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Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

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efer to themselves as "service" organizations, not "social" organizations because they view<br />

community service as their primary focus rather than one aspect <strong>of</strong> their focus. They also have a<br />

common umbrella organization <strong>of</strong> mutual participation, the National Pan-Hellenic Council.<br />

These groups are not members <strong>of</strong> NPC and, therefore, are not included in the study. Their<br />

founding and purpose are very different from the National Panhellenic Conference organizations<br />

and it would have been too difficult to compare and contrast for the purpose <strong>of</strong> this study.<br />

Although other sororities do exist, they are not included in this study.<br />

The National Panhellenic Conference<br />

The National Panhellenic Conference was organized in 1902 as a conference group<br />

(Johnson, 1972) that would give sororities a venue to discuss issues <strong>of</strong> mutual interest. The<br />

National Panhellenic Conference is the largest organization <strong>of</strong> women's fraternities in the world.<br />

The National Panhellenic Conference is organized <strong>of</strong> 26 National Sororities.<br />

The formal definitions is as follows as defined in the NPC Manual <strong>of</strong> Information, 13 th<br />

Edition, (1999):<br />

What is NPC?<br />

Purpose<br />

As the name implies, National Panhellenic is a Conference body. Its members are women's<br />

fraternities, each <strong>of</strong> which is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society <strong>of</strong> college<br />

women, undergraduates and alumnae.<br />

National Panhellenic Conference is an organization established to foster interfraternity<br />

relationships, to assist collegiate chapters <strong>of</strong> the NPC member groups, and to cooperate<br />

with colleges and universities in maintaining the highest scholastic and social standards.<br />

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