A History of Brotherhood

The history of Greek letter social fraternities at Furman has not been smooth sailing. The earliest fraternities seem to appear in the 19th century, however some time during these early years the Greek system was banned by the school. In 1927 these social groups were once again reinstated and many opened houses around the Old Campus. During WWII fraternities once again began to fade out, but with the return of male students ( in great numbers thanks to the GI bill) they grew in leaps and bounds towards the end of the 1940s. The fraternities were pushing for dances and other socials now that Greenville Women's College and Furman were one. But the Baptist Convention wanted none of it and forced President Plyler to close all Greek letter social organizations during the winter of 1962-1963. Although they were officially banned most frats continued as social clubs under other names, until the break with the Baptists in 1993, where upon fraternities were officially recognized by the school.

Delta Kappa Alpha Gamma Pi...?

Although Greek life is a long standing tradition at Furman, for female students it has been a more recent reality. According to the Baptist Convention, Furman was not allowed to have Greek life on campus. But as soon as the school broke religious ties the many female social organizations on campus applied to become chapters of national sororities. And although the formal Greek organizations have only been in place since the early 1990s, female students have been creating social groups since the time of "the zoo" (Greenville Women's College).