NPHC Plot Ceremony | Photo by Diana Jaber | The Wright State Guardian
Students, staff, faculty and alumni gathered on Wright State’s campus Thursday afternoon to celebrate the groundbreaking of the National Pan-Hellenic (NPHC) plots to be built on campus.
Long overdue
A long time in the waiting, community members gathered to celebrate the beginning of a plaza that will represent students of the NPHC and the history of those that came before them.
“When I first started in SGA about four year ago and I was student body vice president, I went to [President Susan Edwards’] office and I said, ‘you know Wright State does a lot of talking about how they want to support minorities, how they want to be an inclusive university, but sometimes I feel like it wasn’t backed up by action,’” Former Student Body President and Kappa Alpha Psi member Adrian Williams said.
Williams was not the only member of the campus community to notice the absence of representation on campus and a need for change.
“I remember coming to Wright State in 2018 as a freshman just turning 18, that I didn’t ever really see any representation here for NPHC, besides the tunnel paintings,” WSU’s NPHC President Daishanae Moore said.
According to Williams, Edwards issued a new culture at WSU and supported the NPHC plots from the beginning.
“This was a long and overdue occasion,” Edwards said. “I am very thrilled to have worked with such fabulous students who have really had passion and drive to see this to fruition.”
According to Gina Keucher, program director for Fraternity and Sorority Life, the plots are a visible symbol of recognition, especially to students who struggle to feel like they were important on WSU’s campus.
“It is an absolute statement that you have a home here, that you have a space on this campus,” Keucher said. “I’m really hoping that is a way for them to hear the administration and their real desire and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The History of NPHC
NPHC plots were originally started on historically black college campuses, but the idea made its way to predominantly white college campuses, such as WSU.
WSU is believed to be one of the first predominantly white public universities in Ohio to create such a plot.
At Cornell University in 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha was the first Greek-letter Fraternity established for African American men. The NPHC was created 24 years later, in 1930.
Today, the NPHC includes the divine nine historically black greek letter fraternities and sororities.
“Plots on campus serve as a recognition of the historical importance of land and how land was denied to black families,” Daishane Moore, president of NPHC at WSU, said.
According to Adrian Williams, the Divine Nine and the NPHC started from African American students trying to find a home on campus.
“In the early 1900s, they [African Americans] were allowed to get an education at predominately white institutions, but they were not allowed to do any of the activities that kind of make the college experience the full thing, so they formed their own.”
Donating
According to Keucher, $25,500 has already been raised for the project through generous donations from community members, including Wright Patt Credit Union, the Wright State Alumni Association, and the African American Alumni Society.
Those wishing to learn more about the NPHC Plots or how to donate can click here.
