– NPHC stands for National Pan-Hellenic Council. It is an umbrella organization of nine Black Greek-lettered organizations, which some people refer to as the “Divine Nine.” These organizations were founded during a time where there were specific, political, sociopolitical, and economic needs of African American communities. And they created their organizations
To meet the needs of those communities. Also, they were created to provide a safe haven for Black students on campus. This was especially during times where college campuses were not very accepting or open to Black students. There are white organizations, there’s Latinx organizations, there are multicultural organizations. And with all of those groups,
The people bring their culture with them and Black Greek organizations are not immune to this right. They have very unique traditions and practices that they value, and most popularly that is the strolling and stepping. You can see this happening at celebrations, events, parties. It promotes unity.
It is a way to exhibit pride in one’s organization. – B-B-S, step. – Strolling comes back from the early 90s. It wasn’t really initially done when the fraternity first was founded back in 1914. But just during the early 90s, it allowed people to express themselves, musically and by dance. ♪ You know ♪ – Stepping is, there’s no music involved,
And you are creating a beat using your own body. So whether it’s clapping, stomping, or slapping your body in any type of way. ♪ Ooh, right! ♪ – The position of strollmaster is held in chapter by the best stroller. Strollmaster creates the strolls. They set up practices, time schedules,
Just to make sure that everybody’s on one accord with the strolls and the timing is down, and just making sure everything looks presentable before we actually go on stage for a performance, or even if we’re strolling at a function or an event. ♪ We all say Phi Beta Sigma’s got soul ♪
– What makes a good stroll? A good stroll is the precision. ♪ Soul ♪ – Another thing that makes the good stroll is the amount of people, I would say, that’s involved in it. The more people that you have, the more likely people are to look at you.
When I’m strolling with my brothers, it’s a great feeling. It’s all smiles. It’s just a wonderful time. I love dancing. It’s one of my favorite hobbies to do. I feel a sense of power. I feel like it allows me to express my emotions. – People who are dedicated to service and scholarship, who are dedicated to bettering communities and themselves tend to be interested. People who join, everybody might tell you a different story as to why they’ve joined. A lot of it, literally just starts from someone that they view as admirable,
And they had a mentor, a teacher, a pastor, someone that inspired them. – The reason that I decided to join Sigma is because my sister came to UCF. She joined Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Growing up around her and seeing the good work that the Sigmas do on campus,
And then coming to UCF, my first time on campus, meeting brothers that were willing to just take me to the grocery store, and help me out with my homework. I had classes with them, I just grew. I could see a great liking to them.
– When I was in high school, there was a group in my county where, a local chapter of Deltas, they had a group called Delteens and they mentored high school girls, and I was one of them. So to me, these women were amazing, they were powerful, and I wanted to be like them.
A lot of these organizations are a hundred plus in terms of age, right. Although some of the needs of communities have stayed the same, there are varying changes, and they have evolved to meet those different changes and those different needs. – Our motto is culture for service and service for humanity.
So as long as we continue to serve our community, we can continue to better strive to be better people. – I think that it is important to continue to both look back at history and say, “This is what we were founded on, this is what we believe.”
As well as to look forward and say, “Here’s what we still need, and here’s how we need to change to meet those needs as well.”
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