UMSL's National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) exists as an umbrella organization to the seven historically black, greek-letter organizations offered to students at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. These organizations are sometimes referred to as the Divine Nine, as there are nine organizations incorporated under the national organization, National Pan-Hellenic Council.
UMSL's NPHC was established in 2022 to facilitate the presence of UMSL's divine nine organizations as well as St. Louis city-wide organizations that include the University of Missouri – St. Louis on their charter.
Most of UMSL's Divine Nine organizations are city-wide chapters, meaning they function and have members from a variety of universities throughout the St. Louis metro area.
With the amount of predominantly white institutions (PWI) in the St. Louis metro area, the national organizations made the decision to include multiple schools in the area on the chapters' charters -- aka their formal recognition documentation. By having multiple schools on their charter, city-wide organizations are able to have students from any of the named schools participate in intake and cross into their chapter as full-fledged members.
The city-wide structure is supported by the STL Coalition. To get more information on that group, please email studentinvolvement@umsl.edu.
National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations recruit members through a formal intake process. Intake differs by organization, but is the formal process by which potential members cross into the organization to become a member.
Intake processes normally kick off with a formal Informational or Rush Meeting hosted at one of the schools on the organization's charter. This meeting will walk through the intake process for their specific organization, identify all the requirements of students to participate in the intake process, and most importantly will give an in-depth look at the chapter and its values!
It is best to do your own research on the organization(s) you are interested in joining to identify the primary organization you would like to work towards becoming a member of. Through this research, you will need to identify how the chapter promotes its Informational or Rush Meetings. Typically, this promotion occurs in one of two ways: 1) a formally approved notice from the national organization is distributed to Fraternity & Sorority Advisors on campus for posting on public bulletin boards during a specific timeframe, or 2) a flyer endorsed by the national organization is posted to the chapter's Instagram. These promotions will include information on where and when the meeting is taking place as well as any required materials or expected dress codes.
Once you have identified what chapter you are interested in becoming a member in, it is important that you begin attending events that the organization hosts other than the Informational or Rush Meeting. These events will often be community service, game nights, or panel presentations. Your attendance at these events communicates your dedication to the chapter without directly stating it. In fact, it is often looked down upon to directly state your interest or willingness to want to join an NPHC organization prior to being invited by the chapter to participate in their intake process.
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