A lot of things that we do here at gel because we cannot travel um are are talking about the culture history and the people in the areas that we are around here in tucson especially on the campus of the u of a and we feel this is a very integrated and
Important part of the university and we want to talk to you about it now and luckily we have a great panelist of friends and colleagues that i’ve had over the years and they’re going to give you a great um webinar about their experiences here at
The u of a and also during in their organizations too um currently we’re not traveling once again for gel because the pandemic but we hope to travel soon so hopefully everybody can still social distance and mask up so we can be safe and actually travel again
For the next upcoming years um with gel so of course i can’t do this alone i want to introduce my team of my interns here if you can all introduce yourselves please hi my name is leslie soto i’m a current senior at the university of arizona with
A major in speech language and hearing sciences and a minor in spanish and i am a current intern for jail good afternoon everyone my name is vanessa madrid i’m a senior here at the uk studying political science and public management and policy and i’m also an intern here at jail
Hi everyone my name is elena i’m a fourth year phd student in the school psychology program and i am the graduate assistant for gel hi everyone my name is christal i am a first year phd student in the educational leadership and policy program here at the u of a
And i am a lead intern for jung so a little bit about jiao once again also known as global experiential learning is that we integrate travel multicultural education and service learning all to empower students with knowledge and their experiences here at the u of a we are committed to increasing access and
Participation for traditionally marginalized first generation dock and undocumented and low ses students so with this um we do provide a lot of opportunities with gel which is awesome we provide credited opportunities and with that it’s kind of like taking a class but abroad and not in a typical classroom
We provide low or no cost programming and this is with partnering scholarships with programs here on campus and then we do have opportunities for domestic and international travel and then the last overall and main important focus is social justice environmental justice and culture and identity exploration and service learning
So a little bit about me because i was a low income student or i am a low-income student you know first generation student um and a latina student i never expected to travel abroad and with zhao thankfully i’ve had the opportunity to travel to mexico southeast asia and hawaii
So until next time thank you so before we continue the webinar we at joe would like to acknowledge the land in which we sit upon so with this being said we want to share with you this land acknowledgement video that was created by the ua american indian alumni club
Squikdtash was the jimmy anian amy lynn spotted wolf anyapp george shike huawei garadek chikshan dhanatham druid annually miss indian arizona 2020 2021. good day my name is amy lynn spottedwolf and i come from the fresno county community in the barbecue district on the thon autumn nation i am
A senior here at the university of arizona studying elementary education under the indigenous teacher education project i am miss indian arizona two thousand twenty two thousand twenty one sumatra dam oyopo we acknowledge our presence on the thon autumn ancestral lands for time and memorial the don atam have
Been part of this landscape and the university of arizona the rich history and connection the donatum have to the university of arizona is visible in the land the saguaro agave ocotillo and creosote bush used to beautify the university campus are sacred plants to the thanathum the mountains that surround the university of arizona
And contribute to the advancement in the studies of the southwest at the ua are the homes of our ancestors babadoog also known as mount lemon chamomile also known as tuamak hill the wakuo also known as santa rita mountains are just several of the many mountain ranges important to the thonatham culture and identity
Our connection to the land is living and breathing in us here in shikshan we use this connection to the land and our ancestors to guide our studies at the university of arizona thank you good afternoon everybody today our program will be featuring panelists speaking about the divine line
From 1906 to 1963 five historically black greek letter fraternities and sororities were established and still flourished to this day these historically african american greek letter organizations also known as the divine nine earned their title due to their many acts of service and pivotal roles in the end
And enhancing the life hood of people of color these organizations were founded during a time when african americans were denied equal rights and privileges most americans enjoyed and even today the primary mission is to bring about justice positive changes in the black community today we will discuss with some of
Divine nine university of arizona community and student leaders and learn more about the history people and culture of these impactful organizations during this webinar participants will have the opportunity to ask panelists questions using the q a feature at the bottom of your screen please feel free to ask any questions
And we will take the time towards the end of the presentation to answer them thank you okay thank you leslie and this brings us to our next slide of introducing our speakers for today you would like to welcome dr muhammad mambu vice provost kendall washington white denise trimble smith
And associate vice provost ivy banks dr mohamed mahmoud senior water policy analyst central arizona project phi beta sigma fraternity incorporated dr mohamed mahmoud is a senior water policy analyst with the central arizona project his educational background includes a bs 2001 and ms 2003 in civil engineering from michigan technological
University and a phd 2008 in hydrology and water resources from the university of arizona he is also currently the chair of the water utility climate alliance muhammad joined the alpha beta phi chapter of phi beta sigma at michigan tech in spring 2000 he served as chapter president social
Chair and chapter historian during his time with alpha beta phi chapter And next we have kendall washington white vice provost indiana students delta sigma theta sorority incorporated kendall washington white was born in the empire state new york and raised on the rural eastern shore of virginia the middle child and only girl she is a first generation college student
In a family where a college education was an expectation thanks to her mother and grandmother kendall is the vice provost for campus life and dean students at the university of arizona overseeing departments that provide direct services to students housing and residential life campus health campus recreation disability resource center and many more
In her 27 years at the u of a she has served in a variety of positions she values the relationship she has what she has developed with students employees and developed development opportunities she was able to provide to undergraduate and graduate students and the amazing colleagues she has supervised
Advised and counseled over the years her engagement in the tucson community includes serving as a board member of the community foundation of southern arizona chair of the african-american legacy fund and the president of the tucson alumni chapter of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated denise tremble smith project director diversity and inclusion
Sigma gamma rho sorority incorporated dennis tremblesmith is a ruby and life member that joined sigma gamma rho sorority incorporated 27 years ago as a chapter member of the undergraduate chapter at the university of arizona denise is a current parliamentarian of the lambda alpha sigma tucson alumnae chapter she served as the western region
Undergraduate chapter coordinator international grand sergeant arms western research sergeant at arms and has been the lead international sign language interpreter since 1994. denise is the first in her family to graduate college with an aaa american sign language interpreting va history and m.a special education denise was an asl teacher for nearly 20
Years but currently she is a project director at uni dinner of diversity and inclusion at the university of arizona denise is also an event coordinator wedding official and ceo owner of courageous conversations llc she has three amazing daughters and together the four of them love sports music travel movies dancing and desserts
Her favorite quote is i’d rather walk with a friend in the dark than alone in the light by helen keller And finally we have ivy banks associate vice provost diversity and inclusion zeta phi beta sorority incorporated ivk bank serves as the associate vice provost diversity and inclusion at the university of arizona prior to joining wildcat country ivy served as the associate vice president and dean of students at northern arizona university
Ivy is a legacy member of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated with 13 years of service her she serves at the as the undergraduate advisor for the outstanding omicron phi out chapter at university northern arizona university ivy also serves as the president of the white foundation of arizona which is the 501c3
Organization for her chapter ivy hails from cleveland ohio ohio and is married to her sweetheart from elementary school she is the mother of three boys who she is grooming for membership in phi beta sigma fraternity incorporated great thank you all for joining us today we will now continue on with our next slide
And today we will begin with dr mahmoud who will give us some history about the divine name thank you just give me a moment here as i set up the powerpoint and all right hopefully you all can see that nice and clear uh thank you for the wonderful
Introductions i’m very excited to be here uh really what i want to do today to sort of uh give context to the experiences that all the panelists will share about their esteemed organizations let’s just give you a little bit of history about the divine nine or more formerly called
The national panhell panhellenic council obviously we don’t have a lot of time together so i’m only really scratching the surface here so there’s a lot more information but i just wanted to give you enough sort of kernels of information and nuggets of knowledge to to give you a taste of what these
Organization organizations are about and one of the things i wanted to do in this presentation is not just sort of briefly cover the history and origins of these uh nine organizations fraternities and sororities but really give it to you in context to history general history what what is
Happening in the country at that time a lot of times when we look back in history different uh events or or periods we tend to focus on things in isolation but really to understand the significance of the divine divine nine’s history is to really understand their place in time and the
Events that were happening around them uh before they you know as their as they were coming into form um so to do that one of the things i wanted to start with is to give you a historical context on the state of african americans at the end of the last
Century so the late 1800s a lot of these organizations were started to be founded in the early 1900s but may seem like a long period prior but it actually has a very important connection so just very quickly just brief history so imagine emancipation proclamation abolishment of slavery
Only happened in 1863 and of the war on juneteenth happened in 1865 uh over a decade after that so after the end of the civil war up until 1877 is the period we call the reconstruction error era that’s when now the unified post-civil war united states look towards dismantling uh institution
Of slavery and and the idea of the confederacy in the south and to extend the principles of emancipation proclamation um and from that not long after that in the 1880s um longer reasons in history uh the onset of segregation started to rise up in the south and spread
Throughout the country by things we refer to as the jim crow laws and it really became uh sadly the sort of the law of the land in 1896 with the supreme court plessy versus ferguson which basically reinforced segregation as being constitutional the idea of separate but equal facilities between white americans and black
Americans so very significant events that kind of lead up to what we’re going to talk about in terms of the formation of the divine nine organizations another note just to before we start on that is relating to access to higher education because of segregation because of jim crow laws universities and colleges were
Essentially fully segregated in the southern portion of the united states there were few universities in the north that allowed enrollment of african american students but even then there was still segregation of those students on those campuses they could attend they could enroll but they really could not participate in
Anything else they weren’t afforded the services that universities would have provided to all students one other thing before we dive into the divine nine there was actually a black reload organization that was founded before any of the divine nine and it’s called sigma pi phi fraternity or referred to as the boulet
Uh the difference being that this fraternity which was founded in 1904 was actually non-collegiate it was targeting a membership of older professionals and tended to be more exclusive it had this it had this air of being a sort of a secret society organization few were selected it was very exclusive but
The goal of it really was to provide professional and social support for black professionals uh pretty much right after the uh the turn of this of the century i just wanted to give uh recognition to that uh they may have been the first black greek-led organization but they weren’t
At the collegiate level the first uh of the divine nine that came to existence is alpha phi alpha fraternity incorporated and as i mentioned uh in my first slide um african american students at these non-black colleges that weren’t all black colleges that some of these organizations were
Founded at were segregated from the rest of the student body and as such could not join for other fraternities that were in existence which were only white fraternities at that time no black fraternity existed yet uh if we look at cornell university during the period of 1904 to 1906 not
Only were there not a lot of black students enrolled the retention of those students was very poor there was a particular class i think was between 1904 1905 where that particular class of black students did not even get to was not even able to re-enroll the following year so there
Was a huge retention issue for the few african-american students that were at that university cornell and upstate new york this prompted a particular group of students black students to create a study and support group for the remainder of their peers that were suffering under these conditions the study group became very successful
And some of its members based on that success wanted to make it more permanent and create more permanent stable foundation for a support group beyond uh what was originally uh uh intended this eventually became the foundation of alpha phi alpha these particular men uh became the seven jewels that
That’s what members of this fraternity refer to their founders and therefore alpha phi alpha came into existence in 1906. some of their famous members uh include the great martin luther king court justice thurgood marshall and you may also recognize a newly elected governor uh our newly elected senator of georgia
Mr raphael warnock moving on uh to alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated um if we thought the status of uh you know black students and white colleges was difficult generally if you look in terms of women higher education for women in general of any background was disapproved in america at that point
In time it wasn’t looked upon as something favorable clearly and thankfully the times have changed but this was even more pronounced for black women trying to achieve higher education so we look back in 1907 there was a particular student at howard university by the name of ethel hegeman
Who was inspired by stories of sorority life from a faculty member there who had attended brown university obviously these would be a sorority life of white sororities at that point at that point in time this really inspired ethel to begin to recruit and organize her classmates in howard university
To uh possibly embark on creating a new sorority for african-american women nine women including ethel hedgeman then formally founded alpha alpha kappa alpha in 1908. of that particular period of recognition was the sophomore class of 1908 these were particularly seven women who were admitted without initiation into the sorority because they had and
They had very significant contributions to the organization and because of their huge contributions at that early period of the sorority they were also revered like the founders themselves um another group of alpha kappa alpha women that are also highly uh respected are those referred to as the incorporators and these were three women
Who led the effort to incorporate alpha kappa alpha as an organization to preserve its ideas and identity there’s a little bit more about that later we’ll pull on that thread a little bit later because it it’s relevant to one other organization famous members probably the most famous right now is our vice president
Ms kamala harris as well as uh actors comedians event nicole brown and wanda sex moving forward uh in terms of kappa alpha psi fraternity incorporated as you recall african american student life still remained isolated and limited at white colleges like i said black students were banned from utilizing recreational and social
Facilities one particular student at indiana university by the name of elder diggs recognizing these challenges saw an opportunity to enhance the african-american student experience particularly at indiana university in 1910 where he where he was enrolled and he was inspired with this idea because he had just recently came from howard
University which is an uh historically black college university where student life was very active and thriving and there was support for black students because it was a black college and university uh elder diggs organized nine african american men originally under an organization called alpha omega the idea there was to research this
Concept of forming a fraternity and then in 1911 these 10 men actually went ahead and formed this permanent fraternity originally called kappa alpha nu unfortunately and sadly which was prevalent at the time segregation was alive so racism went unfortunately hand in hand with that um they changed their name from kappa from
Kappa alpha nu to kappa alpha psi in 1914 and partly because some of the white students that were at indiana university started to refer to the original name of kappa alpha nu in terms of racial slurs and would say kappa alpha n-word so that was part of the reason to
Shift from kappa alpha psi and has remained kappa alpha psi to this day some of their famous members include comedian cedric the entertainer and probably two of the biggest legends in basketball history of will chamberlain and bill russell moving on to omega sci-fi fraternity incorporated this time we look back at howard university
And there was a desire to enhance the uh black greek collegiate experience by uh adding another fraternity at howard university at that particular point in time alpha phi alpha had established its second chapter its first one being in cornell at howard university in 1907 so they were the first to establish a black
Fraternity in howard but wasn’t their first chapter the concept was really initiated by three undergraduate students with the assistance of their faculty advisor and these four collectively would later be the officially the founders of omega sci-fi in 1911. however their path to recognition and and establishing their fraternity was a little bit uh
Littered with obstacles uh at that time howard university initially refused omega scifi recognition and the reason being was that there was growing distrust of fraternities and sororities and that the administration had a perceived link to secret societies that it would be a negative secret society and that would be
Connected to the decline of morality really very suspicious and conspiracy theorist type thinking however the four founders persisted they did not quit they launched a public campaign on campus advertising their fraternity spreading word of mouth they started lobbying other faculty members to support their initiative and after lengthy negotiations with the
University president who was really the the main thorn in preventing them from establishing recognition uh they pushed forward they had to discuss issues on fraternity scope the president wanted omega scifi to remain a local fraternity the founders wanted to become national there were issues in there and aspects of the constitution eventually
With much perseverance they were able to be finally recognized at howard university as a national fraternity in 1914 three years after they were founded some of their famous members include illustrious poet langston hughes jesse jackson senior and basketball goat michael jordan so you may remember that i said we’ll touch on an aspect
On the alpha kappa alpha kappa alpha alpha kappa alpha sorority slide and and really the beginnings of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated are indeed connected to alpha kappa alpha in 1912 undergraduate members of alpha kappa alpha wanted to reorganize the sorority in a number of new ways they want to become more politically
Active beyond just being a social club they want to establish a national sorority with other chapters not just local to howard university and probably the biggest change would have been to change the name of the sorority to delta sigma theta some of the viewpoints was that alpha kappa alpha felt that
The name kappa al kappa alpha kappa alpha sorry uh was perceived as to be two derivative of alpha phi alpha beta chapter because of this sort of uh growing desire of shift for the direction of the organization uh conflict arose particularly between the undergraduate members who wanted to reorganize
Uh and graduates who caught wind of this uh in alpha kappa alpha that wanted to preserve the organization uh with its original vision and and mission um this uh sort of resistance from the graduate side was championed by nelly quander a lady by the name of nelly quander who actually referencing
Back to the alpha kappa alpha slide led alpha kappa alpha’s incorporation efforts and it’s connected to this particular event um ultimately 22 of those dissenting undergraduates declined ms quander’s ultimatum to drop the new sorority name and they embarked forward and moved forward to officially found delta sigma theta in 1913 at howard university
Famous members include famous musicians roberta flack natalie cole and actresses keisha knight pullum and kim whitley phi beta sigma fraternity incorporated though founded in 1914 actually had its inception or many years before the idea of the fraternity was conceived many years before 1914. in the summer of
1910 one of its founders a langston taylor was inspired in high school by the idea and stories of black greeks from howard university when he heard stories from a recent graduate of howard university uh fast forward to his enrollment at howard itself in the fall of 1913
Already with a mission with a vision of a fraternity in hand of how it would look like i would potentially operate after enrolling in howard university he joined with two other men to form the foundation of this fraternity and these three ended up being the founders of phi beta sigma
In november 1913 the founders initiated their first new members nine which were very important in phi beta sigma history and finally this culminated in january 1914 when phi beta sigma was officially established and founded at howard university it was then took about three months later for this new fraternity to be recognized by
Howard university administration one interesting thing that happened not too long after phi beta sigma was founded it grew very fast in the east where it was founded a letter was received by the organization from elder gate elder dixon recall was one of the founders or primary founder of kappa alpha psi to
Propose a merger with phi beta sigma phi beta sigma and part of the reason is as sigma was growing fiber sigma was growing in the east kappa alpha psi was actually growing in the midwest where it was founded uh from in indiana university after much consideration
And discussion of pros and cons phi beta sigma respectfully declined and you can imagine how much of a shift that would have been if that actually occurred some of the famous members of my fraternity include the great recently departed john lewis and hewitt newton some of the younger audience members may recognize king
Kimbak the comedian on online and then uh university of arizona’s very own and personal friend of mine eugene edgerson moving on to the wonderful zeta phi beta sorority incorporated zeta phi beta sorority’s history is very much intertwined with that of its brother fraternity phi beta sigma
In 1919 one of the members of phi beta sigma had approached a lady by the name of arizona cleaver by forming a sisterhood that would essentially also new sorority that would also be a sister organization to phi beta sigma miss cleaver shared this idea with four other women
That would eventually all of them collectively would become the five pearls which is how we refer to the founders of state of phi beta after being granted permission by howard university zeta phi beta officially came into existence in january of 1920 and not long after they officially arrived on campus at howard university
Members of alpha kappa alpha and delta sigma theta held a welcome reception for this new sorority after they were founded so there was still very much support within these organizations amongst each other one of the unique things about zeta phi beta and phi beta sigma their brother-sister organizations uh in more than name
They’re the first and only constitutionally bound sister brother organizations in the national panhellenic council some of their famous members include zora neil hurston chaka khan and cheryl underwood moving on to sigma gamma rho sorority incorporated uh one of the things i i found very sort of unique and interesting about
How sigma gamma rho was founded is the environment that this sorority came into existence so it was founded at butler university which is uh similar to kappa alpha psi is in the state of arizona a state of indiana or uh kappa outside being indiana university um in the 1920s it was even more
Difficult and and really dangerous to try to bring such an organization to the forefront because of some of the some of the things that were happening in 1920s particularly in the state of indiana the klu klux klan was seeing a resurgence in its activity in its members
And indiana was widely known to be one of its main strongholds uh on the statistics that i read was that about nearly 30 percent of men in indiana were members of the kkk so this would be a very hostile and dangerous environment to try to bring attention to a black organization
Especially in a uh essentially a white white college being butler university but despite these very real and serious threats seven young teachers were moved ahead and founded sigma gamma rho sorority at butler university in 1922. not long after that incorporation for the sorority followed a month later in december and officially
Expanded to become a national organization in 1929. some of their famous members include hanny mcdaniel mc light kelly price and dj spinderella of salt and formerly i guess of salt and pepper but up until this point these organizations weren’t necessarily structurally linked together until the national panhellenic council was formed
In 1930 at howard university and even when it was formed not all of the members up until this point that had been founded were members originally when the council was uh was established only alpha kappa alpha kappa alpha psi omega psi phi delta sigma theta and zeta phi beta were
Members these were essentially the founding members of the divide of the national panhellenic council but expansion followed suit uh very shortly uh 1931 saw the addition of alpha phi alpha and phi beta sigma and then 1937 saw the addition of sigma gamma rho and it would be many many many years
After that in 1996 where iota phi theta would join the national panhellenic council officially become the divine nine or nicknamed i should say the divine nine prior to iota joining the council uh this collective was actually referred to as the elite eight and the nickname divine nine
Was adopted uh after iota phi theta joined and really was coined uh by author of the name of lawrence ross jr who actually produced the book in 2000 called the divine nine and that’s how the name was originally uh came into existence and and kind of took
Off from there great resource by the way if you want a little bit dated at this point but great resource on some of the history of these organizations finally that brings us to iota phi theta fraternity incorporated and really iota phi theta’s genesis is uh intrinsically linked
With the civil rights movements uh the year they were founded 1963 was a critical moment in the civil rights movements civil rights movement which was well underway some of the things that happened that year are historic and remain historic to this day you all must have seen the horrible pictures and video
Of the birmingham birmingham police unleashing dogs and water hoses on the peaceful protesters protesting for the right to equality and equal treatment uh the gunning down of a prominent civil rights activist in mississippi by white segregationists also occurred that year probably the most iconic of all events was the historic march on washington
Where we were the famous martin luther king speech i have a dream occurred so because of all these huge societal changes and shifts uh there was really a movement within the community and a hunger for young black men to be advocates of social change and political justice and that really propelled
The 12 founders of iota phi theta to create their fraternity one of the unique thing about the founders of iota phi theta they were what we what we would uh deem today non-traditional students they were older than your average student they already had families children full-time jobs in addition to going to
School and most of them really were lifelong friends they’ve been friends for a long time and to me that’s unique because it really showed that this was a mature fraternity in terms of its at least original membership founders that then became ideally suited for the mature and primary cause of its time
Which was being the attainment of equal civil rights some of their members famous members include actor terence carson uh legendary basketball and red and legendary basketball player alvin hayes um i just wanted to leave you with a few thoughts and like i said i’m barely scratching the surface here these
Organizations organizations have very rich activities history programs uh there’s a lot more you can learn but one of the things that struck me is some of these common themes that i found in the history of these organizations are really three things that rise up perseverance innovation and community one one thing
You know i talked about putting everything in context to history you have to understand that most of the founders or most of the most of the uh young men and women that would form these organizations in the early 1900s were only one generation removed from slavery what that means is
Their parent uncle aunt were born a slave remember emancipation proclamation was only about 50 or so years earlier and so slavery this concept of slavery wasn’t a uh you know something they had to look up deep into their ancestry they had a family member who lived it so
This so what struck me as being completely extraordinary is going from that within one generation to create these very important organizations that would then support uh sort of the african-american experience and movement in the united states and even during an era of extreme segregation these founders moved against all odds to
Create these unique and novel organizations in extremely hostile environments and innovation in the sense that this idea of utilizing corporation which is very important to the divine nine organizations enable them to create lasting and legal organizations that would continue on in perpetuity it’s in a sense and the continual expanding of their vision
To meet the evolving challenges of the time segregation the civil rights movement and community really one of the important things is community the example of support groups for disenfranchised black students and discriminatory white colleges and beyond that establishing a critical network of collegiate professionals across the country when these fraternities sororities
Started to expand and create chapters across the country and really later across the globe so that even when facing great duress from society american society and some of the evils that have been perpetuated against them found a way to support each other through that hardship so really extraordinary extraordinary legacy
And to me to put in sentence really the story of divine nine is an important narrative of black history and it really illustrates the fortitude and resilience of the black experience particularly in segregated america so as i leave you with those thoughts i will end my presentation here and i
Guess i will pass it on to kendall to talk about her experience with her organization thank you muhammad um hello everyone it’s so happy to see you here participating in this webinar and for the sake of timing i want to make sure that my sisters here have an opportunity to share
Their experiences as well and so i’m really just going to respond to a couple of questions that we were asked to share and and really about how did i learn about delta sigma theta my eldest first cousin named justine also a first-gen graduate of college was someone that many of us
Young cousins looked up to her she was the first person in our entire family to earn a college degree and when i was a young girl probably about 11 or 12 justine wedding occurred and when her sorority sisters created a circle around her and sang the sweetheart song i was mesmerized
But not just because of that but the bond among those women and the success and accomplishments that those women had i i was ready to do go it was just an incredible experience and so that’s my first um you know opportunity to be among those women and you know i wanted to join
And part of it initially was to be in the same footsteps as justine but as i got older and understood more that it was beyond just wanting to follow in her stepfoot but for me to understand more about delta sigma theta and what i really appreciate about my sorority
Is the social action element yes sisterhood is number one scholarship all of that but the social action is really important to me and in my role at the university of arizona i can’t be an activist when i’m working at the university but i certainly can use the platform of delta sigma
Theta sorority incorporated to be activists outside of the university of arizona so i’m going to stop there because i want to make sure that denison and i we have the opportunity and for people to ask us questions thank you so much kendall and dr mahmoud so next we’re gonna have denise trimble smith
Well good afternoon everyone and thank you so much for this amazing opportunity i know that we’ve already done our land acknowledgement and that was amazing um but i also um would be remissed if i didn’t also acknowledge the nine organizations um that represent nphc the divine nine um but even more so
The eight or the seven that came before uh sigma gamma rho we um we love the fact that we’re the baby girl of the sovereignties um and and the baby girl of the divine nine because we get to be a little bit more spoiled if you will
They give us some opportunities um that normally wouldn’t happen um and we’re treated very well because we’re the baby girls so we certainly appreciate our big sisters of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated delta sigma theta incorporated zeta phi beta sorority incorporated and of course all of our brother organizations i am so
Excited to stand before you as a 27 year member of sigma gamma rho and it’s awfully special that i am also one of the newest if you want to say the baby girl of diversity and inclusion um because i went to u of a and i was a charter member
Of the chapter there at the university fortunately we had several graduations unfortunately all of those graduations have caused us to be uh to not have any members on the yard is what we call the campus on the yard right now however we’re looking to change that here shortly
What attracted me to sigma gamma rho was not just the fact that we were founded and established by seven on what we call bluetooth school teachers um but also that it was established on a pwi as our brother um mohammed just uh served us with a plethora of knowledge
But that was important and and for those again pwi um indicates a predominantly white institution um the hardships that our founders had to go through really parallel some of the hardships that i years years later also had to endure um here right in arizona being the only african-american young lady um in an
Entire school and you think oh you’re not that old to have experienced that yes yes i am that old um and so some of the very things that they endured um during the founding of our sisterhood i too endured being a first generation college student
Has paved the way for me to see things from a different perspective and also be very appreciative of the things that are um are provided to me um and on the backs of our ancestors and on the backs of the trailblazers that created our sororities but that created mine specifically
I think being the youngest of five also gave me a perspective because i am the first one to graduate college i was able to experience things in a very different way and um because of that i feel a great debt of gratitude to follow in my founders footsteps and
Almost everything that i do um having having that experience of being on a pwi um and having the experience of enduring racism surviving racism and my family being direct survivors of slavery again that gives you a different shape and a multitude when it comes to your organization
Sigma gamma rho was the first of the historically black sororities in the state of arizona uh way back in 1950 and in fact in 1952 at the arizona teachers college known as arizona state university that was the first african-american sorority and an undergraduate level in arizona again when we talk about that that
Image of our founders having to um hide uh and meet in secret uh because uh the butler university and the library in which they were meeting was directly across the street from what is known as the grand dragon of the ku klux klan that pulled at my heartstrings as well um
Sigma gamma rho has just done so much uh for me and and i’ll leave this with you um it it’s been so important in this 27 year journey um that i have gained sisters and brothers siblings i should say that have helped shaped me into becoming the woman that i am today
Yes i have natural brothers and sisters and and i’m the baby of my family so i’m just getting it all over the place um and and they’re very protective of me so it feels so good to be a part of the divine nine to know that yes we have some
Banter we even have some sibling rivalries some competition at a very surface level but i have siblings eight other organizations that make up millions of people that have my back that understand what i may be going through as a college student and undergraduate that understands and can support me
In the areas of of you know my colleague my professional career and even beyond that means a lot greater service greater progress is the model of sigma gamma rho and when i came to join the organization i didn’t have the best of past um i was actually pretty embarrassed of
Some of the things that i had gone through as a young person um was embarrassed that i came from very humble beginnings my father died totally illiterate my mother did not finish uh junior high let alone high school or had a college degree um and i knew the stock in which i came
So when i approached sigma gamma rho and when they approached me about joining the organization as the charter member what stood out to me the most was when i was pouring out my heart about all the terrible things that i’ve done and all the trouble i had gone into um and
All that kind of stuff uh the sister who i love to this day and we have a very strong relationship to this day uh the school ward which what we call sister said you know denise i’m not interested so much in your past as much as i am interested in the greater progress
Of your future that right there made me feel so confident i knew i could take on the world because of that yes that one yes i thought i was not going to pass the interview i thought they were just going to laugh me out of the room but that one yes
Has shaped me to being a wildcat today i wasn’t able to graduate from asu my mom lost her job excuse me u of a and um i had to go back home to the phoenix area but that one yes let me know that the disappointment i had in not getting
A degree from the university of arizona still pushed me to be able to get a degree from arizona state university and then later a master’s from northern arizona university and then saw fit for me to be back home as a wildcat that one yes and so i am so
Thankful for the yeses that my sorority has provided me and the yes is that you as an organization gel has provided me to sit before you on this zoom call pouring out my heart to tell you i’m so thankful for the divine nine experience i’m so thankful
For the men women people um the siblings who have chartered so many waters for me and because of that one yes i’m able to stay afloat i’m able to continue my goals i’m not finished yet but i’m so happy that i still can can breathe life into greater service greater progress
Right there in tucson arizona right here as a wildcat and anywhere i endeavor to go in my life so thank you all so much for the opportunity to talk with y’all today thank you so much denise we will now move forward with ivy banks good afternoon before we begin or before
I begin to talk about my journey in zeta phi beta sorority incorporated i would like to take one moment to pay homage to the five pearls who made this possible for me they in 1920 believed in a movement and they joined with the brothers of phi beta sigma fraternity incorporated
And i’m forever and eternally grateful to arizona cleaver simmons pearl anna neal myrtle tyler faithful biola tyler goings and fanny petty watts i bring you greetings to the divine nine that is on the call for those that are on the panel and for the divine nine that is present
In the pan in the call as well so if you are here please say hello to us as well i bring you greetings in the chat i would also like to pay homage today to the first lady of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated in the state of
Arizona who i see is on the call madam state director patricia spencer who is a dedicated wildcat and has done amazing things for the undergraduate sorority here zeta 58 is already incorporated and actually was under her leadership in the past two years that we were able to expand
To be the only sorority that was at all three institutions across the state of arizona um i was asked why did i want to become a zeta and what led me to this organization um i grew up in am a first generation college student but very similar
To kendall my oldest cousin went away to an hbcu and i had gone to elementary school at a catholic school so my experiences were very it was like a pwi where i didn’t see myself represented in high school or elementary school and one day she was going back to college and my
She said do you want to ride with me and i looked up to her and was it’s absolutely i was so excited i was about 12 years old and got to jump in a car and go to a college campus for the first time but specifically
To an hbcu because she went to cheney university in pennsylvania and when i arrived on campus she put on this blue and white sweater and this white skirt and grabbed his cane and they began to go out and step um on the yard and i saw the beautiful
Zeta monument with the rocks in the tree and i heard them calling out and then i saw these amazing beautiful men of phi beta sigma come out and i said that is me that i am going wherever they are going i am going um and so that was my first introduction to
Zeta phi beta sorority incorporated and it was a fun introduction because i was able to see our engagement on campus but when i began to dig a little bit deeper i realized that zeta really spoke to me because of what it did in the community our founding principles are scholarship service
Sisterhood and finer womanhood we are the finest sorority of the divine nine and that means that we carry ourselves and understand that being at that time a black woman but we have many many sorority sisters that are of all walks of life and i was so excited to see what we were
Doing specifically in the black community i appreciated that we had the bond with phi beta sigma because we thought about the black family from not only the vantage point of black women but also with black men i was also impressed that we were the first sorority to have auxiliary groups
Meaning that we thought about women that did not have college degrees so we began to support women that did not have college degrees and we brought them under us now they were not considered zetas however they are still our sisters and we support them and we’ve seen many
Of our mikai become zetas as they look up to and now can achieve and see someone that has achieved a college degree we also have our go all the way down to our parlettes who are little five-year-olds um and we go all the way up through high school
So i really was drawn into this idea that as an organization we really were focused in on the family we were focused on supporting our community we have um many opportunities throughout history in order to be the first one of the things that we are the first at is we are the first
Um sorority from the divine nine to charter chapters in africa and also in the middle east so we went international when we established chapters in africa all the way back in 1948. also we were the first to operate a business out of headquarters with the paid staff
You heard that we were the first to be bound to our brother organization and also as we talked about those auxiliary groups each year our partnerships grow we have our storks nest and again that is founded in 1972 where we partner with the march of dimes to ensure that we’re increasing the
Number of women receiving prenatal care and babies that are born healthy knowing that babies of color and women of color have very high rates of issues as it relates to prenatal care our partnerships continue to evolve we have been partners with march of dimes saint jude children’s hospital women’s veterans american cancer society
Aarp and we are actually the very first sorority to be partnered with u.s fish and wildlife services so we continue to do a great deal with our sorority and getting engaged we have been out as you heard kendall say that i can’t be an activist when i
Am in my capacity and role at the university of arizona however outside of that space you’ve seen us support black lives matter you’ve seen us um whenever we start and this was going back to 1920 that we are not a social organization we are a community conscious action-oriented
Sorority that really truly focuses on our community so thank you for the opportunity to share with you about the finest sorority zeta phi beta sorority incorporated thank you all once again for sharing your experiences and for being here with us um once again i know you all already
Acknowledged but i wanted to read it reiterate um that we have sunday williams who is a part of the alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated um epsilon omega chapter graduate advisor counselor council sorry um with us today and then we also have uh jonathan member of phi beta sigma fraternity incorporated
Lambda iota sigma chapter from san diego california so thank you all for joining us today once again we are going to transition onto the q a portion um so we have one question and we would love for um all of you to speak a little bit on it um
And it’s the question what advice would you give to someone thinking about joining an organization a greek organization so whoever wants to start go ahead um and i can do your interview search do your research um the divineline organizations as you heard denise say we have
Um a little bit of banter back and forth but we love each other nonetheless so i would say do your research um for the organization that you’re looking or you’re interested in get to know us each and every one of us individually and also know that this is a lifelong commitment
So when we made this commitment i made this commitment nearly 14 years ago it was for life and we commit ourselves to enhancing our community for life so that’s one of the pieces to consider i would just add to that um having been a campus professional for
Just a little while i also worked in fraternity and sorority live through the office of the dean of students up north in northern arizona university and i got an opportunity to work with our historically right fraternities and historically right sororities as well as our culturally based fraternities
And sororities and there is a major difference between our ifc uh siblings and our um cpc siblings in that our recruitment as well as our um process of joining and membership is a little bit more private and secret um i don’t want to use the word secret
But what we do is we really try to protect the process we protect the journey because um this is a lifelong commitment um we do want this commitment to be something that is reciprocated and that it is a a great fit for both entities the person who is pursuing membership
And then the organization that is accepting members and so um typically our recruitment process and our journey to membership that many of us call membership intake process um and each one of our organizations will have a different title for their membership intake process that process is very respected and your
Privacy is respected as well so from the time that you um pretty much let your intentions be known um and you post covid are able to go to community services together study together um spend time together that whole courtship and relationship build but is a private relationship until you
Have the opportunity to be revealed to the community and that is a phenomenal uh a phenomenal journey spend some time looking at some of our neophyte presentations and neophyte means new member or new member presentations um they’re exciting and they’re very different across the country across the
World um but nonetheless it’s a rite of passage that that really belongs to all of us um and know that we in most cases are very much private and respect uh this journey to be your journey um and not make it public until the time is just right and you’ve achieved
The opportunity to be called a fret or a silver i’ll just add that i believed that my interview to become a delta was much more stressful than any job discreet job interview because you want it so badly and it’s it can be intimidating for people
But it’s worth it it really is and i’ll just echo what denise and ivy have already stated but you have to be prepared right you have to have public service you have to have a great gpa all of those things but that interview is significant and scary
Not really scary just is a challenge thank you once again and then dr mahmoud would you like to add anything um i mean my steam panelists put it best i mean i think just pick maybe just one one one item to underline that they’ve all raised up is
You know do your research on the organizations as a whole but i think the important piece is reach out to those that are actually where you’re at because yes the organization the history the legacy the vision the objectives are important but also who you’re joining organization but you’re
Also joining a brotherhood or sister and the people that are there are going to be your brothers at least initially you know before you meet the many others around the country in the world so you want to be able to build a personal relationship with those so meet them
See see what the rapport is you know and that’s important too so that i would just highlight that part yes thank you all so much and then there are a couple of q a’s um in the box and i see uh that a couple of you are answering so thank you for that
Um and then if we can go ahead and go to the next slide thank you once again for for answering the the questions so to that end we want to thank everyone who took their time out of their day to be here with us as we learn more about the divine nine
With such amazing guest speakers adding on we want to mention that our post assessment is attached onto this slide so please take a moment to take out your phones scan the qr code and fill it out as soon as possible uh we also would like to reiterate that
Completing this assessment will count as your attendance to this webinar um so we hope you all enjoyed our presentation today and learned more about the divine nine so i’ll pass it on to dan for any last remarks thank you thank you so much for our panelists kendall muhammad
Denise and ivy what the sad news is we’re out of time it looks like we have more questions the great news is we have these new wildcats here on campus with us um besides muhammad he’s in phoenix but i’m sure he’d come down anytime to come chat with you all
And it looks like you all have some new recruits too from the question and answer so thank you so much once again we we love these webinars but we want to get you out into the world as well so hopefully we can all still social
Distance and mask up so we can get to traveling again so thank you so much and we’ll see you next month thank you all
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