We’re going to get started just simply by you guys just introducing yourself if you can if you can say your name what organization you represent your career path and also um what school you went to for undergraduate school good morning everyone um it’s a pleasure being here my name is Malika
Pegis and I am a member of the first the finest sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated and it is really an honor yes yes we want to do that we going to do that but uh I’m a school psychologist and um prior Air Force um I
Was uh avionics so um and then I crossed at well technically Queens College but um it I was in this specialized program Through The Graduate Center so uh I studied neur science and now in main grad doing school [Applause] Psychology good evening well not evening good afternoon guys uh morning my name is seaan Phillips I am a member of Omega Sci-Fi fraternity Incorporated we were founded in at November 17th 1911 at Howard University I am a proud graduate of morous college class of 1992 I’m
Old my career path um I was in entertainment for a number of years working at television networks like MTV bet um TBS and TNT in marketing um and after about 25 years of corporate America I quit my job and I now I quit my job and I now for the past
Seven years um and an entrepreneur I own Genesis signs and Graphics we’re full service commercial Sign Company in [Applause] Farmingdale good morning my name is Andrew K I am a member of alpha alpha attorney Incorporated the first black male into collegiate you uh fraternity created uh December
4th 196 on on the campus of Cornell University um I attended Oakwood University in h Alabama which is a HBCU um my career I’m an it specifically disaster recovery and business continuity and hopefully sooner I can retire as well that live my life we’re giving introductions all right oh you can clap
For me go ahead I love it I love it good morning everyone my name is Denise ly and I’m a proud member of Zeta F sorority Incorporated and we were founded on the campus of Howard University on January 16th 1920 and I’m proud to be here with the
Other members of the Divine n currently I uh just retired from teaching so I am a teacher uh last year a teacher of dance and a teacher of science so I did both I’ve been a member of my Organization for 36 years and I became a member at Syracuse University Upstate New
York and and I graduated from college in 1989 so I got a couple years on you and my sorority is founded upon the proses of finer Womanhood service sisterly love and scholarship thank you for having us [Applause] world so I am um Joy Williams I see that
I have a couple of other members of my organ organization so you probably know a couple things already so I’m a member of Alpac Kappa Alpha soror Incorporated and you probably know something already is Miss Boyd is a member of our organization so do you know where we were founded 1908 that’s excellent do you know what on campus we were founded Howard University right so I actually um went to undergrad and it was impossible for me to join an
Organization at undergrad because my school I think I hear a lot of extraneous talking can we have your attention up here thank you so um so my I I went to vaser college undergrad and there’s nothing Greek at vaser so there was no opportunity for me to join I did spend a
Semester at Spelman College have you heard of spell before okay so I so and while I was there my roommate was initiated into the organization but I didn’t have an opportunity to join so I joined as a graduate in a graduate chapter which means I had graduated from college
Already so and career-wise I transitioned from Financial Services to Media two times once before I went to business school and once after so I worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York um and then I worked at MTV CBS uh HBO and ESPN before I decided to leave
The industry and run my own company so I run Soul jooy Wellness which is focused on health and wellness and communities of color and because of my entertainment and financial services background it is a business and it tries to to make uh learning about wellness and to
Make your health more fun and engaging so not just giving you all the stats to make it more fun so thank you for having [Applause] me good morning happy to be here with you this morning my name is Kesha Jones I am a member of alphaa Alpha sorar and
Incorporated and I am a nurse um a registered nurse by trade I am currently a nurse executive with CVS the pharmacies that you see on every corner in your neighborhood um I do training for the HR department at CBS um I went to Hunter College which is in Manhattan
I did not attend an HBCU but I am an HBCU mom uh my oldest daughter attended North Carolina entt University in Greensboro North Carolina Aggie fry okay so if you’re interested in talking about HBCU about Divine n we’re here to give you some insight into that world today thank you so much good
Morning morning don’t sound like you’re happy to be here good morning and I’m happy to be here with you my name is Cheryl gine I am a retired High School assistant principal and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated and again I’m happy to be
With here with you this morning and um just a a a tiny bit of of background I began as a special education teacher then a special education administrator then a reg reg administrator and I can’t tell you how happy I am to see all of your faces this morning thank [Applause] you
Hey come on come on energy energy I said hey my name is precious Paul um I’m a part of s gamaro sorority Incorporated founded on Butler University November 12th 1922 um we pride ourselves in Womanhood and community service and I’m glad to be [Applause] here good morning everyone
Hello my name is Adrien Boyd and I am a member of alpha CA Alpha sorority Incorporated um I attended St John’s University and I have been a member of this organization for 38 years as a matter of fact yesterday was what we call my akaversary that was the day I crossed I am the number one on that um I currently I am the cytology supervisor and Clinical Laboratory
Rotation coordinator at NYU Lango hospitals Long Island formerly Windor Hospital down the road down here I am your science GE I am a science girl I love all things science and um I hope if anyone wants to take a tour of NYU Lango Long Island or is interested in the
Sciences healthc care I’m the person to speak to and we can set something up for you guys today all Right good morning good morning can I get a year all right my name is Bianca Johnson and I am proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha I was initiated in 2017 on the Epic 36 line I too am an ace of my line um I am currently an attorney for the
City of New York I am also a college professor at Queens [Applause] College wanting to go there I actually graduated from Queens College on a full scholarship as well W come on KY um I also am the director of Children and Youth at the Hope City Church in
Brooklyn New York um I also am an Adent liaison for the campus of Queens College and a product liaison for a medical supply company so I do a lot all right um but I am so excited to be here with you today I hope if you have any
Questions that you will feel comfortable enough to ask them them because this is why we are here my name is uh Alan Joseph I am a member of alpha alpha Fraternity Incorporated 066 oh yeah um I went to a PW by the name of University of Detroit Mercy I got my
Communications degree Bachelor of Arts communications degree then I went to Columbia University another pwi predominantly white institution um and got my masters in technology management I am a VP of data engineering at Major League Baseball hello everyone I am Miss Crystal good I am a wonderful fifth grade teacher here at the Academy
Charter School U I know most of Y hey babies um I’m so proud of you I’m going take this moment I’m very proud of most and all of you you’re graduating this year and I absolutely love it for you I am a member of zifi betas sority Incorporated founded January 16th 1920
On the campus of Howard University I I I joined Z 5 beta word Incorporated in the fall of 2011 at Johnson C Smith University which is a which is a HBCU it is the only HBCU in Charlotte North Carolina I am a firm believer and everyone needs to go through or find a
Niche in their own way in higher education um I’m here most of you have talk to about my journey to johnon C Smith and through [Applause] Zeta uh hello ladies and gentlemen many of you may have seen me around campus my name is Miss Douglas Stephanie Douglas I
Serve as the principal of unale Middle School um here at the Academy I attended Howard University for undergrad I got my masters at Lola Mar mount in California my school building leadership at Leola I’m sorry School of BU leadership at College of St Rose and currently a doctorial student at NYU
Um I am a proud member of the oh my I went to see how un proud of alpha CA Alpha sorority Incorporated good morning everyone uh my name is Miss Marie Eve Theodore I also work here as an instructional coach at the Academy Charter School Middle School here at Union Deale and I also am a member of the first and the finest alpaca Alpha Sor [Applause] Incorporated yes we were founded January 15th
1908 and um I uh crossed in 2008 which is very special and dear to my heart because it was the Centennial year of uh our sorority 100 Year L 100 years later I went to University of New Haven which was a pwi in New Haven Connecticut and I
Truly loved and enjoyed it I had line sisters from Yo University Quint Pak University Southern Connecticut State I joined a chartered school Charter chapter Z Omron and then after that I had an amazing time in Connecticut doing Sisterhood community service is scholarship and I just truly believe
That when you join an organization and you build that Bond and that Sisterhood there’s just so it’s so much rewarding it’s so rewarding later on I went to uh came back home to Brooklyn New York and I got my Master’s education in math education 7 to 12 and now I’m a here at
The Academy Charter School thank you so much so I think we introduced everyone I didn’t miss anyone right okay and you guys know who I so um if we could just make sure uh one person answers each question because of time um I just wanted to put that out
There all right so can someone answer the question what is a fraternity what is a fraternity so a fraternity is an organization of men that are like-minded have the same goals and aims and participate in community service and that essentially is a eternity what is a sority testing all right hi everybody
Hello again a sari is a group of what girls let me see you hands up hands up ladies hands up a sority is a group of women a sari is a group that’s right I say to them that a sari is a group of likeminded women who gathered together
Also in order to perform community service and I do must say there is a social aspect to being a member of a sorority and whenever we do community service we make sure that not only do we have a good time but we give back to those in need in the community a sority
As you could see will have much Sisterhood amongst the women who are members and we all make sure that we take care of each other as friends as family members in business as well as in education thank you thank you so much for that so as we
Are in black history month we have decided to highlight the divine nine black fraternities and sororities so what would you say is the difference between a black fraternity or sorority versus a Caucasian fraternity sorar Or Hispanic fraternity sority why were we founded as the Divine line anyone want to address that um
Since Miss Boyd is looking at me um the difference I would say is that um fraternities and sororities come in all Races so you know there are Latin Asian white Etc um with the divine nine uh which you predominantly see up here it’s basically membership and being accountable to the community for
Life it’s not something that you take lightly uh the Brotherhood uh Sisterhood that you see up here is not only about hanging out or having our kids uh uh hang out or go on vacations but it’s about scholarships to you young kids it’s about college tours it’s about
Feeding the environment it’s about find Financial education it’s about teaching people how to buy homes get jobs um uh having uh refrigerators in the community where people who are hungry can go and just pick up food for free so it’s almost frowned upon if you’re inactive
And I’ll say that uh lightly but uh it’s also frowned upon if you’re not giving back in some way to the community that’s how we’re different and if I may just add with black fraternities and sororities we are all responsible all dedicated to doing community service
However if you are in a black sorar or fraternity the emphasis is on doing Public Service in a black community serving your people and anybody else who wants to come along anyone else who wants to um benefit from what we offer are more than welcome but we are there
To provide service to the underserved in our communities thank you thank justr pres okay one last thing I want to say not all white fraternities and sororities but many are just undergraduate experiences we’re divine nine organizations that we in are lifetime commitments so what we do in
Undergrad or what doing a graduate it’s for life it does not end with your college experience it just want to thank you you wanted to add I wanted to add one more thing um that it’s also rich in the history and that our Founders all of our different Founders
When they founded this over a 100 years ago the fact that they have tried to strive to support disadvantaged black people and everything we’ve gone through through slavery and not having the proper education not having the same advantage Es as other white people we’ve struggled and they’ve come a long way so
It’s continuing that Legacy of our ancestors and ensuring that we’re always striving for Success scholarship service community service Sisterhood and Brotherhood excellent thank you thank you um so I wanted to just go into HBCU and pwis right some of us have attended HBCU some of us have attended pwis um
What would you say is the difference between the too um I mean I I attended morous College um which in itself is a unique experience because it’s not only a HBCU but it’s an all male school now right across the street is Stone in college and all female school um which was a
Delight um but uh I would say that it was it was a beauty it was a beautiful thing to walk through my campus and see Excellence that looked like me every single day in my dorms in my classrooms at parties at Community Service events it was it was just not it
Was just something that and and my high school was predominantly black but the Excellence level around this nation was something that I can I I take with me to this day I mean my friend to this day some were in my wedding some are you know Gods son god parents like the black
The HBCU experience with me is family it’s truly family I mean our homecomings are and I’m not just saying M more like HBCU homecomings we do come home where the differences I see with pwi it’s just not that same desire to go back to your school school and be a part of that
Community and to piggy back off of that um so I did not go to a HBCU I went to a pwi so cuni is the largest university in the nation because there’s just so many campuses all over New York City and it’s a public university so um cuni has its
Advantages because I gradu I’m graduating with my Master’s with no debt and and there’s so many programs they claim to be extremely diverse which they are it’s just you have to create your own safe spaces as people of color and that’s the thing that you’re missing out
On when you’re not attending an HBCU I do recognize that if I had gone to a HBCU I would have had more of um that safe space there’s also this cultural component with being with people who look like you and being taught by people who look like you and when you’re in
Cuni you often have to um deal with the challenges of trying to compete with other people to be seen so it kind of as a person of color makes you feel like you have to be twice as good especially a woman of color and if not twice as
Good four times as good just so that you can get that recognition but um cuni has served me well um there’s an article or two that’s circling around and they have um coined me as the cuy queen so um I’m at Brooklyn College I’ve been at lemman The Graduate Center Queen’s College a
Hunter um through the Cy Bachelorette of interdisciplinary and unique studies um so allowed me to bounce around at campuses so um CI is great but HBCU is definitely a better option for people of color oh so I just want to add because I went to both I went to Bach to college
And then I went to Spellman on Exchange so as an undergrad I’ve seen both so I think there are a number of other variables you have to consider because Spellman like he said Spellman is across the street from morehous and then there’s um the um a clock atlet there as
Well and mois brown if it’s back so there are other schools so you have to consider um is your school in an urban setting is your school a college or university and and all of those things what sizes are the classes so you need to find the the best place for you so
The one thing that was different for for Vasser is there were in my class about 500 students and 24 of us are black right so that’s a different experience I went to Freeport High School so it’s very very a mixed population so 24 of us
On an on a a more rural campus so that means there were days where I my most of my friends were black but there were days where I didn’t see a whole bunch of black people or and the let um Latino population was even less than that so
You need need to find a community where you know you can Thrive so I knew going in that I was going to go to Spelman on Exchange I knew that I was going to do that so one of the things about going to the a historically black college is
People will have a conversation with you a whole entire class around how are you going to survive in the world we’re not having that conversation at at basser you will have that conversation in other context but you as a black or brown person will survive in the world and I
Think one thing that gets lost sometimes is that diversity at HBCU so we are majority black population but we’re not from the same places we’re from across the world and there are people who are not black at these schools also and there are people who are not black in
Our organizations so but we are the majority so it’s a different feeling and a different environment so you know living being here that you guys are the majority and that you know you’ve been in other places so one of the things I think that happens to people even in
These situations when they go to HBCU it’s a different kind of culture shock than it would be for me the culture shock of going to a place where there are only 24 black people and two of them were men right so the rest of them so V
Is similar to to Spellman is it started off as a women’s college but it is um co-ed now so you really need to think about what size space do you need to be in where do you need to be in an urban setting or a rural setting and what is
Going to nurture you what kind of thing did you need so it’s really a particular experience and I definitely recommend you considering HBCU
source
