The NPC Bouquet of Special Flowers

The official founding date of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is May 24, 1902. Eleven of the first twelve NPC meetings took place in Chicago. The 1911 NPC meeting took place on November 3-4 in nearby Evanston on the Northwestern University campus. A Panhellenic luncheon was held in Northwestern’s Patten Gymnasium. There were 350 women in attendance. The table decorations were the flowers of the different fraternities, each delegation being seated near its special flower.

The composition of NPC in 1911 was a little different than it is today. The members in rotation order were: 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, Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Delta Pi, and Delta Zeta.

The flowers of the 26 organizations that today comprise NPC are:

Alpha Chi Omega – Red carnation

Alpha Delta Pi – Woodland violet

Alpha Epsilon Phi – Lily of the valley

Alpha Gamma Delta – Red and buff roses

Alpha Omicron Pi – Jacqueminot rose

Alpha Phi – Lily of the valley and the blue and gold forget-me-not

Alpha Sigma Alpha – Narcissus and aster

Alpha Sigma Tau – Yellow rose

Alpha Xi Delta – Pink rose

Chi Omega – White carnation

Delta Delta Delta – Pansy

Delta Gamma – Cream colored rose

Delta Phi Epsilon – Lovely purple iris

Delta Zeta – Pink Killarney rose

Gamma Phi Beta – Pink carnation

Kappa Alpha Theta – Black and gold pansy

Kappa Delta – White rose

Kappa Kappa Gamma – Fleur-de-lis

Phi Mu – Rose colored carnation

Phi Sigma Sigma – American Beauty rose

Pi Beta Phi – Wine carnation

Sigma Delta Tau – Golden tea rose

Sigma Kappa – Wild purple violet

Sigma Sigma Sigma – Purple violet

Theta Phi Alpha – White rose

Zeta Tau Alpha – White violet

The graphic that Delta Gamma posted on May 24, the date NPC was founded.

 © Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All Rights Reserved.