List of fraternities and sororities at Cornell University
The Cornell University Greek system dates to the first months of university operation during the autumn of 1868. Cornell's co-founder and first president, Andrew Dickson White was a strong promoter of fraternities as a means of teaching self-governance to young students. Among its leaders, other strong supporters of the Greek system were Presidents Edmund Ezra Day and Frank H.T. Rhodes. Among general ("social") organizations, Cornell currently recognizes 28 Interfraternity Council fraternities, 13 Panhellenic Association sororities, and 11 Multicultural Greek & Fraternal Council fraternities and sororities. Interfraternity Council. Fraternities constituting the  Interfraternity Council (IFC) are listed by dates of local founding and noted with national conference membership. These are (with two exceptions) men's organizations, voluntarily coordinating their efforts within the IFC. As part of IFC or national organization self-governance or University disciplinary action, chapters may be suspended ("de-recognized") or closed for a time. For consistency, if a chapter is closed and/or forfeits its "housing", it will be listed here as a dormant chapter, "italicized", while active chapters or those suspended for a brief time are in bold. See the Office of Student Life for current recognized IFC members . Active chapters Chapters whose names changed Dormant chapters Panhellenic Council. Sororities constituting the Panhellenic Council (PHC) are listed with dates of local founding and national conference membership, these are women's organizations, voluntarily coordinating their efforts within the PHC. As part of PHC or national organization self-governance, or University disciplinary action, chapters may be suspended ("de-recognized") or closed for a time. If a chapter is closed and/or forfeits its housing, it will be listed as a dormant chapter. Active groups in bold, dormant groups in "italics". See the Office of Student Life for current PHA members. Active chapters  Chapters whose names changed Dormant chapters Multicultural Greek & Fraternal Council. Sororities and Fraternities constituting the Multicultural Greek and Fraternal Council (MGFC) were originally affiliated with specific ethnicities or languages. Most of these organizations are now fully integrated as are the rest of Cornell's Greek letter organizations. All MGFC chapters are. Listed with dates of local founding and national conference membership, these are men's and women's organizations that voluntarily coordinate their efforts within the MGFC. As part of MGFC or University self-governance during disciplinary action, chapters may be suspended ("de-recognized") for a time. Unless the suspensions  result in long-term closure of the chapter or forfeiture of a building, they should not be removed from this list. Active groups in bold, dormant groups in "italics". See the Office of Student Life for current MGFC members. The inter-Greek councils often cooperate on programs and policies, as do individual chapters from among the several Greek councils. Men's Women's Chapters whose names changed Dormant chapters Honor, professional, and service societies. These organizations have a similarly long pedigree on the Cornell campus, but are largely non-residential. Members of the social and academic fraternities and sororities may  join or be asked to join, as may non-Greek students. Multiple affiliations are allowable. The cut-off line where any campus organization falls within these headings or without is somewhat arbitrary; those formed prior to 1990 are listed under these subheadings in various volumes of the Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, which for more than a century has been the data source of record for such organizations. Newer groups have been placed in categories which match Baird's categories. The latest, 1991 version of Bairds was published before the national development of some of the societies here , and therefore, position and inclusion is, in some cases, assumptive. Honor and recognition societies. Honor societies recognize students who excel academically or as leaders among their peers, often within a specific academic discipline. Many honor societies invite students to become members based on scholastic rank (the top x% of a class) and/or grade point, either overall, or for classes taken within the discipline for which the honor society provides recognition. In cases where academic achievement would not be an appropriate criterion for membership, other standards are usually required for membership (such as completion of a particular ceremony or training program ). These societies recognize past achievement. Pledging is not required, and new candidates may be immediately inducted into membership after meeting predetermined academic criteria and paying a one-time membership fee. Because of their purpose of recognition, most honor societies will have much higher academic achievement requirements for membership than professional societies. It is also common for a scholastic honor society to add a criterion relating to the character of the student. Some honor societies are invitation only while others allow unsolicited applications. Finally, membership in an honor society might be considered exclusive, i.e., a member of such an organization can not join other honor societies representing the same field. Governance varies from faculty-guided to purely student run. Listed by date of local founding with national conference membership, these are co-ed, non-residential, achievement-based organizations that self-select members based on published criteria. Active chapters Chapters whose names changed Dormant chapters Professional societies. Professional societies work to build friendship bonds among members, cultivate their strengths that they may promote their profession, and provide mutual assistance in their shared areas of professional study. Listed by date of local founding with national conference membership, these are primarily co-ed and  non-residential organizations, of an array of professional interests. Membership in a professional fraternity may be the result of a pledge process, much like a social fraternity, and members are expected to remain loyal and active in the organization for life. Within the group of societies dedicated to a professional field of study, for example, law societies, membership is exclusive; however, these societies may initiate members who belong to other types of fraternities. Professional Societies are known for networking and post-collegiate involvement. Governance varies from faculty-managed to purely student run. Active chapters Dormant chapters Service societies. Service societies  are listed with dates of local founding and national conference membership, if any; these are non-residential, co-ed organizations designed to provide campus and community service. These organizations are self-governed. Building and property ownership. Cornell University Residence Plan of 1966. During AY 1948-1949, Cornell University President Edmund Ezra Day formally distanced the University leadership from the increased discrimination which he observed at Cornell since 1910. His speech at the time marked the beginning an effort to end such unlawful practices, a goal to which the University remains committed. Following hearings into discrimination within Cornell's system of  private fraternities and sororities, fifteen fraternities liquidated private holdings and entered into the Cornell University Residence Plan of 1966, or CURP'66, an agreement which required all signatories to refrain from unlawful discrimination. The majority of CURP ’66 houses are on the Cornell West Campus. The Plan created a system of 'living and learning' by Small Residence. Each Group House was to be maintained by a Priority Group electing its Group Sponsor. Phi Kappa Psi, for instance, sponsored Group House No. IV d/b/a/ The Irving Literary Society, and developed its parcel on Cornell's West Campus. Cornell desired an  academic atmosphere in student residence “units” providing appropriate facilities for intellectual and cultural activities and by encouraging student participation in these pursuits. CURP ’66 was not simply the creation of University-owned fraternities and sororities, but a plan to provide a supplement to the University-maintained dormitory complex, the existing Cornell Greek System, off-campus apartments and rooming houses. The vision was to organize “Small Residences” together, regardless of their national or local orientation as fraternities or cooperatives. The University program provided for no discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color or national origin. The issue of gender was  addressed in the equal promotion of female, male and gender neutral Group Houses. In 1997, Cornell's president, Hunter Rawlings, reaffirmed the Board of Trustees' commitment to the Cornell University Residence Plan of 1966. The current CURP ’66 was created from an existing University leasing system dating to the 1881 decision by Andrew Dickson White to favor fraternities over dormitories. White thought fraternities “’[would] arouse in the students a feeling of responsibility both for the care of the property and for the reputation of the house . . . [and] fastens upon [students’] duties and responsibilities similar to those of men in the  active world was among the better solutions of the problems [of] . . . students in American universities.’” White’s vision, in turn, develop from the professional analysis of American architect and planner, Frederick Law Olmsted, who saw the erection of residential clubhouses on Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act as a reform over the barracks-like dormitories used by existing American universities and colleges. Like White, Olmsted felt clubhouses maintained by the students would form part of the educational experience. They were to be modeled on the typical rural household of the era, small country villas thought to avoid the negative aspects of  the Industrial revolution. CURP signatories Chapters with University-owned facilities under other agreements. The Cornell University Residence Plan of 1966 was based on agreements with other institutions, dating from 1933 to 1952, and after 1965: Chapters with privately owned facilities. Many fraternities and sororities have remained outside the ambit of University ownership. , these chapters include the following: