{"id":38636,"date":"2021-10-29T19:28:54","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T23:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=38636"},"modified":"2021-11-05T11:30:52","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T15:30:52","slug":"groundbreaking-ceremony-held-for-divine-nine-heritage-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2021\/10\/groundbreaking-ceremony-held-for-divine-nine-heritage-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Groundbreaking ceremony held for UTC Divine Nine Heritage Park"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lucretia Lyttle, Sherryl Appleberry and Twyler Boykin, from left, take a photo before the Divine Nine Heritage Park groundbreaking ceremony.<\/p><\/div>\n

Drawn by the promise of promoting civil rights and diversifying the campus, five historically African-American fraternities and sororities arrived at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

A ceremony commemorating the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of those five Greek organizations and announcing the establishment of UTC Divine Nine Heritage Park was held Friday, Oct. 29, in the University Center\u2019s Chattanooga Room.<\/p>\n

\u201cDivine Nine\u201d refers to the nine historically African-American fraternities and sororities in the United States and in 1971, just two years after UTC was formed through a merger of the University of Chattanooga, Chattanooga City College and the University of Tennessee System, those organizations began establishing chapters at UTC. They are members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), their national governing and coordinating council.<\/p>\n

Eight of the “Divine Nine” now have chapters at UTC.<\/p>\n

Once completed, UTC Divine Nine Heritage Park will be located at the on-campus intersection of Vine Street and Terrell Owens Way, adjacent to the University Center.<\/p>\n

More than 300 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony, which featured remarks from UTC Chancellor Steven Angle and Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Yancy Freeman.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here today for a groundbreaking, but also to reflect on who we are as an institution and make a statement about what we value as a university,\u201d Angle said. \u201cAs a community today, we celebrate the visionary men and women who brought something extraordinary to this campus over 50 years ago. We salute their accomplishments that live on in the daily life of our University, and we celebrate their legacy of leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real groundbreaking took place about a half-century ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Omega Psi Phi fraternity was the first of the \u201cDivine Nine\u201d to make its way to UTC, with the local Eta Beta chapter founded on Feb. 27, 1971. Three weeks later, on March 20, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority\u2019s Zeta Kappa chapter was founded on campus.<\/p>\n

A pair of sororities quickly followed: Delta Sigma Theta (Theta Rho chapter founded on May 22) and Zeta Phi Beta (Lambda Delta chapter founded on June 16). During the fall, the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity arrived with the Eta Phi chapter\u2019s establishment on Nov. 11.<\/p>\n

In addition to those five Greek organizations, three other NPHC members have been on the UTC campus since the 1980s: Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity (1982), Phi Beta Sigma fraternity (1983) and Sigma Gamma Rho sorority (1984).<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a young woman or young man joins a Divine Nine organization, she or he is engaged for life in transformational leadership and service,\u201d Angle said, \u201cand I think you see that as evidence with all the people we have in attendance tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angle called those organizations a key talent pipeline for UTC, citing numerous leaders who are graduates of the institution and members of NPHC fraternities and sororities:<\/p>\n