Greek life at Lehigh began in 1872, just seven years after the university’s founding, with the establishment of of Chi Phi fraternity. Since then, more than 50 chapters have called Sayre Park, more commonly known as “the Hill,” home.

Sayre Park was formally established in 1909 after a $100,000 donation from the children of Robert Sayre, chief engineer of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and an original member of the Board of Trustees. Throughout the early 1900s, many fraternities moved onto the Hill once they raised money for construction. In the late 1950s, Lehigh started a program to help the remaining off-campus fraternities move onto campus by contributing money towards construction.

Sororities began to move onto the Hill in the 1990s. More recently, the Hill has expanded to offer living communities to non-Greeks, as well.  Sayre Park opened in 1998 as an apartment style option.  In 2003, the UMOJA living community moved onto the Hill.