Across the nation, the Women’s Panhellenic Association, or WPA, changed its name to the College Panhellenic Council, or CPC.
Chris Medrano Graham, director of sorority and fraternity life, said there was no specific reason for the name change other than changing the name to align with the national standard of the CPC guidelines.
“We were the only school that we were aware of with the name WPA,” Graham wrote in an email. “Other universities call themselves Panhellenic Council or College Panhellenic Council. We were the outliers.”
Olivia Oughton, a freshman studying history, recently went through the sorority recruitment process, bidding at Delta Zeta. Oughton is nonbinary and said changing the name from WPA to CPC creates a more open, accepting and inspiring environment for those who are interested in rushing a sorority.
“Any questions that I had, they would answer and I didn't feel judged at all, or not knowing things or just asking questions and they answered them so honestly,” Oughton said. “Everybody was so nice. I just felt like I belonged. I felt really welcomed.”
Oughton said they were motivated to join a sorority for the sisterhood aspect. They were also interested in the philanthropy aspect of Greek life and getting involved.
“I just found it to be really inspiring, and I love hanging out with women and I love just the sisterhood aspect and the getting to know all these different women,” Oughton said. “Everybody's so different.”
For the future, Oughton said they think the name change will let other people like them know it isn’t just for women, and although they don’t expect much change in response to the new name, Oughton said they are confident that with the name change, it will allow people who are nonbinary or gender-nonconforming to feel comfortable in joining a sorority.
“You can be anyone you want. You can be comfortable in your own self, and you can be able to express yourself freely,” Oughton said.
Graham said the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life supports all students interested in recruitment. She said the office offers educational programs and training for the Greek community and the entire OU community. It also partners with the LGBT Center to provide resources and education when supporting students going through the recruitment process.
Sarah Doherty, assistant director of the LGBT Center, also spoke on the importance of inclusivity in the university and Greek life. She shared several resources the university office and greater community offer to promote inclusivity.
“We’ve done trainings with specific chapters and with larger organizations as a whole,” Doherty said. “We try to make sure that (our resources are) advertised to everyone and that we specifically invite fraternity and sorority affairs folks and that we know of big things that they're doing so that we can also let folks who come across our office know about opportunities to connect with Greek life.”
Doherty also said the office works to promote inclusivity in Greek life through training on topics such as sexuality, diversity and respectful pronoun use.
She added it’s an ongoing conversation on what the name change means for single-sex organizations and their traditions. Doherty said that people who are struggling to understand the name change should realize changing the name is part of a bigger initiative to create more inclusive sororities across the nation.
Oughton said they love the inclusion and that it’s something they have been working for. They said it lets other people in the LGBTQIA+ community feel welcomed and know that Greek life is for all.
“I just think it lets other people in the LGBT community be able to rush because maybe they were scared before they're like, ‘Oh, I don't know, maybe this is just for straight girls.’ But, it’s for everybody, and I think it’s really cool that they did that,” they said.
