Funding for the production of folks is made possible in part by a grant from union national life insurance serving louisiana and the south since 1926 a family managed corporation providing whole life insurance straight ahead on folks what are black greek organizations and why are they such a large part of
College life for many black students a look at black sororities and fraternities on today’s edition of folks Hello everyone and welcome to folks i’m sonya massengale world famous writer actress and singer maya angelou was in baton rouge recently and during her address she spoke of how black history month has gone from black history day to black history week to black history month in a few years
Now since martin luther king’s birthday has been made into a national holiday black history month begins somewhere in the middle of january and continues into the month of february she said that she looks forward to a time when black history becomes integrated into american history and
There is no need for a special day week or month today’s program is about people who play an important role in black american history every day of their lives those who belong to black greek letter organizations most fraternities and sororities were founded for lofty ideals of brotherhood sisterhood academic excellence community service
And as a social outlet for people who had in common a desire to educate and uplift other black people most were founded during the early years of this 20th century some at predominantly white universities and some at historically black universities wherever they were founded they quickly became powerful and often elite
Organizations for those involved but contrary to their white counterparts black fraternal organizations became much more than a social set to belong to during the college years after graduation their numbers often increase and the graduate chapters of these organizations have become politically and socially empowered so as to actually
Make a difference in black communities across america of course each club considers themselves unique and they are in different ways and a lot of good nature kidding goes on between the clubs over the merits of one over the other but they all have in common a very real commitment to achievement
We visited dillard university in new orleans to talk to the young members of several black greek letter organizations the beautiful houses on sorority row on the lsu campus in baton rouge symbolize much of what encompasses fraternal life for white students in greek letter clubs a comfortable place to live a social
Outlet a chance to do some good works for the community black greek letter organizations don’t provide housing for their members but they do provide a sense of brotherhood that lasts beyond the college experience here at dillard university in new orleans a very large part of campus life centers around the greek letter organizations
There is the social outlet of course but more importantly an emphasis on helping the community at large delta sigma theta sorority incorporated was founded in 1913 on the campus of howard university in washington dc they are known primarily as a social service sorority most of them most of the
Most important people in my life most influential people in my life were deltas and i’ve had a lot of experiences with them doing watching them do public service different things in the communities or doing things for the children for older people and just they had a lot of fun it looked like
They were just a group of sisters sisters always having a lot of fun and they were always doing things to help other people i guess for me it began a long time ago i grew up around women who were deltas strong women i am a legacy my mother all
Of my aunts are members of delta sigma theta and i grew up helping them participate in different functions public service projects that were going on in my hometown of st louis and excuse me when i came to college i really there was nothing else for me to
Consider and i knew that even if things weren’t exactly the way i wanted them to be here at beta gamma chapter that from what i’d seen growing up i was going to do my best to make sure that things were exactly the way i saw them when i grew up
But when i did get here the women here of delta were really on the move they were doing what they were supposed to do and having as teresa said a whole lot of fun a whole lot of fun and that was exactly what i wanted to be a part of
People out there helping in the community and having fun and that’s why i chose delta kappa alpha psi fraternity was founded in 1911 at indiana university in bloomington indiana these members of the fraternity says that achievement makes their fraternity special kappa alpha psi’s main goal is achievement
And i feel that every young man should try to achieve as much in any field of endeavor that he chooses and i figured that kappa alpha psi best um fits that goal in my life but i’m from indiana i’m from indianapolis and kappa alpha psi was founded in bloomington
Which is about 50 miles from my hometown so i grew up with a lot of kappas around me and i played a you know big part in that alpha phi alpha has the distinction of being the first black greek letter organization founded on the predominantly white campus of cornell university in new york
In 1906. i chose alfalfa because the fraternity showed a sort of prominence among our race plus as my college career was starting i felt that this fraternity gave um a sort of admiration as far as black college men is concerned to achieve scholarship academic excellence and plus a social atmosphere
With fellow college mates i think he was sort of predestined for me since my father’s in alpha also but uh apart from that i’ve been on a number of college campuses before and everywhere i go it seemed to get the same impression of the fraternity the service the uh unity
The uplifting of the black race and things of that sort i think that sort of uh geared me toward alpha phi alpha and it’s basically a just an image thing also just the way they presented themselves before i blessed kind of gave me the income to go in and place that
Zeta phi beta sorority was founded in 1920 a sister organization to phi beta sigma fraternity which was founded at howard university in 1914 they say their organizations both allow for the uniqueness of the individuals i chose zeta phi beta sorority after looking at all the sororities and i felt that
With through zeta i could better myself and get involved in community services and also with zeta i could be myself i didn’t have to be known for being a certain type of person i felt that i had goals in common with the organization and they stand for service scholarship final
Womanhood and sisterly love and through them i felt i could be in a family atmosphere when i played sigma i chose it because well when viewing all four organizations i wanted to find one whereas i can be myself as opposed to fitting into an image or being a carbon copy of someone else
Alpha kappa alpha sorority was founded at howard university in washington dc in 1908. they are a social and social service sorority first of all let me state that i was the first in my family to attend a major college and i didn’t really know about black greek organizations
And when i came to dillard the alpha alphas were distinguished women and i liked the way they presented themselves around the society and the community service that they presented and i felt that that was the right towards it for me i chose alpha kappa alpha because i was
I knew about greek organization before i came to dillard and i forgot that was the one that really appealed to me i saw that above all others other greek organizations and that’s why i chose it what you see here is a part of a greek show at dillard university
This is the occasion where all of the sororities in fraternity show off their colors and intricately performed steps to emphasize the virtues of their own clubs and some friendly put downs of their rival organizations are thrown in for fun this usually takes place after new members are inducted
But just how serious is the rivalry between different groups i take it hugely as far as like i don’t like anyone to try to um handle my sorority in a negative way and say bad things about it but i don’t i don’t believe in violence anything like that it’s not that serious
I mean i’m a big enough person to walk away from silly things like that but i don’t appreciate it from anyone because my sorority is very special good things have also come out of the rivalry if the deltas are participating in art in a function at dillard’s campus then that also
Helps say the akas or the zadis to want to become involved so they because they don’t want to be left out in the same way with the men in that way it’s positive because you get all of the organizations participating because they don’t want to be the ones that were left out
I believe delta is outstanding because we are nationally known as a public service organization we do participate in social functions but above our number one function is public service to do all that we can in the community and that’s why i think delta stands out above the rest
I take the rivalries very seriously it helps you know band together with your brothers and make you closer than normal closer than you’ll ever be like outside the family and you know you have that caring for one another and looking out for your brother when you say rivalry i don’t feel as
Though there’s a rivalry it’s more so a presence in predominantly black institutions as opposed to white institutions greek as greeks as a whole i think they’re more so banding together i mean there’s a there’s a different difference between greeks and non-greeks and just like if you’re at a white
Institution white greeks and black greeks there’s always that difference now when you say rivalry i’m sure there is a modest rivalry in a sense that we’re all trying we’re all throwing parties we’re all trying to achieve in the community but that’s not something that we there’s an animosity i don’t think there’s an
Underlying animosity there at all because that’s nothing that i feel and my affiliations with the other members of the greek fraternities and sororities i don’t think there’s an animosity you know if there is i don’t think it’s enough that it should be harped upon as a negative sense i think
The greatest value it’s the association that you make with other people um there are not many activities on dillon’s campus per se where you know people can get together in um small groups and are banded for a common purpose and i think that’s the biggest asset of joining a sorority
Linda foy is one of the faculty advisors for zeta phi beta and linda nash is the panhellenic council advisor for all of the greek letter organizations at dillard both say that the organizations have more in common than they will admit and tend to work together as campus leaders when we have all the
Organizations functioning to their fullest ability there is a friendly rivalry that goes along with it that adds to the flavor of campus life what about the students who are not involved in greek letter organizations do they feel left out of campus activities there is a grade point requirement
To pledge to begin with and so we know that you know only certain people who have the grade point average will be able to pledge um i would i would think that you know someone who is left out may have some hard feelings but we hope too that it serves
As an incentive that you know if you want to pledge and if you see an organization that you want to belong to that you will work harder to to meet the qualifications for that group and thereby you’re not only making yourself qualified for the for the sorority but you’re also
Improving your whole academic standing and your standing on campus because we do look for the leaders and you know that’s what we want in the in the club so many of our freshmen this may be their first exposure to greek them and it does give them something to look forward to
They enjoy activities that the greeks are involved in on campus as much as those who are members of these organizations for upperclassmen by the time they’re sophomores juniors and seniors of course they have aligned themselves with their friends and on this campus uh greeks and non-greeks exist coexist and and appreciate one another
And and that’s the wonderful thing about it on this campus in particular and i’m sure it’s like that other places but i don’t think that there’s a problem or or a jealousy or envy going on those who are non-greek there were two greek letter organizations that were unavailable for
Interviews on the day that we taped our feature they are a mega sci-fi fraternity founded at howard university about 75 years ago and sigma gamma rho sorority joining us in the studio today to talk about greek letter organizations and what happens after graduations are members of two of the largest internationally renowned
Sororities in the country they are doville essex she is the past bacillus of gamma ada omega chapter of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated and carol adams president of the baton rouge sigma alumnae chapter of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated welcome to folks thank you thank you now
I want to get personal when i when i pledged delta i had no choice my mother i was a double legacy and it was something that i just knew i would always be and supposedly when i was born my mother turned to my sister and said
Now i have two little deltas so you can see i’ve been indoctrinated from birth to to go that way and i did pledge graduate chapter not in college i’m curious why did you choose alpha kappa alpha and why did you choose delta sigma theta i’d like to start with you ms
Well when i attended college gremlin state university there was no greek letter organizations i had graduated from college when the undergraduate chapter became a part of of grambling i had however had contact with many women of various greek led organizations and i had decided that whenever the opportunity became available
It would be alpha kappa alpha alpha kappa alpha was not the first um graduate chapter to come i was still living at grambling it was not the first greek letter a graduate chapter to come to uh grambling and i was asked if i were going to join the other
And i said well no i’ll wait so i had chosen alpha kappa alpha there was no one else in my family i didn’t have your problem it was a matter of deciding that these uh women had something that i was interested in which was which was service and scholarship
And i’m not saying that that is the um is peculiar only to alpha kappa alpha because if we really look at sororities and fraternities our basic purpose and philosophy is the same and i think it’s a matter of looking at defined differences in making your choices alpha kappa alpha was established
At how would we know in 1908 the first of the greek letter organizations and at the beginning emphasis was on scholarship and service and as we move on through these 80 years we’re celebrating 80 years this year it is still emphasis on scholarship and service but rather than
At the local level we are concerned with it nationally and internationally all right mrs adams your turn why did you choose delta sigma theta well growing up in the baton rouge community i was a part of an organization that used to call the dell sprites and it was
Working with the young people in this organization that first led me to think about delta sigma theta and then of course when i attended southern university i had my mind and my heart set on at that point becoming a delta and next year i will celebrate 25 years in this
Organization of which i am very very pleased and just like mrs essex has already said the goals and the objectives the purposes of the organizations have already been set forth and they are basically the same that is of scholarship of high moral character of excellence and character and of trying to pursue
Those things in life that are worthwhile so the deltas to me just stood out and i’m very proud that um did go that way as i said it was it a major decision for you well at the point that i decided to become a delta was not a major decision
Because my mind was totally made up i didn’t have to think about any other way because i never really considered any other way we keep saying that the goals and and the determination and the reasons why we were all founded are similar i think someone said when i pledge delta that
Your sorority sister is your sister but the other sororities are like your cousins and i thought that that was put probably the best it could be now we know that there are some sisters blood sisters who belong to different sororities i think i can think of two sisters who are very close
Friends of mine erlene carrie williams who is an alpha kappa alpha woman and her sister thelma techno is a delta but we all consider each other they’re close they’re when there’s something that delta needs done if we can help we help if there’s something that alpha kappa alpha needs done and delta
Can help delta can help delta will help and this is true we don’t have zeta phi beta represented here today but this is is very true of of them all sororities and fraternities and not so much for the rivalry between the the organizations it’s just too much fun to pass up
What happens to an alpha kappa alpha and a delta sigma theta once they graduate from college who would like to start are you mrs well once what happens uh to alpha kappa alpha undergraduate once she becomes a a graduate sorrow before she leaves the the college her graduate advisor has made available
To the to the graduate chapters those soros who are graduating and we make an attempt to get those stars interested in journey in the graduate chapter we encourage them to join the graduate chapters in whatever city they find themselves on just monday night we had our regular monthly meeting and among the
Soros new faces there were a number of undergraduates and there were three of them who had been on the same line as you know and undergraduates talk about lying sisters and they were so thrilled that here we are some of them had been away in graduate school at other places but
Now they were back home and they were joining um our particular chapter we have two chapters however in justice deltas two graduate chapters in the area and two undergraduate chapters here one in hammond graduate soros in the chapters sponsor those undergraduate soros so we have a lot of contact and
With us we have two meetings per year with the undergraduates so they get an opportunity to see what it’s like graduate chapters in action it said that really the fraternity and sorority activities pick up after graduation the graduate chapters are less involved it seems with social activities and much more involved with
Actual community service would you agree with that many times when the young ladies are in the undergraduate chapters they are involved in working in school and trying to graduate and trying to pursue a career many times when you join the graduate chapter we find that we are more settled in our
Communities and then ready to take on the responsibility of our public service at a more uh at a scale that’s a lot higher than probably was in undergraduate school we have a program that we use when undergrad surrounds come to our chapter we have a way of trying to get them involved in
Chapter activities right away so that they are they feel like they belong and they don’t feel like they have to stay apart from the graduate chapters along the same lines as aka we have uh graduate students who work on the campuses who sponsor the young ladies and help them
In the change from graduate from undergraduate to the graduate chapter so we try to keep them involved and get them into the working of the sorority as soon as possible and when you start working and become committed and dedicated it’s hard to stop we have a saying about that
As i’m sure the aka is due to um tell me what kind of activities are going on on a national level with delta sigma theta sorority and delta said with theta we sponsor a five point program thrust and in each one of our five points we have
Chapters all over the country and all of the nation as you’ve already said that work under this five point program one of our five points is called educational development another one physical and mental health and the third one economic development the fourth one international community and international involvement
And the fifth one political awareness so in each one of these five thrusts we are able to work our chapter projects around this total program here in baton rouge we sponsor in our own chapter baton rouge sigma we sponsor a testing workshop which is under our umbrella of educational
Development and what happens with this we invite many of the high school students to come they spend a day with us in workshops we invite local people to work with them teaching them some test taking skills and things that they need to know especially about the a.c.t we also sponsor the doug williams
Football clinic which as you know we’ll probably sponsor again we’re going to have it on april 30th this year and this is a part of our physical and mental health thrust that we invite many young people into the from the community to come and we have the professional football
Players there led by of course doug williams and they give the young people insight and tips and skills on on football but it’s a part of our mental and physical health thrust so we can work we’re constantly working under this umbrella to carry out our chapter programs mrs
Essex what’s going on with alpha kappa alpha nationally and on a local level nationally and locally as we indicated we are largely concerned with a scholarship with leadership with youth with the black family and economic development we each year as a part of the national thrust plan a tutorial
Program enrichment and tutorial program for children from first grade through sixth grade this is a two-week program last year we had in attendance over 200 children the soros work in the teaching of these children in classes in evaluation and whatnot one last question once you must you be a college graduate
In order to belong to one of these sororities you must be a college graduate to be a member of the graduate chapters in alpha kappa alpha undergraduates may if they meet certain scholarship in character and other meet the other requirements they may be initiated into undergraduate chapters but if they do not graduate
Then they may be associate members until certain other requirements are met i see but members of their graduate or the alumni chapters are uh college graduated women is it the same one of the qualifications of our sorority is that you must be a college graduate and just as mrs essex
Has said we do stress scholarship and so that is very important i believe that all of the greek letter organizations the black organizations that we have talked about today will probably have that same qualification uh we are interested in those persons who are pursuing degrees and that’s the reason that many of them
Do pledge in undergraduate school i really enjoyed having you and we hope to see you again someday on folks as you continue with your community service activities let us know we share well thank you thank you very much we enjoy being here now time for folks update a few months
Ago we introduced evelyn feels update writer movie producer and minister of shreveport louisiana and her screenplay adaptation entitled tombia bori i wanted to do something different something that kind of captured the beautiful spiritual psycho religious elements of the south and projected it in a positive light it kind of explored our cultural
Plurality while at the same time lifting african-americans in the south above those stereotypical images and tommy brewery provided me with that it’s a theme about an old house and of course a family a very wealthy family of blacks who who have a history of involvement in in the supernatural
So it provided me with that with that atmosphere that i needed we’re pleased to announce evelyn updike’s most recent achievement the publication of tombiabori the novel thanks for joining us and be sure to tune in next week for an in-depth look at the gifted and talented program in our schools
See you then bye-bye Funding for the production of folks is made possible in part by a grant from union national life insurance serving louisiana and the south since 1926 a family managed corporation providing whole life insurance
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