History of Marchdown
Marchdown started in the mid-1980s as a program held during Black Heritage Month to showcase the Divine 9 on the SIUE campus. The program was started and run by the University Center Board and was originally held in the Morris University Center Meridian Ballroom. After several years the event soon outgrew the Ballroom. In 1991, the event was moved to March and held in the Vadalabene Center for the first time.
Throughout the 1990s, and into the early 2000s Marchdown was held in the Vadalabene Center and featured large, sellout crowds. National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) was officially founded in 2006 and took control of the program from Kimmel (who had taken over the program in the mid-90s from the University Center).
After the 2022 Marchdown, Chancellor Dr. James T. Minor named Marchdown as one of the university’s annual marque events. Today the event is planned by the executive board of NPHC and the fraternity and sorority life advisors in the Kimmel Student Involvement Center.