History of the UF Division of Student Affairs | Page 110

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College in Lake City in 1884. In 1903, the Florida Legislature changed the name
of the Florida Agricultural College to the University of Florida. In 1903, Zeta
Beta Tau was chartered. In 1904, the Kappa Alpha Order and Pi Kappa Alpha
were chartered. UF and the established student organizations including these
fraternities moved to Gainesville in 1906. SAE and ATO are recognized as the first
UF fraternities still in existence by UF Sorority & Fraternity Affairs. IFC formed at
UF in 1916. Toda y, IFC governs 25 fraternities with over 2,500 active members.
P a n h e l l e n i c Co u n c i l

Women were admitted to UF in 1948. They immediately expressed interest in
chartering sororities. Five sororities were initially installed in 1948 with six more
following in 1949. By 1966, there were 13 sorority chapters.
The first campus housing for women (Yulee Area) was completed in 1950. From
1948 – 1949, there was no campus housing for women. Women were required
to live in UF-supervised off campus properties. There were no sorority houses,
and sorority women wanted sorority housing. A UF committee was appointed
in 1948 to review suitable housing. An opportunity became available to buy the
land now known as Sorority Row from the City of Gainesville. By Commencement
1949, the city presented UF President J. Hillis Miller the deed to this land. George
Baughman, UF assistant business manager, financed “small dormitories” to be
built for sorority houses via the Federal Housing Administration and construction
began on Sorority Row. A similar plan was adopted for Fraternity Row at the west
side of campus on the Pinkoson property in the 1950s to assist fraternities with
building fraternity houses.
The Panhellenic Council formed at UF in 1948 as the governing body for sororities.
Today, the Panhellenic Council governs 16 sorority chapters, each with chapter
houses, with over 3,000 active members.
N at i o n a l P a n - H e l l e n i c Co u n c i l ( N P HC )

The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) governs historically Black Greekletter organizations. The first Black student was admitted to UF in 1958. In 1972,
Kappa Alpha Psi became the first chartered Black Greek-letter organization on
the UF campus. The NPHC formed at UF in 1993. Today, NPHC governs seven
organizations — 3 fraternities and 4 sororities.

H i s t o r y o f t h e UF D S A