I want to say hello to everyone once again our diversity equity and inclusion council is bringing forth an opportunity for us to learn about and appreciate the communities around us this time we’re growing in our knowledge of the invaluable role black sororities have played in our history and the role they
Continue to play in their lifelong commitment to public service with a focus on uplifting the African-American community we have a very full agenda with some great speakers today so with that I will turn it over to Alicia Malone tesu’s assistant Dean extraordinaire proud alpha alpha member and moderator of today’s panel Alicia
Thank you thank you and good afternoon everyone um as Dr Hancock just said I’m Alicia Malone and I’m a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated the Epsilon Upsilon Omega chapter which is located in Trenton New Jersey I currently service the recording secretary but I am also the immediate past president of uh
Of that chapter and I welcome you and I’m so excited to hear about what we will hear about today so I will be introducing our panelists for this after for this afternoon and I will be introducing them in the order of their organization’s founding and so our first panelist uh is Sherry Knight
From Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated which was founded in 1908. Sherry if you could tell us a little bit about yourself good afternoon everyone my name is Sherry Knight I am a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated up salon Delta Omega chapter centered and located in Voorhees Cherry Hill New Jersey
I I have been an active member for 27 years celebrating my 27th anniversary on April 28 2023 so I’m very excited about that and I am also a life member additionally I am currently the hot the Epistles of my chapter which is the person who does the correspondence for
Our chapter and I have been in that role for my second term as well and my job title is I’m sorry I can’t talk the director of curriculum instruction and equity in Burlington city school district and I’m very pleased to be here today thank you Sherry we appreciate you being
Here next we have Bianca Taylor Davis who is representing Delta Sigma Theta sorority which was founded in 1913. Bianca hi good afternoon everyone my name is Bianca Taylor Davis I am representing the Trenton alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated I am also here representing Thomas Edison as I am a academic
Evaluator here at the college thank you Bianca our next representative is Gwendolyn Jennings who is representing Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated which was founded in 1920. a good afternoon everyone it’s just a joy to be here as uh Alicia mentioned my name my name is Jennings I’m a member of Zeta
Phi Beta sorority Incorporated epsilon’s Isaiah chapter which is located in Mercer County uh that encompasses not only Trenton but uh Princeton and the surrounding area currently I am not an officer I have held many offices I’ve been in the sobriety for over 50 years so uh
Currently I am a member of the audit committee the adopt-a-school committee the storks Nest committee and um the last thing I want to say I am presently retired I was an educator a teacher an administrator in the Trenton Public Schools for over 40 years I retired in
2011 but I managed to stay pretty busy so it’s great to be here thank you and we are so excited to have you with us and rounding out our panelists we have Michelle Jenkins who is representing Sigma gamma rho sorority Incorporated hello everyone and good afternoon as she
Has stated my name is Lachelle Jenkins and I’m representing some again Monroe Incorporated the chapter mulam to Sigma which is located in Mercer County New Jersey I am currently serving as the chapter vice president and of my career I am a behavior specialist consultant for the school district of Philadelphia
Thank you thank you and we are excited and thank you for spending your afternoon a little bit of time with us today so um I will be posing questions to the panelists today and when I pose the question um I will just I I just want you to jump
In and answer the question I I would like to hear from each one of you but um you know I’m not gonna because I don’t want to go in any particular order just jump in when you hear the question and and um an answer so before I pose the questions
To our panelists I just wanted to give you all a little bit of background just for for context so you’ll notice that myself and all the panelists we are not undergraduates we are not in school you heard Sherry say she’s been in for over 27 years you’re
Gwendolyn say she’s been in for over 50 years and one of the things that people you know a lot of times people I get the I get the raised eyebrow when people when people will say so what are you doing this weekend and I’ll say my
Sorority is having an event so I’m going to be busy all weekend doing things for my sorority and people will say we doing in sorority you’re not in college anymore well one of the things that distinguishes um black sororities and fraternities from other sororities and fraternities
That may be a little different is uh our sororities continue once you graduate from college that is just the beginning once you graduate from college they were developed fraternities and sororities in historically black uh fraternities and sororities were developed and created to be lifelong in the community and this
Was because in the early 1900s when we were all founded um there weren’t many black people who were in college and so when they were founded it was a a need and something that they felt that those who not only were in college to academically and socially support one another but there
Needed to be a voice in the community for those who didn’t have a voice and so it was the charge of these sororities and fraternities to continue the works that had started at our undergraduate years into the community and so it’s a lifelong commitment once you are a
Member of a sorority it is something that you do for the rest of your life and so you’ll see us and we won’t be young in the community it doesn’t mean that we’re not still in the undergraduate chapters and we are all we all have chapters at the undergraduate
Level and we all still support and mentor and um you know are bringing up our undergraduates but it’s an excitement for our undergraduates as well to see that when they leave those walls of the college that they can continue to serve and do the things that
Um that are in the community so all of our organizations have been in existence for over 100 years and um we serve our communities through what we’re what they’re called either alumni or graduate chapters which is what you would be in when you are outside of your undergraduate years and one of the
Things um that people should also know is that if you don’t join as an undergraduate the door is not closed you can still join at a graduate level and that may come up in some of the conversation that we have today because I’m sure some of us have come in to
These organizations as graduate members and not at the undergraduate level and so the last thing that I wanted to say is if anyone at any point during the presentation has questions please put them in the Q a there will be time at the end where we will be answering
Questions that uh that you may have and so with that um I am going to start the questions and so again just jump in if you if you want to answer and if once one person stops if you want to if the next person wants
To jump in please feel free to jump in um so what would you like for people to know and this is for each one of you what would you like people to know who are not familiar with your organization to know about your organization’s purpose it’s intent and its mission
Anyone I’ll go first our intent and our mission and our purpose is to cultivate and encourage high standards and ethical standards promote equity and friendship among college women as Alicia mentioned you know this was founded in the college setting at Howard University in 1908 however we still cultivate that as a
Graduate chapter still even though we’re not in college uh studying to alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature maintain the progression and interest in college life for those who are in college and lastly is to be a service to all mankind and that’s an overall Mantra
In Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated thank you Sherry anyone else okay well I can say I’m sorry Bianca go ahead well I can say Zeta Phi Beta was founded on four principles and we still try to embody those principles and those principles are scholarship because we believe that valuing education and
Supporting individuals who are trying to uh continue their education After High School is very important uh another one of our principles is service and Zeta Phi Beta surround on sorority Incorporated uh our Mantra so to speak is Zayna is a uh Community conscious action-oriented organization dedicated to transforming the lives of others and
We’ve done that in a number of ways our third principle is Sisterhood and that’s developing a bond or relationship with other women that can last a lifetime a lifetime of support friendship respect and trust and then our fourth principle is finer Womanhood which celebrates the standards morals Customs attributes we believe all women
Should possess so that’s how I would respond to that question thank you Gwendolyn anyone else Bianca yes um in regards to Delta Sigma Theta we are a um organization of college-educated women but we not only focus on those who are in college for our pillars we focus for sisterhood scholarship service and
Social action and even in recent years you have seen us on many different social action platforms that include um equity in education equity in the workforce as well as social um Social Justice Reform so throughout our over 1 000 chapters worldwide not just here within the us we strive to
Make sure that we are addressing the needs and concerns of those within the black community um you would see the local chapters hitting their benchmarks for different um ideas and platforms that they wish to put forth but we all do so under our national leadership which kind of gives
Us the leeway of areas that we need to touch on and address and for many it’s just it’s the same issues Nationwide so it’s not just an issue here within the city of Trenton it’s the issue whether it’s in Jackson Mississippi Compton California or Miami Florida so it’s our mission intends to help
All communities um throughout the United States and the world and why thank you Bianca Lachelle I’m selling very similar to the ladies he was spoken already it’s good to hear that we all even though we are representing different entities have a similar thought and so when it comes to
The lines of singing Monroe I will say that we line up with that as well as far as scholarship Sisterhood and service and so our focal point is to you know be proactive in our communities by offering you know different leadership development education to our youth
Um those are different things we have as far as our programs and our activities and so we also like to address any concerns that impact our society whether it be educationally civically as well as economically and so that’s why our slogan has greater service greater progress because we’re for all
Okay thank you for that and so as just as Lachelle said we are all even though we’re different organizations but we’re all sisters in sorority we all support each other through um panhellenic councils which incorporates uh the historically black um fraternities and sororities and so we all you know sisterhoods scholarships
Service social justice it’s all the same things that um in different ways but we are all serving our communities um and we we do make an impact and so um one the next question is uh well the next question that I’m gonna ask ask since we’re talking about impacting what
Was and this will be posed to each one of you um and you can jump in in any order what was your reason for joining your your specific sorority and how has your affiliation impacted you since we’re talking about impact I would like to respond to that first
And I’ll tell you why I I attended Trenton State College before it was the College of New Jersey and as a student at Trenton State there were no black sororities or fraternities at Trenton State when I was a student there so I I became a member because I earned
A scholarship and the person uh the organization that she was in she was a member of Zeta but she was also a member of the organization that gave me the scholarship so she was instrumental in letting me know giving me information about Zeta 5 Beta sorority encouraging me to become a
Member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority and that was on December 13 1969 was when I actually became a member some of you maybe were not even born then but it’s been uh quite a a journey it’s been very interesting and I can say uh when I was at Trenton State many years
Ago I remember uh there were other sororities and fraternities on campus and I can remember students pledging you know walking in lines but most of them did not look like me so when I became a member of the grad chapter uh and then later on there became a chapter they uh
Started a chapter at the College of New Jersey and I was one of the advisors so I go back before so I became a member in history of the grand chapter thank you for that answer and that was one of the things that I uh talked about
Or said in the beginning is that just because because a lot of times you don’t join at the undergraduate level because there may not have been a chapter on your campus and so there’s still an opportunity at a graduate level to join and still make an impact and in your
Case it was someone who you knew who was mentoring you who kind of sparked that light of zeta phi beta anyone else yes um for me I’m actually a legacy my mother is also a member of Delta Sigma data sorority including my godmother a few aunts
Um so it was always kind of indoctrine in me so to speak um that Delta Sigma Theta was the way to go um but particularly seeing the work that they’ve done throughout the years in additionally I also attended the Trenton Public School System I graduated from Trenton Central High School
Um a lot of my teachers and administrators were members of Delta Sigma Theta so I got to see how they a different aspect of how the work was being put in versus just seeing a family member you were able to see how nurturing and caring and to this very
Day I can actually pick up the phone from a former principal or former teacher and just to check in just to see how things are going and that always stuck with me like hmm these go to ladies you know they got some they got some they got some juice
Um and they always supported me and I always had that support at home but you know sometimes you kind of Veer off and you say I don’t want to do what my parents do and but then you kind of learn as you get older that what they’re trying to tell
You is kind of the way that things should go and for me I didn’t grab pledge undergrad um I went over um with the Trenton alumni chapter in 2017 just because sometimes the days the months didn’t add up for me at the time when the opportunity and I knew my
Opportunity would come and when it did um I was blessed to be able to become a member of the Trenton alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated so it has impacted me greatly one because I am never not busy who once my job is done there is always
Something Dosa related family related and most of the time it kind of comes in together um one because my husband is also a member of Omega Sci-Fi fraternity Incorporated so we’ve kind of got this lifetime commitment thing in the household where somebody’s always doing something there’s always a service
Project there’s always some type of meeting or engagement that we’re attending so it’s just kind of it’s a when we say in throughout all of us here when we say it’s a lifetime commitment we mean that to the 18th power that there is always something that we’re involved in it doesn’t matter whether
It’s our chapter someone else’s chapter a convention a conference there is always something there for us to do and it just greatly impacts how we move forward each day thank you and and one of the things that you said is as even if it’s another chapter it may be another organization
Because we collaborate with each other we may have prop programs with with the Deltas or we’ve had I’ve had programs with each one of these um organizations uh through my chapter and so we again we we are separate but we are sisters in organization anyone else I’ll go
Um my reason for joining the black sorority has been because I wanted something that was better a bigger than me and um in high school I knew that I wanted to be an Africa Alpha woman and I was able to be around women who were working in the community and giving back
And I’m like I’m gonna be one of those one day um as Bianca mentioned you know college I did it as a graduate as well things didn’t line up in colleges when I was attending and the opportunity did present itself um 27 years ago and being able to do so so
I’ve been busy and and the impact that we’re making in the community is what gives me my drive and my why I feel like I’m compassionate I have empathy and I think it’s very important for us to see the and put in the work for those who
May be less fortunate than we are and making sure that we’re providing them with the resources and skill sets that they need to be successful as well so that the big part for me as well I have a daughter who went to the University of
Alabama who is also my legacy she is in soror as well so I have a daughter Soul Roar and she has been in a sorority for six years now so you know she has also followed in my footsteps in that aspect and giving back and know the means of
Working hard and providing your community with the tasks and skill sets that they need it’s definitely something I’m glad I did I would do it all over again being a life member I am committed to doing this until I’m no longer here on this Earth and hopefully you know
Being able to impact someone’s else someone else’s life thank you and Lachelle yes for me um my story sounds very similar to that a Bianca my family um literally every D9 is represented so a very young age I knew that you was going to fall into one of these buckets
Um so when I was in undergrad you know I didn’t know white quite where that was land so it wasn’t until the era of Facebook and you start to you know reconnect with people that you lost contact with it so a lot of those people who of like a connection with and
Networking this happened to me Sigma gamero I didn’t know it because it wasn’t like um one thing they’ve been posting things of that nature but I just didn’t see it at the time so it wasn’t until that opportunity presented itself and I was invited to different events I said you
Know these are my sisters I could see myself being here and being a mother of three daughters I’m very intentional about things that I align myself with and so I felt like for them in line with what I wanted to pass on to my daughters and now they are part of the Railroad
Club and the rosebuds and things of that nature so I see them hopefully one day like yourself sharing them via my legacy uh when it comes to the world of sitting near Monroe thank you and and with that I just want to say in all of these um situations it
Was someone in their lives that had an impact on them and so one of the things that you never know who’s watching you um so you know when you’re when you’re going through life in your day-to-day you never know who’s watching you and who is saying
I want to be like that person or maybe I shouldn’t be like that person so it’s always you know be careful of what you do because you just never know who’s looking at you um I also have a daughter who is a legacy who came in
Um just a year ago and um I came in as a graduate member as well so we all kind of have the similar story where we did not do it at undergrad but we have made an impact in our communities at The Graduate level okay so my uh next question is um
Is there something how how has your sorority um contributed to black history and black communities I know that um this is probably more about your uh service projects and you can talk about whatever service projects that you have in the community so as far as black history programs I know my
Chapter doesn’t particularly have a black history program because it’s pretty much black history 365 days a year because we are serving the black community so um pinpointing it to Black History we may have programs but we’re always uh supporting the black history but can you talk about some of the programs that
Your chapter has done in your community and has made an impact under our new Administration we are currently we have six programs that fall under um our president the Ned Anthony Reed and one of those the six of those programs are strengthening our Sisterhood and this is one that we do in
Our community where is more involved with our sorority sisters where we’re performing sister squads and we’re making sure that we’re doing random acts of kindness for each other and just really uplifting each other with your Sisterhood does right when you have sisters you always want to make sure
That they’re in a good space and you want to lift them up so that’s what that platform does we also have one call in power in our families empowering our families and our community one of our largest initiatives is our chip program where we do realize that there are food
Insecurity with our kids that are in schools so what we have been doing this year since uh she was put into office has been to prepare breakfasts and lunches for our students when they go home on the weekend in various school and locations and that has been successful to make sure that the
Students have something to eat when they’re not in school and at home our next one is building our economic wealth and I must say for first and I guess that will definitely go down in black history is that we have our fmo credit union we are the first first black
Sorority to be able to open a all women Credit Union for our members so we’re looking forward to kicking it off that has just been announced it was mentioned in Black Enterprise this past week so we’re really excited about making that history as well we have enhancing our
Environment where we’re going to try to get back to our environment as you know a lot of trees have been lost cut down burned so now we’re going into one of our um platforms to make sure that we’re trying to plant trees so we’re going to try to
Put as many trees back that have been taken away or torn down advocate for social justice this is something that’s very important to all of us and I think you heard that in some of our introductions as well but we’re continually trying to perpetuate and build up our politicians and our political um
Influencers we want to make sure that people are registered to vote so our biggest piece is making sure that we get people out to vote regardless of what your affiliations are but making sure that you’re there to do that and then lifting up by local communities so in this particular platform we’re looking
To make a local change and and a big impact so whatever that looks like whether we’re showcasing our community leaders whether we’re building and if it’s building a house for habitats of humanity we want to make sure that our communities where in which we serve are getting the services and the needs that
And their needs are being met thank you Sherry anyone else want to talk about your programs Bianca yes um for a dose of Sigma Theta we actually run our programs under our five-point thrust which includes Economic Development educational development International awareness and involvement physical and mental health as well as
Political awareness and involvement under those points we have many programs um that include first home buyers programs for African-American families um to address the um housing climate um within the country we also have um when we look at educational development a lot of our youth programs
Fall under that which include the um Dr Betty Shabazz program for middle school students we also have the um we now call it the Delta gems when I was a part of it it was called Delta teens um as well as um the embody program for National which
Actually focuses on our young men in the community we also have different programs that include um those that address the HIV aids awareness um Climax and four I’ll go into our local chapter we have um several programs that include reading Adventures for our um pay through K through five fifth
Grade students um that address many literacy and development for those students we also have our uh local sisters walk which actually will be taking place this may um and I think we did you did ask um in particular what do we do for black history because we are
365 black we don’t have like a particular things that we do however we do have we do grab our youth during this month during our during Black History Month which we have a black history program where our youth put on um a program that exhibits different themes
Of the year and this year’s theme includes um understanding history through the Arts and with that program we not only have our youth programs but we also have the youth programs of several of the organizations that are listed here as well as different schools um and organizations throughout the
Mercer County area so that actually will be taking place this Saturday um virtually this year we’re hoping that we’ll be able to bring it back um in person in the coming years um but it’s usually a nice way to show the talent of our youth um throughout the county
Thank you Bianca and I know that our youth have participated in that program in the past um and it was it’s always been a wonderful program anyone else Gwendolyn find to that point question in this way um black sororities are an important part of black history we have made significant contributions
To our country and that’s not only Zeta Phi Beta that’s all of us in a variety of ways and every area we are involved in politics Education Health Care Medicine engineering the military entertainment I wanted to mention a couple of zaders who are you may have heard Dionne Warwick was
Asado Anita Hill andrewwood and I think that in reference to the programs that we uh have implemented uh our national dress is called Z hope which means zeta’s helping other people Excel and some of the things we’re involved in social action voter registration candidates form we’ve sponsored for many many years
We have uh yearly walks to uh help with prostate cancer breast cancer um St Jude’s Hospital we have these walks to raise money for these very important causes we have a couple of many other programs so a couple I want to mention are adopt to school which we adapt to school
Within the areas where we serve and we go into classrooms to support the students the teachers by providing a surprise and materials reading with the children um awarding them or supporting them to encourage them and let them know the importance of coming to school on a regular basis and doing their very best
We also have a program called the storks nest where we work with pregnant mothers and young children and we provide educational support because many of our mothers do not understand the importance of taking care of themselves going to the doctors on a regular basis and uh we provide to them
Not only the educational component but also supplies and materials to help them raise their babies in our safe and healthy environment we’ve had a partnership with the March of Dimes for over 50 years and that’s where the storks Miss project sort of stems from the other
Thing I wanted to uh add just briefly is um we have youth groups for various ages starting I think from maybe five up until 17 and our youth group is called we have the Amicus the pro-less and The Arcanist so depending on what age they are that would
Determine which of those groups they would be in so we try to support our not only our youth but uh people within our community and about a variety of ways so I’ve tried to share most of those with you thank you thank you very much and
Lachelle tell us a little bit about your programs so we have several National programs um I’m going to highlight a few um we have Hattie McDaniel breast cancer awareness um we also have different initiatives that Target um domestic violence heart health food awareness and any other issues that might
Um affect women because that’s what we are talking about with them for our mental health physical health because all those areas are very very important we even have our Rover and our Rosebud clubs that are gravitated towards our younger women um and little girls um as far as building their self-esteem
And their awareness and knowing them let them know that they have a voice um and I’m a proud advisor for the rowers which is like a teenager so preparing them for college and what his life look like after high school and financial literacy and things like that
And you know we have our other initiatives like operation big book bag where we make sure that you know students have the supplies necessary for school and you know project cradle care for the women who who do not have to supply the service when they have any
Children and bring them into this world so we have a lot of different things and Partnerships as far as March of Dimes as well as with Saint Jews so again we are always trying to do something to impact our community I will say my local chapter this year as far as Black
History Month is concerned we made it our business to make sure that we support it and highlighted black owned businesses in our area Mercer County and we’ve highlighted them our social media platforms a lot of times people don’t know where they are located where you
Can buy and support them so we made our business to put them in the Forefront so again putting back into our community in that way financially thank you and I’ll just I just wanted to highlight some of the things that are going on because a lot of the a lot of the organizations
That are represented here today are right here in the Trenton community so for those of you who are watching if there are activities that you would want to participate in you could go to our different websites to find out what’s going on to see if there is a walk
That’s going on or something that you can participate in if you would like to help out in the community as well my chapter the Epsilon usan Omega chapter um we have childhood hunger where um whereas someone said that we get do meals um to we have we’ve adopted a school and we
Prepare uh bags of food to go home on the weekends for those children because a lot of times kids the the meals that they get during the day at school are the only meals that they get and so we prepare meals uh the non-perishable things that they can take home over the
Weekend and send that to them this past weekend we did a project called uh Valentine veterans and Valentines where we did care packages for our local um VFW for the veterans where there was you know soaps and deodorants and toothbrushes and toothpastes things to help out in that way we have financial
Literacy programs we also have youth groups I think we all have youth groups and that’s one of the ways that we start sewing into the community because I’ve heard um firsthand from youth in all of these that are in different all of these different organizations now that said
That they became interested as a young person because they were involved in our youth groups and so that’s the way one of the ways that we help to keep the youth on the straight and narrow path and give them some an outlet and someone to talk to
Um and get them involved in our youth programs a lot of the youth who had when they were younger had no had no idea that they wanted to go to college until they met one of us or someone in our organizations and that sparked their interest in what is this
College thing and what is this sorority or fraternity thing so um just planning that those early seeds for um and we all do that in our organizations and so thank you all for the programs that you do um the next question and I think uh this
May be one of the last questions before we go to question and answer section but uh is there a personal hero from your sorority that you would like to talk about and how has that person influenced you and inspired you anyone have a personal hero um I’ll start um
My personal hero right now and who is a history maker obviously is our vice president um obviously Kamala Harris I had to pleasure of seeing her this summer at our um biannual conference and it was amazing to see her in action and my reason again because she’s giving back
Wholeheartedly not just to the state of California where she started but now to our country and being the woman to break the glass ceiling and be the first uh African-American woman to be our vice president stands out you know we want to stand big and tall and I think it’s
Important for us to know that we can achieve and dream big and it’s okay and I hope that you know not just all of our sorority members and deny but any woman organization feels as if they can to make that difference so that’s what impacts me and who stands out for me okay
And I’ll see you then you don’t have to answer this this is not one for each organization but if there’s someone that you can think of that you are that stands out as a hero in your mind you know I would respond to that question by saying there is a member of
Our chapter actually who has been a Zeta for over 60 65 years and she’s active she is in her 80s and she just retired from her full-time job in December she is uh she’s just amazing she’s got a lot of energy needs uh sometimes needs a um a cane but sometimes will actually
Refuse I don’t want that I don’t want that so the energy that she has the tenacity that she has the love she has received at 88 years old it’s just amazing so that’s somebody who I admire and uh if I’m still alive at 88 hopefully I’ll be doing what she’s doing
Now not only for Zeta but our for our community and for our world so that’s the person and her name is uh Dove Delores Smalls and she just retired from her job December 21st 2022. wow that’s amazing thank you Michelle I see you uh
Come off with me I um that’s kind of a hard person part question um to just select one person so all I have to say for me because out of everyone who’s on this panel I’m probably the newest in my sorority so only been in there two going on three
Years so for me being someone who was new coming in um I want to say all of my soul Wars because again they all have played a special part in my life and welcomed me into the organization and even in that short period of time even trusted me to
Be in leadership and pushing me forward to become better and as a person overall um also just like not just a support from within a sword but even outside of the sorority like my personal Endeavors and my businesses and things of that nature their support and pushing me in
Those things as well and even when I have been sick and you know things that you’re by yourself you’re really really aren’t you fall back on sister who’s obviously for me it’s all of them they all play a role whether it be locally Regional or even nationally I look up to
All of them because they all have something that I can learn from and aspire to be thank you and I think I would piggyback off of that um I did previously state that I am a legacy so my mother will always be my number one hero um in this Delta walk um but
Just another person that always stood out to me and I can remember going to um national conventions as a child with my mother um one particular year um I actually had the pleasure of hearing our 22nd National president Dr Gwendolyn e Boyd and just her stature
And her her finesse just how she just commands the room you just kind of just sit there and go and every time I would hear her speak I would go that lady is Delta Sigma Theta all the way and even now as a member I just sit there and go
I can take in her words and her wisdom and even as she’s she’s also a reverend like hearing her sermons and it’s just going wow she her words can just impact me and just kind of hit her trigger in me and go okay I got this even sometimes
When you think you’re down and it’s you hear her words and you go you know what Sarah Boyd said you got this you you got it you got it going there’s always some type of verb or um noun that she gives you and you’re like I got it I’m gonna I’m gonna keep
It moving um so that’s one of the just one because um as Lucero speaks I think my entire sorority uplifts me and especially my local chapter um but that just one person that kind of sticks out that says who is Delta Sigma Theta Dr gwendolini Boyd was my was my is one
Of my wives um going forward in this walk thank you for that and I I certainly understand that because there are certain people that just have that that leave that Mark on you and when they enter the room it’s just their presence that makes you uh makes them Unforgettable I would say for
Myself it’s it’s probably um again all of all of the people that I’ve met in the sorority but we have um we call them golden members who have had 50 years or more in our sorority and when I see uh one of the the people who
Had a great impact on me her name was Betty Cole she has since passed but I was at her 90th birthday party and she was active in Alpha Kappa I think she pledged at West Virginia University like in 1942 and she was active in Alpha Kappa Alpha until the breath left her
Body she was 90 plus years old still coming to program still on the board of our foundation still doing things and the golden members that I see in our chapter now they’re you know they’re always there they’re always at the programs they always want to you know they’re giving their ideas they can’t
Get around and do as much as they used to but that’s who I aspire to be I want to be you know when I’m in my 80s if I’m still able to get around I want to still be active still giving back and doing as
Much as I want to do so those types of people that you see you know that we all see in our organizations just Inspire us to want to continue to to do and to and to move and to think and it seems like because I look at them and I’m thinking
You don’t look as old as what your number what the number says and so that’s how I want to be I want I want people to say she’s how old she’s 88 years old and she’s still doing that that’s how I want people to look at me and so Regina
Um it is 12 47 so I don’t know if there are questions and answers I don’t know when you want to move into that portion Alicia thank you I would I would say yes let’s please move into the Q a portion I know we have one comment so far in the Q
A which is very complementary Alicia I will let you uh read that but I would just like to remind and encourage everybody if you do have questions uh you can post them using the Q a function okay so I see here from Kay Howard it
Says I don’t have a question but I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed seeing all of your faces and listening to you all share how you add value to our community as a whole thank you for your shining examples of how black uplifting
Is 365 days of the year I am not a Greek but my life has been heavily influenced by women and men who are proud Greeks thank you for your service and keep up the great work that you are doing thank you Kay we all appreciate it okay I have
A question from Christina Wilson can you discuss how oh it went away can you discuss how Christina can you add oh can you discuss how the membership process works for grad chapters that for those that might be interested does anyone want to take that question on for your particular
Organization because I know it’s probably a little bit different for each of our organizations anyone want to take on that question um I can talk about a little bit about Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha it’s it’s Alpha Kappa Alpha it’s By Invitation Only and so
Um if you go on to the Alpha Kappa Alpha corporate website and click on membership it gives an overview as to um how you you know seek membership as a graduate member um one of the things that I do would encourage if you were interested is to
Um go into the websites our local websites and and look at the programs and see some of the things that we’re doing in our communities because um it’s it’s something that you know you may get into it and see that it’s not something that you want to do because
You see the things or it may be something that enhances and and piques your interest a little bit more but come out to some of the programs and some of the things that we do get to know some of the members and um I’m sure that they
Would be you know uh interested in Sharing how uh those might that might be interested could go into membership at the graduate level anyone else have a comment uh someone let’s see and I have another question here I have two questions for panelists uh do any of the programs
And initiatives in your community uh deal with mental health issues and I think someone said something about Mental Health Gwen was that you that talked about mental health because I know we used to have a partnership with nami the National Alliance on Mental Illness where we did programs for them but when
Do you want to address that I know that we do I don’t know that we have a partnership with nami but I do know that one of our Z hope initiatives is does still with mental health and I know that uh one of our sorority sisters
Is connected with nami so there might be there is a relationship and that’s something that’s very important we realize that and we do work uh as I’ve said that’s one of our Z hope initiatives Mental Health yes um actually I’ll tie in Gwendolyn we’re actually working with um
Oh forgive me a couple of your Sorrows were working on a program um in conjunction with an army um we’re going to be addressing mental health in the area of postpartum depression um and that actual program is actually going to be taking place March the 22nd um I also co-chair our health and
Wellness Department um committee so we’re um working on that program and we’re hopefully trying to get out um to the public by the end of this week if not the beginning of next week once we solicit all of the appropriate uh panelists that will be on
So that is one area of mental health um that we’ll be focusing on within the next coming weeks thank you Bianca I have there’s another question that was in regards to the kids programs and so I think we all have youth programs and this question was um
Are the programs for legacy members or not all of our youth programs are open to any youth in the community we have one for um girls that are between Fifth and eighth grade and then we have one for high school students who uh is boys and girls but they’re open to any children
In the community we welcome any you know any children in the community to participate in our youth programs anyone else I don’t know what the your youth program uh requirements are yes our youth programs on the K through fifth grade our reading Adventures are open to both um girls and boys between kindergarten
And fifth grade are Dr Betty Chavez focuses on our Middle School area um females and then we have the Delta gems which are our 9th through 12th grade girls um within the Mercer County area and most likely every um chapter local chapter has their own subset of youth programs um that helps
Towards their service area so for my chapter we service the Mercer County area so we would have um youth from Trenton Ewing Heights Town um Princeton Hamilton um array okay and I have there’s another question here it’s talking about there’s a couple of comments about Legacy and lifetime engagement I’m interested in
Intergenerational conversations of members what has changed or not changed in the conversations over the generations anyone want to take that um what has changed foreign go ahead go ahead go ahead well I guess I would say as times have changed conversations change because things that were relevant back in the 60s 70s and
80s were things that the sorority focused on then as time goes on things change so conversations change but I think what’s important to know is that within each group I assume and I can attest to my chapter the age range is very different we have students we have
Soros who are in our chapter who are in their 20s we have Source who are in their 70s and their 80s so conversations happen but we address the things that are going on in our communities in our environment that are that are affecting our community so that’s what
Conversations are about but the age range continues to be widespread and I think to add to that those that are in those 20s you know they’re watching as uh Alicia said you know someone’s always watching they’re watching and they’re learning still under the premise of what our programs
And our mission and purposes are as well yeah and I I agree with that that um things in the community as as things change and as um there are different issues that come up in the community the sororities and the fraternities come together um to address those things as
Specifically those things that are um addressing and affecting those in the black communities that we serve so if there is you know um something like during the pandemic if there was something that was coming that came up that we needed to address to you know because um the underserved population was in the
Black community we were addressing that you know if there was something as far as voting and we needed to get people out to vote we were addressing that and doing you know voter registration drives and trying to and doing um panels um we have what we call political Pearl talks where we invite
Um different people from the community uh our people who represent us in our communities to come and talk about different things that are going on in community and how legislation is changing to you know for the better to you know um as far as issues and concerns that are coming up so
Um as things change we and then as if a younger generation comes and talks about something that the older generation might not be aware of because there’s a lot of things now with social media that are older members may not be aware of but they’re prevalent at the younger
Group we do things is that and we even have trainings and things I know within my chapter as far as trainings on the computer you know Google Docs and things like that because you know a lot of things more and more are going electronic rather than paper and someone
Who’s 70 or 80 is used to doing things on paper but that’s no longer the way that we do things and so we have trainings where our younger members are training our older members to use you know um to use Google Docs or to use uh cash app
Or you know all these different things that are coming in electronically where you know we’re used to writing a check but now you can do you know you can pay your dues or pay for things through cash app so um as things change we we jump in and and we
We are trying we we’re resilient we we change with the times and just to piggyback off of what you just said Alicia it’s sometimes not even changing the conversation it’s sometimes changing the delivery and how we how we want to present those answers to the community like during covet we all were
Completely shut down there were no in-person meetings we all were meeting virtually we had to figure out how do we connect with our community from home so a lot of us jumped on we were on I think we were all completely zoomed and Google me out because that’s how we were
Meeting our community we had to figure out how are we going to get this information to them about getting covet vaccines how are we going to get them information about where to pick up their weekly food um bags and how we’re going to get that information to them we had to use our
Technology and hence then we had to go back and train some of our and I don’t ever like to call our older stars um older I like to call them are more seasoned and are more experience SARS because a lot of them were not as technologyally advanced so
To them it was like what do you mean we’re meeting on the computer I don’t know how to turn my camera on what do you mean I need to get on to pay my dues that’s how we had to change our focus and change our how and how we were
Delivering our message not only to our SARS but to our community because even after post harsh covet we’re now still delivering some of those messages through technology through our different virtual programs until we’re able to fully be back in the masses we had to learn different ways and those
Ways are are Norm now because now look at us now we typically we probably would have done this in Pruitt hall or in the townhouses but now we’re in the comfort of our offices and um things to be able to bring this to masses um to everyone
Well thank you all thank you for that Bianca and thank each and every one of you I’m going to turn it over to Christina Wilson we have come to the end of our time period but I I just want to thank you all this has been wonderful
For me thank you all Christina I’ll turn it back over to you all right Alicia thank you for moderating such a wonderful discussion good afternoon everyone my name is Christina Wilson and I am the associate director of learning Solutions and Innovative course design at Thomas Edison State University I’m also the
Co-chair of the diversity equity and inclusion Council and the council is excited about our work to create a more diverse inclusive and Equitable environment the council would like to thank our panelists Sherry Bianca Gwendolyn and Lachelle for their time today for providing us with a wonderful and enlightening presentation on the
Impact of black sororities on American history past and present and I should say future because I heard some things about the youth planting trees and Financial Resources so thank you for additional information about upcoming Dei Council events please continue to check Capitol campus and the tesu events
Page and also check out our newsletter thank you everyone and have a wonderful day you are welcome thank you for the invitation thank you all so much I really appreciated this and I I you guys were a pleasure to be with today so I I really appreciate it thank you thank you thank
You for moderating you did a great job thank you thank you such we do such great things I love talking about us our sister sororities I love it I was thinking I don’t know if you guys get paid for your pro or your promotion but I think the energy
Came around and I feel like I just got probably I think there were 48 people on the call probably got all of them supporting bringing this to Thomas Edison so in some ways yeah nine was our top count fantastic wow that’s awesome everyone have a great
Rest of the day and stay dry thank you thank you is it raining outside oh no I don’t have windows in my office so I can’t see thank you thank you everybody it’s been a pleasure bye-bye bye-bye
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