The Forum was filled with members of historically Black fraternities and sororities in their Greek Line jackets Thursday afternoon, waiting to see the USC Black Staff & Faculty Caucus lecture on the National Pan-Hellenic Council. 

The presentation educated attendees on the “Divine Nine,” a nickname for the historically-Black Greek organizations that are part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. As a part of USC’s celebration of Black History Month, the event featured speakers, food and a “USC Black Legacy” photo in front of Tommy Trojan. 

Corliss Bennett, a former director of the USC Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, presented on the history and influential alumni of each of the Divine Nine houses. Bennett said all of the Divine Nine organizations had plans dedicated to helping their community, which she said was especially important with Trump’s continued push to end DEI programs.

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“[President Donald Trump] is trying to eliminate cultural centers, cultural celebrations — and he put graduations in that,” she said, “Can you imagine him telling me that while I was here? I’d be like, ‘I don’t care! We’ll call it something else!’ And that’s what’s going to end up happening. We’re going to continue to work. We just can’t call it Black, or Latino or Asian.”

Bennett encouraged interested audience members to attend Divine Nine events and meet the brothers and sisters, adding that members could join undergraduate and graduate chapters. She said the Divine Nine’s activities revolved heavily around community service as well as traditions like step, a dance form created by the Divine Nine that incorporates stomps, claps and spoken word.  

“We’re dealing with women’s suffrage, civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter. This is what we do. We also step! And you see the step, you see the line that too, but we are in the community, helping our people,” Bennett said. 

Jody Armour, the Roy P. Crocker professor of law, also spoke at the event. Bennett described him as “the man, the myth, the legend,” and encouraged students to sit in on even 10 minutes of one of his classes to listen to him teach and speak.

Armour described a time in 2013 when he was so invested in writing his book that going to the barber was “the last thing he was thinking about.” When he arrived at USC, he recalled both students and professional attorneys criticizing his afro.

“My Black students alerted me, and then I heard it myself, non Black students saying ‘It’s ironic that Professor Armour teaches criminal law while he looks like a criminal,’” Armour said. “Three weeks after that… three attorneys downtown called the dean and some of my colleagues and reported that Professor Armour’s appearance is, quote, ‘impertinent and unprofessional.’”

Armour said that his tenured position at USC, which he described as a “free speech lubricant,” made it so he didn’t have to apologize for his hair. From then on, he continued growing his hair to serve as political and symbolic communication.

“My reaction was to say, ‘grow, baby, grow,’” Armour said. 

Autumn Henderson, a graduate student studying public administration, said she attended the event to get more involved on campus as an online student and thought attending Black History Month events as an African American student was particularly important.

Henderson said she had some background knowledge on the Divine Nine as she had family members who joined, but the event taught her more about the amount of support they provide to Black communities.  

“Just hearing the history, the amount of support that [the Divine Nine] have for the Black community and other communities as well, I think it’s very important,” Henderson said. “I didn’t know the depth of the different aspects that they do provide, as far as community service is concerned.”