St. Lawrence alumnae recently joined in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National
Panhellenic Conference, which had two University chapters among its founding members.
Kappa Kappa Gamma and Delta Delta Delta were among the chapters that founded the
organization.
Begun in 1902, the Conference is holding a year-long Centennial Celebration. More than 100
Greek women at St. Lawrence gathered recently, with some local-area alumnae, for its
own celebration on campus. The national organization plans a number of events to "honor
the history and chart the future" of sororities. The 26 organizations that belong to
the National Panhellenic Conference represent over 3.5 million women worldwide, with
2,908 undergraduate chapters on 630 campuses in the U.S. and Canada and 4,826 alumnae
chapters globally.
According to Candle In The Wilderness, a history of St. Lawrence, the first
women's club organized on campus was the Browning Society, in 1875; it later became a
chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, sometime between 1880 and 1882. The Beta chapter of Delta
Delta Delta received its charter in 1891.