Although Greek Life has existed at Rutgers since the first fraternity was founded in 1845, it wasn’t until 1977 that the first NPC sorority at Rutgers, Gamma Phi Beta, opened its doors on campus. What took so long? Rutgers College had been an all male institution since its founding in 1766 and it wasn’t until 1970 that the Board of Governors voted to admit women. At the time Rutgers went coed there were 13 RU men for every Rutgers woman, the numbers evened out eventually, but in the beginning women were in the minority on campus.
By 1980, ten years after Rutgers admitted women, Phi Sigma Sigma and Zeta Tau Alpha had also opened chapters on campus and the Panhellenic Council had formed to bring the women, and their organizations together. The Council added four more sororities in the 1980’s (Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Kappa, Delta Gamma and Alpha Chi Omega) and expanded again in with the addition of Phi Sigma Rho in 2012 and Alpha Omega Epsilon and Phi Mu in 2014. Our most recent addition to the Council was in 2016 with the opening of Alpha Gamma Delta.
Our Council Executive Board, Recruitment Team and our Coalition for Women of Color all work together to represent one of the largest women’s organizations on campus. Working together our chapters recognize scholarship, encourage leadership, serve the community and create the foundation for a lifetime of friendship. We are proud of the legacy of support our sororities have provided to women at Rutgers. We hope you’ll want to join us “on the banks” this year.