Meet the Greeks is an event held by the San Diego State University National Panhellenic Council every September, where each sorority and fraternity in the council takes the opportunity to display their pride for their chapter.
On Sept. 18, music, dancing and cheering resounded through the Montezuma Hall Theater. One minute, the rows of seats vibrated with the impact of feet hitting the stage floor and the next, a single finger snapping could echo from one side of the theater to the other.
These performances, rooted in the African American culture the NPHC was founded on, are unique to each organization and give the audience insight into each sorority’s and fraternity’s history and values.
Ezinne Igwe, the NPHC president and a sister of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, commented on the importance of this event for students interested in learning more about the NPHC Greek experience.
“It helps people really understand more than what they see on TikTok and all social media. They get to see that real history. People get to ask up-front questions, not just comments on TikTok, so it’s really important to get valuable information.”
In addition to performing, each organization took time while they were onstage to give a short presentation on their chapter. Most highlighted their founding, pillars and upcoming events among other things.
After every chapter had taken their turn, audience members were given the opportunity to ask them anonymous questions. Many questions came from students interested in becoming involved in the organization and were most frequently about the requirements to join and what drew current members to their respective organizations.
Igwe summed up her answer simply, saying, “I joined because I was looking to be a better woman in college.”
She continued by talking about the inspiration she received from other sisters to step out of her shell and participate in events she wouldn’t have felt comfortable with otherwise.
Mekhi Wilson, a member of Delta Sigma Theta agreed that the overarching goal of the NPHC is to benefit the greater community.
“Hopefully our passion for what we do ignites that in other people even if they don’t join.”
The members of each chapter who went up onstage all emphasized history, growth and community as important aspects of their organizations. They also took time to uplift each other and were especially welcoming toward one of SDSU’s newest Greek organizations, Iota Phi Theta.
In the spring of 2025, Iota Phi Theta established its San Diego chapter at the University of San Diego, and they have now set their sights on expanding to SDSU.
NPHC has nine fraternities and sororities associated with it, nationally, also known as the Divine Nine, and since 1980, SDSU has been home to eight of them.
Wilson pointed out that this year marks an historical addition to the council.
“As of right now, we have every single Divine Nine organization at our campus, so that’s very rare and unique,” she said.
With another successful Meet the Greeks coming to a close, Aaron Ballard, a student at USD and brother of the newly established San Diego chapter of Iota Phi Theta, reflected on the event as it pertains to the overall NPHC Greek experience.
He claimed that the best part of attending this kind of council-wide event is the ability to “be ourselves as much as possible, around people who are wearing different colors and different letters but all still have the same type of mentality as us.”
Despite the event highlighting all the ways the fraternities and sororities are unique from each other, they each still took time to emphasize the sentiment that they are all part of a bigger organization, the NPHC.
While Meet the Greeks was presented as an informational event, it also served as an opportunity to bring together a wider community of students on campus.
