Cultural interest fraternities and sororities, in the North American student fraternity and sorority system, refer to general or social organizations oriented to students having a special interest in a culture or cultural identity. Although racial and religious restrictions have long since been abolished in all

North American Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting ...

and

National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 (inter)national women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alumn ...

organizations, their memberships nationally remain predominantly

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

, and

National Pan-Hellenic Council The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). The NPHC was formed as a permanent ...

memberships predominantly

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

. The new generation of "cultural interest" organizations has arisen to serve the interests of communities whose numbers in the traditional Greek system are historically small and dispersed. Following is a list of national cultural interest fraternities and sororities.

African American

Armenian

Asian American

Asian American interest Greek lettered organizations first came to be in the early 20th century. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, there was a surge in participation to join these organizations, as college campuses were seeing a rise in multiculturalism. Rho Psi was the first Asian American interest Greek lettered organization and was created on the campus of Cornell University in 1916. Since then, there has been growth in these Asian American interest Greek lettered organizations across North America. There are currently over 60 Asian American interest Greek lettered organizations, 11 of which are overseen by the National APIDA Panhellenic Association. Active organizations in bold, inactive organizations in ''italics''.

Notes

::¹ Member of th
National APIDA Panhellenic Association
:: ² Member of the

Christian

Italian-American

Notes

:: ^* Member of the

Jewish

Latino

The first known Latino fraternal organization was established in 1889 at Cornell University and was named Alpha Zeta Fraternity. The current rise in Latino Greek organizations began in 1975, and is known as the Latino Greek Movement. This called for the equality of Latino people in America, and many of these existing organizations were developed to create solidarity and political empowerment for the Latino community. There are currently 45 Latin oriented fraternities and sororities, 16 of which are under the NALFO ( National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations).

Notes

:: ¹ Member of the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations :: ² Member of the

:: ³ Not a member of any national Greek umbrella organization

LGBT

Multicultural

These organizations do not identify with a specific cultural identity. Some may fall under associations that cater towards specific cultural backgrounds, however the organization itself respectively refers to themselves as Multicultural.

Notes

:: ¹ Member of the

National Multicultural Greek Council The National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC) is an umbrella council for eleven multicultural fraternities and sororities (Greek Letter Organizations (GLOs)) in the United States. It was established in 1998. Affiliate organizations Organizati ...

:: ² Member of the

:: ³ Member of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association

Muslim

Native American

Persian

South Asian

Notes

::¹ Member of th
National APIDA Panhellenic Association
:: ² Member of the

References

{{Fraternities and Sororities, collapsed Fraternities and sororities by type Cultural Fraternities and sororities

African American

Armenian

Asian American

Notes

Christian

Italian-American

Notes

Jewish

Latino

Notes

LGBT

Multicultural

Notes

Muslim

Native American

Persian

South Asian

Notes

See also

References