Archives West Finding Aid

Series 1 consists of Panhellenic Council meeting minutes. The Council met in different sorority houses each month; the host sorority is listed at the top of the minutes. Each set of minutes describes who called the meeting to order, who did introductions, a summary of the officer’s reports, new business, and old business. The 1958-1960 minutes were digitized from a microfilm reel and are organized in reverse chronological order.

This series contains one digital file (14 MB) from the digitized microfilm reel that is available upon request.

Series 2 contains booklets and packets of OSU’s Panhellenic Council Constitution, as well as By-Laws and Rush Rules. Versions of these exist in years ranging from 1922 to 2007.

This series contains one digital file (1.8 MB), the 1957 constitution, from the digitized microfilm reel that is available upon request.

Series 3 consists of publications, primarily of Rush Handbooks, both in loose volumes and in bound editions, along with informational brochures and newsletters. The handbooks describe what Panhellenic is and what value it could bring to a young woman’s life. They also discuss how to decide which sorority to join, what the financial cost will be, how to plan for joining, and what “Rush Rules” are. The last section of many booklets includes a photo of the sorority house with pertinent information about it, such as location, president, colors, and a short history of the house. In some, they include rent costs. There are also two posters promoting Rush. The 1957 handbook was digitized from a microfilm reel; it contains the Rush Chairman Handbook and the Counselor's and Delegate Handbook.

A number of the Rush Handbooks from the 1930s-1990s have been digitized and are available via Oregon Digital.

This series contains one digital file (3.6 MB) from the digitized microfilm reel that are available upon request.

Series 4 includes newspaper clippings from the 1970s and some from the mid-2000s. Additionally, there is general Panhellenic Council information such as materials about the Panhellenic Conference from 1958-1971, information on the budget, as well as "Strategic Planning." There is also a variety of information on Rush including Rush programs, activities, and statistics.

This series contains three digital files (11.5 MB) from the digitized microfilm reel that is available upon request.

Series 5 is predominately made up of Nancy Vanderpool Award Applications from the years 2007-2010. Vanderpool served as the Assistant Dean of Students at Oregon State University from 1979-1998; during her tenure, she supported the Panhellenic system. The Nancy Vanderpool Award for Panhellenic Council Chapter of the Year is awarded to the chapter that scores the highest on the Relationship Statement of the previous year. The Relationship Statement serves as a way to showcase what the chapter accomplishes within the year, including but not limited to workshops, service events, and philanthropic activities.

These applications are often in the form of a scrapbook and have multiple parts: first, they briefly describe their sorority's history and their founding values; they then may go on to describe new member education and programming, scholarship, leadership, philanthropy and community service, chapter management, honors and awards, and campus and community involvement. Most of the award applications have pictures scattered throughout. While these serve as award applications, they also serve as a kind of yearbook, snapshotting what the sorority did that year. The available records do not describe who won each year. There is also a folder of certificates awarded to Oregon State University Panhellenic groups; the honors and awards that the council has received from various groups include the Panhellenic Conference, Western Regional Greek Conference, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Series 6 consists of four unbound scrapbooks and one bound scrapbook created by the executive council members of the Panhellenic Council. These scrapbooks contain photographs, original artwork, newspaper clippings, correspondence, invitations, and textual documents. The scrapbooks document philanthropy, social activities, events, and publications about the sorority chapters.

Series 7 is comprised of photographs depicting Panhellenic Council members as well as members of the sororities the council oversees in group photos, individual photos, and photos from events. The series contains a composite of individual portrait photographs of the Panhellenic Council Officers and Members for 2010-2011, present in both its original form and in smaller, photographic print copy.