North Central Province

A Brief History

In 1920, the Fraternity established an administrative structure to bring a greater sense of organization and accountability to the rapidly growing organization, as it became increasingly complex for the Grand Polemarch to effectively disseminate information to the membership beyond his reach. As a result, the fraternity was initially divided into three supervisory geographical areas, named “districts,” headed by a division manager, initially referred to as the “District Director,” who was appointed by the Grand Polemarch. In 1923, the districts were redesignated as “regions,” followed by the retitling of those territories as “provinces” in 1926.

Two of the three original Fraternity administrative areas, Districts 1 and 2, established in 1920, are predecessors to the current-day North Central Province. The earliest records on file, dating back to 1921, indicate that the Alpha (Indiana University) and Indianapolis (IN) Alumni Chapters comprised District 1, while the Beta (University of Illinois), Theta (Northwestern University), Iota (University of Chicago), Gamma (University of Iowa), Eta (University of Nebraska) Undergraduate Chapters, and the Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter were included within District 2.

In 1923, when the Fraternity changed the title of the administrative areas from “Districts” to “Regions,” District 1 was renamed Region 1, while District 2 was renamed Region 2. In 1924, Region 1 was renamed “Region 4,” while Region 2 was renamed “Region 6”. The Fraternity’s expansion of chapters caused the number of its administrative territories to increase from four to seven.

In 1926, when the Fraternity renamed Regions to Provinces, Regions 4 and 6 merged into the newly created Central Province. At its inception, the Central Province included the Alpha, Beta, Theta, Iota, and Nu undergraduate chapters, as well as the Chicago (IL), Indianapolis (IN), and St. Louis (MO) Alumni Chapters. In 1930, the Fraternity transferred St. Louis (MO) Alumni to the Western Province, a predecessor to the current-day Middle Western Province. In 1936, this area was renamed a final time, from the Central to the North Central Province.

In 1959, the Northwestern Province was discontinued, and five of its chapters in Iowa and Minnesota (Gamma, Psi, Omega, Des Moines (IA) Alumni, and St. Paul-Minneapolis (MN) Alumni) were absorbed into the North Central Province. The dissolution of the Northwestern Province reduced the total number of provinces from 13 to 12.

Currently, the North Central Province includes 22 undergraduate and 28 alumni chapters within five states: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The North Central Province proudly claims:

The largest number of the Fraternity’s single-lettered chapters (8) of any other province, including the first and last single-lettered undergraduate chapters (Alpha and Omega)
The Fraternity’s first chartered alumni chapter (Chicago (IL) Alumni)
Eleven Past Grand Polemarchs, who were initiated at a North Central Province undergraduate chapter. Of that number, eight were members of a North Central Province active/alumni chapter at the time they served in that capacity.

Click here to connect to the North Central Province’s website.