[ANDRE TAYLOR] Strollin’ started as a conversation that I had with a student here at William & Mary. The young lady had inquired about my fraternity letters on a shirt that I was wearing, and and I informed her that my shirt was Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated,
And she inquired “What is that?” and I said “It’s the first Black intercollegiate fraternity in the country,” and she said, “I had no idea that there were Black fraternities,” and I said, “Yeah, there a Black fraternities and sororities,”
And the fact that she didn’t know about that, I saw it as an opportunity to go ahead and turn part of the library into a teaching tool, and that’s how this exhibit came to be. [BETH YOUNG] This was my duc that I had to wear every day.
My number was number 1 because there were only two of us, and ’82 was the year, and this is my name, Bat Girl, and we’re called the Dynamic Duo, because she was Girl Wonder. [RANDALL JOHNSON] My senior year in high school I went to the accepted students overnight program
And Dean Hardy would have events and activities set up for Black students who were admitted, and there was the Black Greek step show, and so I went to the show, and I remember the Alphas— there were about six Alphas on the yard at the time,
And they stepped. You know I was close in, this was not on TV. I was right there. It was amazing. [ANDRE TAYLOR] I conducted oral histories with members of each of the groups that have had chapters on campus and purposely put QR codes throughout the exhibit
To make sure individuals were able to not only hear my words but hear the words of individuals who were William & Mary alum and students here so they can learn from their experiences and see where the university was and where it is now.
[CHRISTINA TILLERY] It was sophomore year and one of my friends who would eventually become a lodge sister, she was like, hey, so the sorority is coming and they want to do an interest meeting, you should come with me, and I was like hhm, no,
And she went like oh, they’re going to have food, and I was like OK. [MADDISON WESTER] I just brought it back to William & Mary when I saw that they did have AKAs, I was like wow, like this is definitely what I want to be a part of.
They had the values that I want, the community. They were actively involved. The females, the women that were in these sororities, they held themselves up to a high standard that I saw myself in, and I saw myself fitting in there perfectly.
[ANDRE TAYLOR] This exhibit has been more of a homecoming for some of the people who have participated. A lot of them have not been back on campus in some time. And having them come to campus for their oral histories have pretty much brought them into the fold.
It’s brought this resurgence again and this interest from alums from different backgrounds to come back to campus, and not just to donate anything financially but to donate time and experience, and I believe experience is the best teacher
And through the oral histories that have been collected, I realize that we have learned a lot from the voices of those individuals.
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