Historically Black Greek Letter Sororities Singing Their National Hymns (Part IV - Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.)

Sigma Gamma Rho singing sorority hymn.mpg

freezezone1, Aug 19, 2010

Sorority members sing Sigma Gamma Rho hymn following neo show. April 2010.
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The two Sigma Gamma Rho videos that are showcased in this pancocojams post are the only historically Black Greek letter sorority videos that I've found as of Feb. 26, 2026 in which singers link arms while they are singing their songs. 

When I realized that this embedded video wouldn't show up on this pancocojams blog, I started to replace it with  a 2014 video of graduate chapter Sigma Gamma Rho members singing "The Sigma Line" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82BkOG8tpfY..However, I decided not to keep the video whose link is given above because some people had already watched that pancocojams post and the women in the second video were singing while holding hands instead of linking arms. 

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part IV of a four part pancocojams series that showcases YouTube videos of members of a particular historically Black Greek letter sororities singing their national hymns or other  group songs. The lyrics to these songs aren't included in these posts.

Each of the posts in this pancocojams series showcase two videos of a national hymn or some other song that is sung by members of one historically Black Greek letter sorority that is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the umbrella organization that is composed of those four historically Black Greek letter sororities and five historically Black Greek letter fraternities.

These four sororities are presented in chronological order based on their founding dates with the oldest sorority given first.  

This post presents information about Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and showcases two YouTube videos of members of that sorority singing their national hymn or another song..

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/02/historically-black-greek-letter_25.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and showcases two YouTube videos of members of that sorority singing their national hymn or another song.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/02/historically-black-greek-letter_26.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and showcases two YouTube videos of members of that sorority singing their national hymn or another song.

Click __ for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and showcases two YouTube videos of members of that sorority singing their national hymn or another song.

The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the founders of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and thanks to all past and present members of that sorority. Thanks to all of those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who composed these songs and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. 

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL (THE DIVINE 9)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Pan-Hellenic_Council
"The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities, commonly called the Divine Nine, and also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs).[1] The NPHC was formed as a permanent organization on May 10, 1930, on the campus of Howard University, in Washington, D.C., with Matthew W. Bullock as the active Chairman and B. Beatrix Scott as Vice-Chairman. NPHC was incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois in 1937.[2]

[…]

History

The National Pan-Hellenic Council was established during the Jim Crow era when Greek letter collegiate organizations founded by white Americans did not want to be affiliated with Greek letter collegiate organizations founded by African Americans.[3]

 The organization's stated purpose and mission in 1930:

' Unanimity of thought and action as far as possible in the conduct of Greek letter collegiate fraternities and sororities, and to consider problems of mutual interest to its member organizations.[4]'

 The founding members of the NPHC were Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta, and Zeta Phi Beta. The council's membership expanded as Alpha Phi Alpha (1931), Phi Beta Sigma (1931), Sigma Gamma Rho (1937), and Iota Phi Theta (1996) later joined.[5]"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOUR SORORITIES THAT ARE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL
From AI Overview (results given on February 15, 2026)

Date joined NPHC

The four historically Black sororities in the National Pan-Hellenic Council (Divine Nine) were founded between 1908 and 1922, with key incorporations following shortly after their founding to establish legal, perpetual status. They are Alpha Kappa Alpha (1908/1913), Delta Sigma Theta (1913/1930), Zeta Phi Beta (1920/1923), and Sigma Gamma Rho (1922/1929).

Here are the details for each sorority

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA): Founded Jan. 15, 1908, at Howard University. It was incorporated on Jan. 29, 1913, to ensure perpetuity.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (DST): Founded Jan. 13, 1913, at Howard University. It was incorporated in 1930.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (ZPhiB): Founded Jan. 16, 1920, at Howard University. It was incorporated in 1923.

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (SGRho): Founded Nov. 12, 1922, at Butler University. It was incorporated in 1929

These organizations were created to foster sisterhood, scholarship, and service, specifically providing support networks for Black women during times of segregation and exclusion from mainstream organizations." 

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INFORMATION ABOUT SIGMA GAMMA RHO SORORITY, INC.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma_Gamma_Rho
"Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (ΣΓΡ) is a historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on November 12, 1922. The organization was formed as a sorority in 1922, by seven African American women in Indianapolis, Indiana. At its inception, the sorority was created to support Black women pursuing degrees in education.[2] It was incorporated within Indiana in November 1922 as a sorority for school teachers and held their first national conference in 1925.[2] The sorority became a national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, when a charter was granted to the Alpha chapter then established at Butler University that year.[2] The sorority was incorporated as a national collegiate sorority in 1930.[3] Sigma Gamma Rho is the only sorority of the four historically African American National Pan-Hellenic Council sororities founded at a predominantly White institution instead of at Howard University.

Sigma Gamma Rho has over 100,000 members with more than 500 undergraduate and alumnae chapters in the United States, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Canada, Germany, South Korea, U.S. Virgin Islands, Tokyo and the United Arab Emirates.

Sigma Gamma Rho has affiliate groups for women at different stages in life: Rhosebuds (elementary-age girls), the Rhoer Club Affiliates (teenage girls), and the Philos Affiliates (friends of the sorority). It has launched programs such as Sigma Teen Towns in the 1940s and formed partnerships with the March of Dimes, USA Swimming and others.

[...]

Symbols
The organization's official slogan, “Greater Service, Greater Progress,” reflects its commitment to leadership development, education, and public service.".^[4][5] Its colors are royal blue and gold (mustard yellow). Its flower is the yellow tea rose. Its mascot is the poodle. Its publication is The Aurora. Its nicknames are SGRhos, Lady Sigmas, Sigma Women, and Pretty Poodles."...

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
There are a number of YouTube videos of a member or members of historically Black Greek letter sororities singing their national hymn/s or other songs that members of a particular historically Black Greek letter sorority consider to be their songs. 

In this pancocojams series I'm particularly interested in group renditions of these songs and whether the members of these sororities hold hands while they sing, or wrap their arms behind the back of people standing on either side, or link their arms with the person standing on either side (in the same manner that is commonly used for songs such like as the Civil Rights song "We Shall Over Come" and the song "Aud Lang Syne" that is sung on New Years Eve or during certain other special occasions).

Based on my direct experiences and based on from watching YouTube videos, It appears that for any one of these three gestures a group of people can sing while standing still or they can sing while rhythmically swaying from side to side. 

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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/11/videos-of-kkpsi-fratenrity-three.html for a related 2017 pancocojams post entitled "Videos Of Historically Black Greek Letter Fraternities & KKPsi (Music Fraternity/Sorority) Linking Arms While Singing Their Organization's Hymns"

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - sorority songs -Sigma girl

Bob Busch, Dec 25, 2013
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Notice that the members of Sigma Gamma Rho link arms to sing their sorority hymn. (beginning around 2:15 in this video). 

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This concludes Part IV of this four part pancocojams series.

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