The Divine Nine: Black Greek-Lettered Organizations and their focus on the celebration of Black Culture and uplift within the Black community — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

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The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
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Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

The Divine Nine: Black Greek-Lettered Organizations and their focus on the celebration of Black Culture and uplift within the Black community

Name: Jordan Parris
Major: History
Hometown: Kenosha, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Stephanie Mitchell
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Senior thesis
Funding: N/A

Abstract

This paper will be an in-depth look at a group of organizations referred to as the Divine Nine (D9) and their success pertaining to their values of Black leadership and culture within the community. The Divine Nine is made up of five fraternities and four sororities that came into existence, mainly at historically Black institutions, save the two founded at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). When the issue of race began to negatively impact student retention and involvement at college campuses, groups of young men and women banded together to form academic support groups which eventually became more social in function and more determined in their roles to uplift their community. But research has yet to answer the question: have the Divine Nine upheld their values of culture, leadership, and retention throughout the years, or have the Divine Nine strayed from the importance of their organizations’ purpose set by their founders? The goal of this thesis is to create a better understanding of organizations that have created and maintained opportunities that would not otherwise be available to the Black community. Black Greek-Letter Organizations (BGLOs) are fundamental to the history of African Americans as the second largest institution dedicated to the uplift and support of Black culture. This thesis will hopefully shed some light on the question of whether BGLOs now are as vital to the community as they once were. It is possible that they are still essential to young African Americans if only for some of the values they strive to maintain. To further understand how these values have progressed since the BGLOs’ founding, this project provides an examination of movies, news articles, lectures, and the organizations’ own national constitutions and websites. This work focuses intently on the stated values of BGLOs, as well as their portrayal in society both within and outside of the Black community. Secondary sources and their data are also examined, including books and dissertations that look at the historical aspects of the organizations, their importance, and their interactions with their community. The issues of leadership, hazing, culture, and racism are also examined in an effort to answer the question of whether the Divine Nine have started to lose their grip on their original purpose.