National APIDA Panhellenic Association
The National APIDA Panhellenic Association (NAPA) is an umbrella council for twenty Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American fraternities and sororities (Greek Letter organizations) in universities in the United States.[1]
 | |
| Abbreviation | NAPA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Type | Trade association |
| Location | |
Membership | 20 Organizations |
| Website | www.napahq.org |
History
In the summer of 2004, 9 fraternal organizations which served Asian and Pacific Islander students at US schools came together to form what was then called the APIA Greek Alliance (AGA), a partnership with APIA Vote aimed at registering voters in advance of the 2004 United States elections. These nine organizations were alpha Kappa Delta Phi, Alpha Iota Omicron, Delta Phi Lambda, Lambda Phi Epsilon, Kappa Phi Lambda, Nu Alpha Phi, Pi Alpha Phi, Pi Delta Psi, and Sigma Psi Zeta.[2]
The success of this partnership led to additional collaboration. The AGA hosted the first ever leadership summit in the summer of 2005 with support from OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates. By the end of this summit, the fraternities and sororities present formed the North American Greek Council (NAGC) which comprised the following seven organizations: alpha Kappa Delta Phi, Alpha Phi Gamma, Delta Phi Lambda, Pi Alpha Phi, Pi Delta Psi, Sigma Beta Rho, and Sigma Psi Zeta.
In 2006, the NAGC formalized its constitution and renamed itself to the National APIA Panhellenic Association or National Asian Pacific Islander American Panhellenic Association (NAPA) and recognized the following 9 organization as charter members: alpha Kappa Delta Phi, Alpha Phi Gamma, Delta Phi Lambda, Delta Kappa Delta, Kappa Phi Lambda, Pi Alpha Phi, Pi Delta Psi, Sigma Beta Rho and Sigma Psi Zeta.[3][4]
In 2017, the member organizations unanimously voted to add Desi to its formal name, a word describing people from the Indian subcontinent or South Asia, and in doing so adopted the acronym APIDA, to explicitly reflect their service of groups with South Asian membership. NAPA remains the preferred abbreviation.[5] The organizations at the time were alpha Kappa Delta Phi, Alpha Phi Gamma, Beta Chi Theta , Chi Sigma Tau, Delta Epsilon Psi, Delta Phi Lambda, Delta Kappa Delta, Delta Phi Omega, Delta Sigma Iota, Iota Nu Delta, Kappa Phi Gamma, Kappa Phi Lambda, Lambda Phi Epsilon, Pi Alpha Phi, Pi Delta Psi, Sigma Beta Rho, Sigma Psi Zeta, and Sigma Sigma Rho.
NAPA has worked with peer organizations like NALFO, NMGC, NIC, NPC and NPHC on legislative issues. For example, in 2018 they successfully opposed legislation that would ban Greek life across all colleges and universities in Tennessee.[6]
Membership Requirements
APIDA requires that its members (organizations) meet Fraternal Information and Programming Group (FIPG) guidelines in Risk management, hazing, and liability insurance. They decision to do so was made in 2006 with then-current groups allowed two years to meet these requirements.[7]
Member organizations
The alphabetical list of NAPA member fraternities and sororities. [8][9]
| Organization Name | Greek Letters | Chapters | Date Founded | Place Founded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| alpha Kappa Delta Phi International Sorority, Inc. | αΚΔΦ | 63 | February 7, 1990 | University of California, Berkeley | [10] |
| Alpha Phi Gamma National Sorority, Inc. | ΑΦΓ | 16 | February 1, 1994 | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | |
| Alpha Sigma Rho National Sorority, Inc. | ΑΣΡ | 10 | April 2, 1998 | University of Georgia | |
| Beta Chi Theta National Fraternity, Inc. | ΒΧΘ | 29 | June 2, 1999 | University of California, Los Angeles | |
| Chi Sigma Tau National Fraternity, Inc. | ΧΣΤ | 9 | September 9, 1999 | University of Illinois at Chicago | |
| Delta Epsilon Psi National Fraternity, Inc. | ΔΕΨ | 35 | October 1, 1998 | University of Texas at Austin | |
| Delta Kappa Delta National Sorority, Inc. | ΔΚΔ | 15 | October 1, 1999 | Texas A&M University | |
| Delta Phi Lambda National Sorority, Inc. | ΔΦΛ | 24 | December 5, 1998 | University of Georgia | |
| Delta Phi Omega National Sorority, Inc. | ΔΦΩ | 49 | December 6, 1998 | University of Houston | |
| Delta Sigma Iota National Fraternity, Inc. | ΔΣΙ | 8 | August 15, 2000 | Pennsylvania State University | |
| Iota Nu Delta National Fraternity, Inc. | ΙΝΔ | 30 | February 7, 1994 | Binghamton University | |
| Kappa Phi Gamma National Sorority, Inc. | ΚΦΓ | 19 | November 8, 1998 | University of Texas at Austin | |
| Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. | ΚΦΛ | 37 | March 9, 1995 | Binghamton University | |
| Kappa Pi Beta National Fraternity, Inc. | ΚΠΒ | 5 | March 16, 2000 | Northern Illinois University | |
| Lambda Phi Epsilon International Fraternity, Inc. | ΛΦΕ | 70 | February 25, 1981 | University of California, Los Angeles | |
| Pi Alpha Phi National Fraternity, Inc. | ΠΑΦ | 28 | February 1, 1929 | University of California, Berkeley | |
| Pi Delta Psi National Fraternity, Inc. | ΠΔΨ | 31 | February 20, 1994 | Binghamton University | |
| Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity, Inc. | ΣΒΡ | 57 | August 16, 1996 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Sigma Psi Zeta National Sorority, Inc. | ΣΨΖ | 39 | March 23, 1994 | University at Albany | |
| Sigma Sigma Rho Sorority, Inc. | ΣΣΡ | 26 | December 10, 1998 | St. John's University | |
See also
External links
- Official website
- NAPA was referenced extensively in a scholarly discussion of use of social media, accessed 12 Jun 2021.[11]
- NAPA was referenced extensively in an examination of issues of human sexuality, accessed 12 Jun 2021.[12]
- NAPA and its member organizations were referenced as a source for necessary future research into the rise of South Asian Greeks, accessed 12 Jun 2021.[13]
References
- National APIDA Panhellenic Association Archives – Student Life and Culture Archives – U of I Library, accessed 12 Jun 2021.
- Brian Gee; Hannah Seoh (2020). Pietro A. Sasso; J. Patrick Biddix; Mónica Lee Miranda (eds.). Supporting Fraternities and Sororities in the Contemporary Era: Advancements in Practice. Myers Education Press. pp. 225–232. ISBN 978-1-975502-70-6.
- Sasso, P. A.; Miranda, M. L. (2019). Foundations, Research, and Assessment of Fraternities and Sororities: Retrospective and Future Considerations (1 ed.). Stylus Publishing, LLC. pp. Section: History of Asian American GreekLetter Organizations. ISBN 9781975502669. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- Founding and organizational information from the NAPA website, accessed 12 Jun 2021.
- Noted in a 2016 press release, accessed 12 Jun 2012.
- Jones, LaMont (August 24, 2018). "New Semester, Old Challenges for Fraternities, Sororities". Diverse Issues in Higher Education. CMA. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors - Essentials E-Magazine September 2019
- From the NAPA website, list of organizations, accessed 12 Jun 2021.
- William Raimond Baird; Carroll Lurding (eds.). "Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities (Baird's Manual Online Archive), main page. Most NAPA fraternities and sororities are listed; send in a correction with the appropriate details if not". Student Life and Culture Archives. University of Illinois: University of Illinois Archives. Retrieved 31 December 2021..
- alpha Kappa Delta Phi prefers that the leading "alpha" in their name not be capitalized.
- Taylor, Z.W.; McArdle, Arianne (6 Aug 2019). "Tweeting in Greek: How National Fraternities and Sororities Use Twitter". ORACLE: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors. SSRN. 13 (2): 1–17. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- Garcia, C. E.; Duran, A. (2021). "Regulating sexualities through gender-based rhetoric: Examining the nuanced realities of queer women of color in culturally based sororities". Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. American Psychological Association (APA). doi:10.1037/dhe0000312.
- Badruddin, B. (2017). "Lions, Tigers, and South Asian Greeks: Oh, My! The Opportunity for More Research!". Texas Education Review. 5 (2). Retrieved 12 June 2021.