Fraternities, Sororities and Cooperative Life records
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA 172
Scope and Contents
The Fraternities, Sororities and Cooperative Life records span more than 130 years of Greek Life at Purdue. They document the history and operations of more than 80 fraternities, sororities, and cooperative houses. The material in the collection ranges from chapter award congratulations to chapter suspensions, from alumni news to university violations. Newspaper clippings accompany most chapter histories in the collection, adding a local voice to incidents at the time. This collection may useful to researchers interested in the history of Greek Life at Purdue, the founding of its first fraternities, sororities, and cooperative houses and the expansion of Greek Life throughout the twentieth century. Types of materials included: clippings, correspondence, scrapbook, brochures, pamphlets, photographs, newsletters.
Dates
- 1873 - 2010
Access Information
Collection is open for research but access to some materials is restricted. This restricted material comes from Series 1, Sub-series 1, Box 1; Series 2, Subs-series 2, Box 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; Series 3, Sub-series 1, Box 14; Series 3, Sub-series 2, Box 18; Series 4, Box 19 and 20; Series 6, Sub-series 1, Box 21 and 22. Material removed from boxes 1-11 have been noted with separation sheets and moved to box 25 (restricted). Materials removed from boxes 12-22 have been noted with separation sheets and moved to box 26 (restricted).
Historical Information
Purdue University houses more than 80 fraternities and sororities and is home to 12 cooperative houses. Fraternities, sororities and cooperatives have been part of Purdue for more than a century and were always regulated under the Office of the Dean of Students as student organization. Sigma Chi, founded in 1875, was the first fraternity founded at Purdue University. Forty years later, in 1915, Purdue had its first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, though attempts to establish a sorority go back to 1889. In 1937, Purdue offered its first cooperative houses: Chauncey, Ann Tweedale, and Glenwood Houses. The Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life Division was founded in 2013 and is divided into five sub-divisions: The Interfraternity Council regulates activities for more than 41 fraternities; the Panhellenic Association governs 20 women’s fraternities and sororities. The Multicultural Greek Council regulates affairs for 11 multicultural fraternities and sororities and the National Pan-Hellenic Council houses 9 historically Blackn fraternities and sororities at Purdue. The Purdue Cooperative Council governs the 12 cooperative houses.
Extent
22.876 Cubic Feet (19 cubic foot boxes, four letter-size manuscript boxes, one legal-size manuscript box, one half-width letter-size manuscript box, one flat box, and one folder)
Language of Materials
English
Overview
Documents, scrapbooks, newsletters documenting Greek life and activities on Purdue's campus
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in six series:
- General Fraternities, Sororities and Cooperative Life materials. (1951 - 2010; 3.8 cubic feet) The series documents Greek Life at and beyond Purdue through scrapbooks, conference and expansion materials, etc.
- Interfraternity Council (1922 - 2007; 6.5 cubic feet). This series documents the history, chapters, policies, and events of the Interfraternity Council and its fraternities.
- Panhellenic Association (1873 - 1997; 6 cubic feet). This series documents the history, chapters, policies, and events of the Panhellenic Association and its sororities.
- National Pan-Hellenic Council (1943 - 1995; 0.6 cubic feet).This series documents the history, chapters, policies, and events of the eight historically Black fraternities and sororities.
- Multicultural Greek Council (1991 - 1994; 0.1 cubic feet).This series documents the history of sororities and fraternities governed by the Multicultural Greek Council.
- Cooperative Housing (1938 - 2010; 4 cubic feet). This series documents the history, policies, and events of Purdue Cooperatives (PCC) and individual houses.
Technical Access Information
Digital media in this collection consist of two compact discs and one cassette tape. These must be migrated to a digital format before use. Contact Purdue University Archives and Special Collections if interested in using this material.
Acquisition Information
Records were transferred by the Fraternities, Sororities and Cooperative Life Division of the Dean of Students Office via Brandon Cutler on November 5, 2014, and October 12, 2016.
Processing Information
Whenever possible, original order of the materials has been retained. The collection was minimally processed, i.e. folders in good conditions were maintained, newspaper clippings have been housed in polyester sleeves but have not been photocopied. Digital media has been separated from the collection for preservation purposes. The collection only contains series and sub-series descriptions, but an inventory can be requested.
- Acacia Fraternity
- Alpha Chi Rho
- Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity
- Alpha Tau Omega
- Beta Theta Pi
- Chi Omega Fraternity
- Clippings (Information artifacts)
- Delta Chi Fraternity
- Delta Delta Delta
- Delta Phi Mu
- Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity
- Delta Tau Delta Fraternity
- Delta Upsilon Fraternity
- Delta Zeta Sorority
- FarmHouse Fraternity
- Greek letter societies
- Greek letter societies -- Indiana -- West Lafayette
- Interfraternity Council (Purdue University)
- Kappa Kappa Gamma
- Kappa Sigma Fraternity. Chi Chapter (Purdue University)
- Lambda Chi Alpha
- Letters (Correspondence)
- Panhellenic Association (Purdue University)
- Phi Kappa Psi
- Purdue University. Students. Social life and customs
- Scrapbooks
- Sigma Alpha Mu
- Sigma Chi Fraternity
- Sigma Chi Fraternity. Delta Delta Chapter (Purdue University)
- Triangle Fraternity
Source
- Purdue University. Dean of Students. (Organization)
- Title
- Fraternities, Sororities and Cooperative Life records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Jennifer Sdunzik, Richard Bernier, and Amanda Rumba
- Date
- 2018-05-22
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
- Edition statement
- Second edition.
Revision Statements
- 2020-02-05: Record was edited by Richard Bernier and Amanda Rumba to restrict and/or return sensitive or private student information.
- Box: 1 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 2 (Text)
- Box: 3 (Text)
- Box: 4 (Text)
- Box: 5 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 6 (Text)
- Box: 7 (Text)
- Box: 8 (Text)
- Box: 9 (Text)
- Box: 10 (Text)
- Box: 11 (Text)
- Box: 12 (Text)
- Box: 13 (Text)
- Box: 14 (Text)
- Box: 15 (Text)
- Box: 16 (Text)
- Box: 17 (Text)
- Box: 18 (Text)
- Box: 19 (Text)
- Box: 20 (Text)
- Box: 21 (Text)
- Box: 22 (Text)
- Box: 23 (Text)
- Box: 24 (Text)
- Box: Communal Digital Media 1, Placement: 18 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 25 (Text)
- Box: 26 (Text)
Repository Details
Part of the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections Repository
Contact:
504 Mitch Daniels Boulevard
West Lafayette Indiana 47907 United States
765-494-2839
archives@purdue.edu
504 Mitch Daniels Boulevard
West Lafayette Indiana 47907 United States
765-494-2839
archives@purdue.edu