History

Our History

On February 25, 1955, the Panhellenic Councils of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, and the University of Alabama entertained the first Southeastern Panhellenic Conference.  The gathering of representatives from various Panhellenic Councils in the Southeast was an idea of the Auburn Panhellenic Council.  The response at the first meeting was overwhelming, especially to the Auburn Panhellenic members who were particularly excited when the conference delegates voted to make the meeting an annual affair.

Invitations to the conference were sent to all schools in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.  Representatives were sent from:

Birmingham Southern
Florida State
Howard University
LA Polytechnic Institute
Mercer University
Mississippi Southern College
Southwestern at Memphis
University of Alabama
University of Chattanooga
University of Georgia
University of Miami

The conference began with registration on Friday afternoon, a buffet supper for the conference delegates and Auburn Panhellenic Council members, and a business session immediately following the supper.  After dinner, the women of Kappa Delta at an Open House provided entertainment for their National President.

Lucy Roy, Treasurer of the Auburn Panhellenic Council, acted as chairperson of the conference, while Beth Calovitz, President of the Auburn Panhellenic Council, presided at all business sessions.  Workshops were held on campus service projects, formal rushing, Panhellenic training programs for chapter officers, sorority relationships to college and other groups, open rush and pledge quotas, Panhellenic Workshops, and Greek Weeks.  The keynote speaker of the conference was Mrs. Julia Ober, Kappa Delta's National President, who gave her presentation to approximately 300 sorority members at a luncheon on Saturday.

The conference was a student-conceived, student-executed project.  The efforts to educate women and share ideas and concerns continued annually at various campuses.  In 1975, members voted to divide the conference participants into large and small school divisions.  However, the following year, they replaced this vote, deciding to favor one large group rather than two smaller ones.  In the following years, the number of participating women and schools continued to grow and is still growing, with several different schools hosting the conference over the years.  In 1993, members voted to stop housing conference attendees in host chapter's houses and to establish a central meeting place for all future conferences large enough to accommodate the continuously growing number of attendees. The place named was the Sheraton Colony Square Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, where the conference is still being held today.  In 1998, delegates voted to omit the host school and elect a conference committee consisting of one delegate from each state.

In an effort to plan strategically for the future of SEPC, a thorough review of the Constitution was conducted. Through this review, the Constitution was updated and the following decisions were made at the 2005 Annual Conference Business Meeting:

1. Removed state delineations and enabled all those who pay dues to participate in a Conference Committee application selection process.
2. Enabled all those who pay dues to participate as a voting member of the Conference.
3. Differentiated the Southeastern Panhellenic Conference as the annual meeting of the Southeastern Panhellenic Association.