that the calling of the conferences would be in a rotation. It was also agree that the delegate of the organization calling the conference would serve as the conference’s chairman. With Jean’s installation as chairman, it marked the third time the rotation had begun. The first was in 1908; the second was in 1947. Currently, there are 26 NPC groups so it means there will usually be 52 years between service as chairman. It is quite conceivable that the woman who will serve as Pi Phi’s next NPC Chairman may not yet be a member or she may still be a collegiate member.
The rotation decided upon at that 1904 meeting is: Pi Beta Phi; Kappa Alpha Theta; Kappa Kappa Gamma; Delta Gamma; Alpha Phi; Gamma Phi Beta; Alpha Chi Omega; Delta Delta Delta; Alpha Xi Delta; Chi Omega; and Sigma Kappa. As other organizations joined, they were added to the rotation in the order in which they became a member of NPC.
Jean Wirths Scott, NPC Chairman 1995-97
The 2013 NPC Annual Meeting will take place at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott from October 10-13. Jane H. Sutton, Alpha Xi Delta, will chair the meeting. At the meeting’s close, Jean M. Msarek, Chi Omega, will be installed for the 2013-15 biennium.
* In 1904, NPC was the Inter-Sorority Conference. It has had several name changes since 1902. At the 1945 meeting, the name was changed for the last time – the National Panhellenic Congress became the National Panhellenic Conference.
(c) Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All Rights Reserved.
