National Pan-Hellenic Council Plaza at OSU

>> THIS IS THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. EACH ORGANIZATION WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THEIR MONUMENT WITH YOU ALL. BETA PHI BETA INCORPORATED. [ CROWD CHANTING ] >> MY NAME IS RAYANNA. I AM A PART OF BETA PHI BETA SORORITY INCORPORATED. >> KAPPA ALPHA PSI INCORPORATED.

[ CROWD CHANTING ] >> MY NAME IS DEVIN, AND I WAS INITIATED IN KAPPA ALPHA PSI FRATERNITY INCORPORATED. >> ALPHA PHI ALPHA INCORPORATED. >> — INCORPORATED. >> AS THE MONUMENTS WERE REVEALED, I FELT HAPPINESS, JOY, EXCITEMENT. I EVEN KNOW WHEN WE CUT THE RIBBON — >> THREE, TWO, ONE.

>> — I WAS LIKE, WE FINALLY DID IT. IT’S HERE. OH, MY GOODNESS. >> I DON’T THINK I RECOGNIZED HOW SIGNIFICANT AN NPHC PLAZA WAS UNTIL THE DAY OF THE UNVEILING. >> BEFORE THIS PLAZA, THE UNIVERSITY DIDN’T REALLY HAVE ANYTHING TO RECOGNIZE OUR ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS KIND OF

WAY FOR THE LAST WHO KNOWS HOW MANY YEARS. >> YOU KNOW, FOR MANY YEARS, AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE WERE NOT ON PREDOMINANTLY WHITE CAMPUSES. AND WHEN WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENROLL, IT WAS ONE THING TO BE ABLE TO GO TO CLASS, EVENTUALLY TO BE ABLE TO LIVE IN

THE RESIDENCE HALL. IT WAS ANOTHER THING TO BE ABLE TO FIND AND BUILD COMMUNITY ON THE COLLEGE CAMPUS. >> THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL WAS CREATED IN 1930. THE PURPOSE WAS TO UNIFY THE HISTORICALLY BLACK GREEK LETTER ORGANIZATIONS INTO ONE UMBRELLA COUNCIL TO PROMOTE ISSUES OF MUTUAL CONCERN AND CONSENT.

SO, THE COUNCIL, FOR EXAMPLE, WILL SUPPORT SCHOLARSHIP, ADVOCACY, HOUSING ON CAMPUS. BLACK STUDENTS WERE NOT ABLE TO RESIDE ON CAMPUS UNTIL 1950. VOTING RIGHTS, THINGS THAT HALL OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS BELIEVE IN AND THINGS THAT ARE PROBLEMATIC FOR US. >> THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC GROUP IS ALL THESE NINE ORGANIZATIONS FROM ALPHA PHI

ALPHAS ALL THE WAY TO THE IOTAS, ALL THE ORGANIZATIONS BEING UNIFIED AS A GROUP WHERE THEY PULL ALL THEIR STRENGTH TOGETHER. >> AT THE ONSET WHEN NPHC ORGANIZATIONS THEMSELVES WERE ESTABLISHED, IT WAS REALLY ABOUT TRYING TO BUILD BROTHERHOOD AND SISTERHOOD AND COMMUNITY ON A CAMPUS THAT, IF MANY, FELT VERY

LONELY. >> THE MEMBERS WERE NOT ONLY A PART OF THE GREEK LETTER COMMUNITY, BUT THEY WERE ALSO MEMBERS OF ACTIVIST GROUPS HERE ON CAMPUS LIKE THE OSU 34, LIKE THE BLACK STUDENT UNION, THE AFRICAN STUDENT UNION, AYL. SO, THEY FORMED THESE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE MIDST OF ALSO HAVING THE DENY

ORGANIZATIONS AS WELL SO THAT THEY COULD ADVOCATE FOR ISSUES SPECIFICALLY FOR BLACK STUDENTS ON CAMPUS. >> WHAT OUR STUDENTS NEED IS THE EXACT SAME THINGS THAT THEY NEEDED 70 TO 100 YEARS AGO, AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME TO A PLACE TO GET A WONDERFUL EDUCATION, BUT TO ALSO LEAVE HERE WITH A

STRONG SET OF FRIENDS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS. BUT ALSO TO FIND WAYS TO BE GROUNDED IN PRINCIPLES AROUND SERVICE AND SISTERHOOD AND BROTHERHOOD. SO, WHEN I THINK ABOUT NPHC AND SORORITIES AND FRATERNITIES, THEY ARE REALLY THE PLACE WHERE STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO BUILD THOSE CONNECTIONS. >> THE MOTTO OF THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL IS

UNANIMITY OF THOUGHT AND ACTION. THAT’S JUST TO SAY, THIS IS THE SPACE THAT WE ALL COME TOGETHER, REGARDLESS OF THE COLORS WE WEAR OR THE MOTTOS WE SAY INDIVIDUALLY. WE COME TOGETHER HERE BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE ALL HAVE A COLLECTIVE GOAL, TO SERVE THE GREATER COMMUNITY, TO SERVE THE

BLACK COMMUNITY, TO CREATE SPACE FOR STUDENTS ON CAMPUS. SO, WHENEVER WE UNITE AS THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL, WE’RE ALL JOINING TOGETHER FOR ONE FRONT TO PUT ON AN EVEN BIGGER INITIATIVE THAN WE CAN DO ON OUR OWN. >> THERE WAS AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT WHO PUT TOGETHER A WRITTEN PLAN, AND SHE TOOK THIS

PROPOSAL AND BEGAN TO SHOW IT TO PEOPLE ON CAMPUS AND SAY, WE WANT A PLAZA. WE WANT A PLAZA. AND SHE SHOWED IT TO ADMINISTRATION AND DIFFERENT PEOPLE. AND THEN DEVIN SIMMS JOINED IN. THEY WERE DOING THINGS WITH THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL. AND THANKFULLY FOR PEOPLE LIKE DR. MELISSA SHIVERS, WHO TOOK

THAT PLAN AND SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE’RE GOING TO DO THIS. AND SHE TOOK TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY AND THEN THE BOARD AND THE TRUSTEES TO SAY, WE NEED TO SPEND SOME MONEY ON THIS AND HOW DO WE CARVE OUT THIS FOOTPRINT? >> ONE OF THE THINGS I WAS VERY

COMMITTED TO WAS MAKING SURE THE STUDENTS WERE THE LEADERS OF THIS PROJECT. WE GET TO, KIND OF, WORK BEHIND THE SCENES TO MAKE SURE ALL THE TECHNICAL PIECES AND THE MAGIC HAPPENS. BUT REALLY THIS WAS THEIR INITIATIVE. THIS WAS THEIR DREAM. AND WE REALLY NEEDED THEM TO BE IN THE FOREFRONT.

AND BOY WERE THEY? >> BEFORE THIS PLAZA WAS ACCOMPLISHED, THE MAIN CENTER WAS THE HALE BLACK CULTURAL CENTER AND MUSEUM, THAT HAS A OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS. THE OFFICE OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION WORKS OVER THERE. BUT BEFORE THE PLAZA, THERE WAS NOT MUCH OF A SPACE FOR BLACK STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY BLACK GREEK

STUDENTS, TO BE OPENLY RECOGNIZED, TO HAVE SPACE, TO HAVE PROGRAMMING FOR THEM, TO HAVE AN INTENTIONAL AREA BUILT OUT FOR THE COMMUNITY. >> SO, THIS IS THE NPHC PLAZA, MADE OF NINE ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE CALL THE DIVINE NINE. >> IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO HAVE A PHYSICAL SPACE BECAUSE OF

VISIBILITY. IT’S OKAY TO HAVE SOMETHING WHERE YOU KNOW YOU SHOWCASE BUT THAT DOESN’T STAY THERE FOR LONG. IT’S NOT SOMETHING EVERYBODY CAN COME AND SEE BECAUSE IT’LL BE GONE MAYBE IN A WEEK OR A MONTH. SOMETHING THAT IS PARTICULARLY FOR US. >> NOW, WHEN I WALK ON THIS

UNIVERSITY, I CAN GO TO A PARK WHERE I CAN SEE IDENTITY OF THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL. >> PART OF THE MISSION WITH THIS PLAZA IS TO GIVE PEOPLE SOMETHING TO COME BACK FOR, TO GIVE PEOPLE SOMETHING TO SAY, THIS IS WHAT I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS AT OHIO STATE, THIS IS WHAT

I WAS INVOLVED IN, THIS IS WHAT MEANT SOMETHING TO ME AT THIS SCHOOL. >> WHEN THE PLAZA WAS CREATED, IT REALLY WAS A TANGIBLE AND PHYSICAL SYMBOL OF THE PRESENCE OF NOT ONLY OUR ORGANIZATION BUT A VERY MARGINALIZED COMMUNITY FOR A GREAT DEAL OF TIME HERE AT OHIO STATE.

SO, WHEN YOU SEE THE PHYSICAL REPRESENTATION OF A MONUMENT, IT REALLY HELPS TO VALIDATE THE PRESENT. ♪♪ >> AND IT HELPS TO SAY THAT, YES, YOU HAVE SPACE HERE AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. [ CROWD CHANTING ]

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