{"id":226,"date":"2026-05-10T16:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T16:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/divine-nine-organizations-complete-comparison-chart\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T07:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T07:22:12","slug":"divine-nine-organizations-complete-comparison-chart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/divine-nine-organizations-complete-comparison-chart\/","title":{"rendered":"The Divine Nine Organizations: A Complete Comparison Chart"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Divine Nine is the collective name for the nine Black Greek-letter organizations that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Each was founded with a distinct history, a distinct culture, and a distinct set of programs, yet all share the same core commitments to scholarship, service, and the advancement of Black communities. For anyone trying to understand what the Divine Nine is<\/a> and how the nine organizations differ from one another, a side-by-side look at the key facts offers the clearest starting point.<\/p>\n

The table and profiles below cover founding dates, locations, colors, mottos, nicknames, signature programs, and notable members for all nine. The organizations are listed in the order they were founded.<\/p>\n

All Nine Organizations: Key Facts at a Glance<\/h2>\n
\"Divine
Members of the Divine Nine organizations on campus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Organization<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nFounded<\/th>\nLocation<\/th>\nColors<\/th>\nNickname<\/th>\nMotto<\/th>\nChapters<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Alpha Phi Alpha<\/td>\nFraternity<\/td>\nDec 4, 1906<\/td>\nCornell University (PWI)<\/td>\nBlack and gold<\/td>\nAlphas<\/td>\nFirst of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All<\/td>\n730+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alpha Kappa Alpha<\/td>\nSorority<\/td>\nJan 15, 1908<\/td>\nHoward University (HBCU)<\/td>\nSalmon pink and apple green<\/td>\nIvies<\/td>\nBy Culture and by Merit<\/td>\n1,061+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kappa Alpha Psi<\/td>\nFraternity<\/td>\nJan 5, 1911<\/td>\nIndiana University (PWI)<\/td>\nCrimson and cream<\/td>\nNupes<\/td>\nAchievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor<\/td>\n721+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Omega Psi Phi<\/td>\nFraternity<\/td>\nNov 17, 1911<\/td>\nHoward University (HBCU)<\/td>\nPurple and gold<\/td>\nQues<\/td>\nFriendship Is Essential to the Soul<\/td>\n750+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Delta Sigma Theta<\/td>\nSorority<\/td>\nJan 13, 1913<\/td>\nHoward University (HBCU)<\/td>\nCrimson and cream<\/td>\nDeltas<\/td>\nIntelligence Is the Torch of Wisdom<\/td>\n1,000+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phi Beta Sigma<\/td>\nFraternity<\/td>\nJan 9, 1914<\/td>\nHoward University (HBCU)<\/td>\nBlue and white<\/td>\nSigmas<\/td>\nCulture for Service and Service for Humanity<\/td>\n750+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zeta Phi Beta<\/td>\nSorority<\/td>\nJan 16, 1920<\/td>\nHoward University (HBCU)<\/td>\nRoyal blue and white<\/td>\nZetas<\/td>\nA Community-Conscious, Action-Oriented Organization<\/td>\n850+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sigma Gamma Rho<\/td>\nSorority<\/td>\nNov 12, 1922<\/td>\nButler University (PWI)<\/td>\nRoyal blue and gold<\/td>\nSGRhos<\/td>\nGreater Service, Greater Progress<\/td>\n500+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iota Phi Theta<\/td>\nFraternity<\/td>\nSep 19, 1963<\/td>\nMorgan State University (HBCU)<\/td>\nCharcoal brown and gilded gold<\/td>\nIotas<\/td>\nBuilding a Tradition, Not Resting upon One<\/td>\n300+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Three of the five fraternities were founded at Howard University. Three organizations were founded at predominantly white institutions: Alpha Phi Alpha at Cornell, Kappa Alpha Psi at Indiana University, and Sigma Gamma Rho at Butler University. Iota Phi Theta, the youngest of the nine, was founded in 1963 at Morgan State University, more than fifty years after the others.<\/p>\n

The Five Fraternities<\/h2>\n
\"Divine
Members of NPHC fraternities and sororities at a campus event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The five fraternities span founding dates from 1906 to 1963 and represent a range of founding institutions, founding contexts, and organizational cultures. All five share a commitment to brotherhood, scholarship, and service within Black communities.<\/p>\n

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (1906)<\/h3>\n

Alpha Phi Alpha was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University, making it the first intercollegiate Black Greek-letter fraternity in the United States. Its founders, seven men who began as a study group, established the organization when Black students at predominantly white universities had no institutional community of their own. The fraternity’s programs have included Head Start, Project Alpha, and partnerships with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. With over 290,000 members and 730 active chapters, Alpha Phi Alpha counts Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, and Raphael Warnock among its alumni.<\/p>\n

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (1911)<\/h3>\n

Founded on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University, Kappa Alpha Psi was established with a motto centered on achievement across every field of human endeavor. The fraternity has been open to members of all races and nationalities since its founding. Kappa Alpha Psi is known for its cane-stepping tradition, which has been a signature performance element since the 1950s. The fraternity’s Guide Right mentoring program and UNCF partnerships reflect its ongoing service commitment. Members are known informally as Nupes. Notable alumni include Ralph Abernathy, Johnnie Cochran, LeBron James, and Colin Kaepernick.<\/p>\n

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. (1911)<\/h3>\n

Omega Psi Phi was founded on November 17, 1911, at Howard University, making it the first Black fraternity founded at a historically Black college or university. Its four cardinal principles are manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift. Members are commonly known as Ques. The fraternity’s programs span voter registration drives, fatherhood mentoring, literacy initiatives, and STEM outreach. Omega Psi Phi has over 250,000 members across 750 active chapters. Notable alumni include Langston Hughes, Michael Jordan, Jesse Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Steve Harvey.<\/p>\n

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (1914)<\/h3>\n

Phi Beta Sigma was founded on January 9, 1914, at Howard University, with brotherhood, scholarship, and service as its founding ideals. It is the only NPHC fraternity with a constitutionally bound sister organization: Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. The fraternity pioneered several traditions that became standard across Greek life, including alumni chapters, youth mentoring clubs, and fraternity credit unions. Its Bigger and Better Business program and Project S.W.W.A.C. (Sigmas Waging War Against Cancer) are among its most recognized initiatives. Members are known as Sigmas. Notable alumni include George Washington Carver, John Lewis, Al Roker, Jerry Rice, and Emmitt Smith.<\/p>\n

Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. (1963)<\/h3>\n

Iota Phi Theta was founded on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Its twelve founders were non-traditional students, older than the typical Greek-letter org founders of earlier decades, who were directly shaped by the civil rights environment around them. The fraternity’s first coordinated action was a picket line of a segregated theater near campus. Iota Phi Theta was the last organization admitted to the NPHC, joining in 1996. Members are known as Iotas. The fraternity has over 30,000 members in 300 chapters across 40 states and several countries. Notable alumni include Congressman Bobby Rush and Spencer Christian.<\/p>\n

The Four Sororities<\/h2>\n
\"Divine
NPHC sorority members represent four of the Divine Nine organizations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The four sororities range in founding from 1908 to 1922 and collectively represent some of the most prominent women’s organizations in American history. Three were founded at Howard University; Sigma Gamma Rho stands apart as the only one founded at a predominantly white institution.<\/p>\n

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (1908)<\/h3>\n

Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University by sixteen women who sought to create the first Greek-letter organization for Black college women. It remains the oldest established Black sorority in the United States. Members are known informally as Ivies. The sorority has over 325,000 members across 1,061 chapters in eleven nations. AKA’s focus areas include empowering families, building economic wealth, and social justice advocacy. Notable members include Kamala Harris, Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks, and Phylicia Rashad.<\/p>\n

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (1913)<\/h3>\n

Delta Sigma Theta was founded on January 13, 1913, at Howard University and has become the largest Black Greek-letter sorority in the world, with over 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters across six continents. Twenty-two founders established the organization with deep roots in civil rights activism: the founding members marched in the Women’s Suffrage March just weeks after founding the sorority. Members are known as Deltas. The sorority’s Five-Point Thrust program covers education, economic development, physical and mental health, political awareness, and international affairs. Notable members include Shirley Chisholm, Aretha Franklin, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Cicely Tyson, and Dorothy Height.<\/p>\n

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (1920)<\/h3>\n

Zeta Phi Beta was founded on January 16, 1920, at Howard University as the constitutional sister organization of Phi Beta Sigma, making the two organizations the only constitutionally linked brother-sister pair in the Divine Nine. The sorority’s founding ideals are scholarship, service, sisterhood, and finer womanhood. Zeta Phi Beta was the first NPHC organization to establish a chapter in Africa, which it did in 1948. It was also the first to form auxiliary groups and the first to have a national headquarters. The sorority has over 100,000 members in 850 chapters. Notable members include Zora Neale Hurston, Dionne Warwick, Chaka Khan, and Anita Hill.<\/p>\n

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (1922)<\/h3>\n

Sigma Gamma Rho was founded on November 12, 1922, at Butler University in Indianapolis, making it the only Divine Nine sorority founded at a predominantly white institution. Its seven founders were all educators, and the sorority’s early identity was shaped by the experiences of Black professional women rather than Black college students at an HBCU. The sorority joined the NPHC in 1937. Its signature programs include Operation BigBookBag, ACT Against AIDS, and the National Marrow Donor Program partnership. Members are known as SGRhos. Notable alumni include MC Lyte, Hattie McDaniel, Fantasia, and Kelly Price.<\/p>\n

What Connects All Nine<\/h2>\n
\"NPHC
NPHC organizations recognized with a legacy plaza at UNC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite their different founding dates, founding institutions, colors, and cultures, all nine organizations were built in response to the same historical condition: the exclusion of Black students from the fraternities and sororities that dominated American campus life in the early twentieth century. That founding history<\/a> is inseparable from what these organizations continue to do today.<\/p>\n

Every organization in the Divine Nine maintains a commitment to community service oriented toward Black communities. Every organization expects lifelong engagement, with alumni and graduate chapters continuing the work that undergraduate chapters begin. Every organization was built around scholarship as a core value, not just as a membership requirement but as an organizational mission. And every organization’s history has intersected, at some point, with the civil rights movement<\/a> \u2014 that record is documented across all nine organizations, not just the most prominent ones.<\/p>\n

The nine together represent nearly four million members worldwide. They operate in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Collectively they have produced some of the most recognized figures in American political, cultural, and intellectual life across more than a century of history.<\/p>\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n

Which Divine Nine organization has the most members?<\/h3>\n

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority has over 325,000 initiated members, making it one of the largest by total membership count. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is recognized as the largest Black Greek-letter sorority in the world by chapter count, with over 1,000 chapters globally. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity is among the largest fraternities with over 290,000 members.<\/p>\n

What is the oldest of the Divine Nine?<\/h3>\n

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University, is the oldest of the nine organizations. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University, is the oldest Black sorority. Iota Phi Theta, founded in 1963, is the youngest of the nine.<\/p>\n

Which Divine Nine sorority was not founded at an HBCU?<\/h3>\n

Sigma Gamma Rho is the only Divine Nine sorority not founded at a historically Black college or university. It was founded in 1922 at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, a predominantly white institution. Its seven founders were educators rather than traditional college students, which shaped the sorority’s early identity and service focus.<\/p>\n

Do Delta Sigma Theta and Kappa Alpha Psi share the same colors?<\/h3>\n

Yes. Both Delta Sigma Theta and Kappa Alpha Psi use crimson and cream as their official colors. Similarly, Phi Beta Sigma and Zeta Phi Beta both use blue and white, which reflects their constitutional bond as the only formally linked brother-sister pair in the Divine Nine. Sigma Gamma Rho and Zeta Phi Beta share blue as a primary color but differ in the secondary: Sigma Gamma Rho uses gold, Zeta Phi Beta uses white.<\/p>\n

Nine Organizations, One Council<\/h2>\n
\"Divine
Divine Nine chapters are active across universities throughout the country<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The nine organizations in the NPHC are distinct in their founding stories, their cultural identities, and the specific communities and programs they prioritize. Alpha Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi were built at PWIs, while Howard University served as the founding ground for five of the nine. Sigma Gamma Rho’s educator founders give it a different origin point than the student-founded organizations. Iota Phi Theta’s 1963 founding puts it in a category of its own as an organization born directly out of the civil rights era rather than the earlier era of racial exclusion from white institutions.<\/p>\n

The chart above is a starting point, not the full picture. Each of the nine has its own internal culture, its own notable alumni, and its own way of expressing the mission that all nine share. The founding dates and colors are the easiest things to compare; the harder and more meaningful differences show up in the experiences of members, in the work chapters do in their communities, and in the decades of history each organization carries into every new intake cycle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A side-by-side look at all nine NPHC organizations covering founding dates, colors, mottos, nicknames, signature programs, and notable members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greek-life-divine-nine"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229,"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions\/229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}