The United Greek Council leads six National Pan-Hellenic Council chapters and two chapters from the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organization. The council is responsible for enriching the members’ experiences by leading with respect and promoting the values and traditions of the chapters.
On Jan. 26, the United Greek Council officially unveiled its new name and logo. Previously, the council was called the Integrated Greek Council, but with new members, new faculty and big ideas, the name was changed after several months of deliberation.
The ceremony welcomed members of the National Panhellenic Council, Interfraternity Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council executive board members and faculty and staff. The ceremony featured guest speaker, Kendra Wilson, an active Delta Sigma Theta Sorority member who also serves as the second vice president and scholarship chair for the sorority's Akron Alumnae Chapter.
Anaya Spencer, president of the United Greek Council, played a major role in the rebranding process.
“The ‘united’ part just sets the tone for us to collect,” Spencer said. “Yes, we are in different organizations, but it reminds us of our common goals and emphasizes togetherness.”
Spencer also notes that while the National Pan-Hellenic Council chapters and the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organization chapters were already combined under the Integrated Greek Council, the word Integrated seemed like there was still a divide between the organizations.
Michele Criss, assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority Life in the Center for Student Involvement, emphasized that this was a student-led change after an external evaluator came to the center.
Criss said that the evaluator had many years of experience with Fraternity and Sorority Life and raised some questions about the Integrated Greek Council’s name, which was brought to the council’s attention. She said the evaluator had planted the seed.
“One of the first things he said was, ‘You guys have got to think about changing the name of IGC. What in the world is integrated?’” Criss said. “I think it's just kind of something that's been historically attached to that governing council on our campus, so I started to meet with the student leaders that were currently in them.”
Criss continued meeting with the council to bounce ideas off one another, and with no experience in rebranding, the council and Criss sought help from the Division of University Communications and Marketing.
"I think we're in a good spot that if you all feel empowered to do a name change and a rebrand, I'm fully supportive of that,” Criss told the council. “It was really on the students to take the accountability and refresh and rename themselves as the United Greek Council.”
The council took that responsibility, and after about six months, it decided the name no longer fit its organization.
Isaiah Johnson, director of Interfraternal Relations and Programming for the United Greek Council, believes there is more to the council than sharing an integrated space.
“We move in unity, and integrated just explains that we share a space when in reality it is much more than that,” Johnson said. “We work together, we support each other and we hope to build community through the actions we take together.”
Its new mission statement states that the council is committed to a strong, collaborative relationship with members while upholding high standards of ethics and professionalism.
With the new name and logo, the United Greek Council also opens membership to the umbrella councils of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association, which serves the Asian Pacific Islander Desi-American community and the National Multicultural Greek Councils along with the National Pan-Hellenic Council and National Association for Latino Fraternal Organizations.