Foreign My name is Alex Brown I am a member of aquify opportunity Incorporated I’m here today uh Mr Randall Mr Dennis Randall decided to ask for the mphc which is a National panhellenic Council I’m actually the current chapter president for the local Fresno chapter which is an alumni chapter I’m also serving a role
As area director one thing that we do is give out scholarships so if you’re a graduating senior we want to welcome you to not only apply to the African-American High School recognition ceremony but also apply to our scholarship that we’re giving out to graduating seniors one thing I would say
To all students is make sure that you’re applying yourself alright scholarships they come and they’re available to you and you can apply as early as your freshman year in high school so all the way up to your senior year so make sure you’re applying yourself and if you have
Any questions feel free to reach out to Mr Randall or myself and then we could make sure you’re connected to the right resources hey everybody my name is key I am a spring 22 initiative into the Towson Missouri chapter of Zeta 5 beta story Incorporated and I’m also the
First vice president and this is my solar Lydia Johnson and she is our secretary we are and we’re here today just to work with the black student union to um introduce them into the culture of black Greek letter organizations specifically Zeta 5hs sorority Incorporated good afternoon as
He said my name is Lydia Johnson I am the secretary for our chapter I was an initiate into child segment house Sigma Zeta spring of 2019. and we’re just here to show you um what Greek life is all about and show you some black Excellence good afternoon I’m Dr Alicia becton and
I’m joined here with Winnie Fletcher and Christina Wells and we are members of the San Joaquin Valley alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated today we’re going to share a little history about our organization Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated not only nationally but also locally we focus on Sisterhood scholarship service
And social actions so if you’re looking to get involved and be a part of our youth programs fundraising philanthropy please feel free to reach out to us at sjva deltasresnoca gmail.com thank you hi my name is Sean wills and I am a member of Phi Beta signal Fraternity Incorporated Highway Singapore attorney
Incorporated was founded January 9 1914 at Howard University in Washington DC we’re here today just to talk to the students and kind of give them some insight into uh Greek letter organizations and just to tell them a little bit about what we do we are we are a service organization
That does social things and our biggest thing is community service and giving back to the kids so I look forward to talking to them today feel free [Applause] all right so we got a round table in earlier we’ll go from group group one person may want to ask answer your question but if
You all want to answer feel free okay we’ll start with the Devils on again here uh what school in the chapter did you play um um so I pledged on the East Coast North Carolina uh East Carolina University Kappa Sigma spring 2006 and that’s it right that’s it and I serve as the
Chapter president of the San Joaquin Valley alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated here in the Central Valley mm-hmm I got it um so I actually pledged here in Fresno at Fresno State zykai chapter spring 06 um and I currently serve as San Joaquin Valley alumni’s chapters recording secretary
I was also a spring 06 I actually came through with the San Joaquin Valley alumni chapter here in Fresno as well what’s up and then uh I went to school in Little Rock Arkansas so I’m from Fresno I went to HBCU out there called philander Smith
I played fall 2008 and then I think that’s pretty much it yeah I’ve been here ever since um I played in a grad chapter the testing was Zeta chapter in Spring 2022 so last spring yes I also pledged in The Graduate chapter of toxic mazeta spring of 2019. all right
And I pledge that UCLA uh freaky new Delta chapter UCLA um March 11 1992 12 33 and 13. our plans at Fresno State gambizai chapter gamizai to the day I die okay spring 86. News eye chapter spring 97. all right with the Delta’s on the end what made you choose your sorority and if I can just make one comment about the last question so as you heard from all of us uh you can join our organizations while in college or after
College right because we do have alumni chapters and that’s one of the best things about the National panhellenic Council is that this is a lifetime commitment in these service organizations so if College if it doesn’t work out due to finances or whatever it is that we still have these
Alumni chapters that most of us transition into once we leave college and so I’ll start off again I serve as the president so you’ll hear me talk a lot uh today and why I joined Delta was for service and social action I wanted to be committed to something that was
Bigger than myself that was larger than myself so I’ve lived in North Carolina Texas and California in every single state I’ve lived in I’ve connected with the Delta chapter and they’ve taken good care of me if I didn’t have anywhere to live if I didn’t have a car if I had
Sisters in the area I was good to go no matter what on top of giving back to the community so [Applause] oh um for similar reasons in the sense of going from Fresno to Little Rock Arkansas I didn’t have many people in my uh family out there and so seeing those
Men of alpha on campus um doing giving back being my uh orientation leaders and seeing them in different positions is what drew me to becoming a member of Alpha and then once I got in then I started actually seeing the workings and and how well-rounded they are as men and
Things of that nature which you’ll hear similar stories from the other organizations but that’s what drew me to them as a service um the selflessness and things of that nature thank you What drew me to Zeta is actually back in high school I came from a very small
Town where there was less than a handful of blacks in my graduating class but we did have one teacher that moved from Colorado to our area that was a Zeta I got to volunteer with her in many aspects throughout our tiny tiny Community um with the service piece of March and
Dimes I’m also a preemie so we are strongly based in service with the March of Dimes where we continue to outreach in the community um as mentioned in my bio I’m a social worker with that I continue to work with the black infant Health Care Program
Here in Fresno County to make sure that women like us receive the the health care that they need and so with Zeta I’m able to do that with my sisters and that Bond just kind of strengthens my love for Zeta thank you [Applause]
Yeah so in in in in the bio we kind of told you that um when I got to UCLA I was playing sports and stuff and uh um it was cool because the brothers that I actually met the singular man that I that I met they was just cool Runners
Um Brothers you could just kind of sit down and kick it with so I was I was I was actually drawn to that um to their uh to the way they handle business to the things they were doing on campus as well as off off campus and
That kind of Drew me into Sigma culture for service and service for Humanity all right so next question okay can you tell us three famous members are in your of your organizations would you like us to start okay I didn’t know if you wanted to mix it up or
All right does anyone in the room know a famous Delta anyone Angela Bassett anyone else come on y’all okay who did they say Shirley Ralph yes that’s right I heard you okay anybody else Sicily Tyson she passed away Aretha Franklin so I’m trying to think of
People I’m trying to think who they may know yeah that’s all the same thing that was kind of old let me who’s watching the Super Bowl let me start there let me bring it a little sooner who’s watching the Super Bowl raise your hand I know
All y’all watching suit most of you this Sunday okay okay and so who knows you know who Jalen hurts is right yeah so his agent is a is a black woman and she’s a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated and she is going down in history for the first black
Woman to represent an NFL player in the Super Bowl and Jalen hurts is a member of Omega Sci-Fi fraternity Incorporated which you all got to see in the back of the room as well okay all right all right you’re welcome yeah uh so of course um the one you’ll
Probably hear a lot um especially during Black History Month is Dr Martin Luther King Jr he’s a member of alpha Fraternity Incorporated um some other ones that you might be familiar with if you’re into like the theater the Arts or something on those lines um Paul Robeson
Um is a member as well for those who watch ESPN are used to watch ESPN uh the late Stuart Scott he’s a member of organization so there’s quite a few um that you’ll hear about um and that you’ll see if you Google as well can I
Jump in oh yes did you all watch power so um has anybody seen a different world I know like that’s easy so Don Lewis who plays um Jalisa on a different world she is um an honorary member of Zeta Phi Beta so already Incorporated we have um Cheryl Underwood who’s on The View
Which some of y’all parents might have watched for real she’s also a member and then we have Dionne Warwick who is a famous singer any of you guys planning to go to uh College as English Majors Educators Educators teachers Educators counselors don’t worry we’re gonna come back and
Work with you all right let me have you creative with language uh no Hurston yeah very famous author ities foreign how many of you know that national black Anthem come on that was written by Sigma James Weldon Johnson that Sigma um I don’t know as well as past presidents for the
Countries of Uganda Nigeria even here in America Bill Clinton is a honorary Sigma sports related would be Emmitt Smith uh Jerry Rice Magic Johnson all right and then after this would be John Lewis but the late great John Lewis as well as George Washington Carver so um any
I’ll do that I don’t know if I can do this not but I’m gonna do it anyway and then I can ask for forgiveness later but um recording um the first two people uh the first two students after this is all said and done don’t get on your phones right now but
The first two people that go to uh brother Randall and give the name of the past president of Ghana and Nigeria uh who were both sigmas to Dennis um we’ll give those two uh a like gift card five dollar gift cards [Laughter] Be honest I said ten dollars then my pockets down there but uh the first two people who can name the past president of Ghana and Nigeria because they are both segments if you if the first two people that go to Dennis uh brother Randall or Mr Randall after this is all over with
Um you’ll get a 10 gift card and you got it you have to give them give him the name a little bit about it afterwards though so don’t get on your phones now all right so back on the end with the Deltas down there we are okay what are the benefits of joining
I’m gonna tag in the last question like why we joined or why I joined a lot of it was for sisters uh service for me personally but I think um a lot of for those reasons for having a wealth of access to many different women will value the same principles and uh
Traditions that we have um knowing that we all want to participate and make change and be of service and volunteer to this community in addition to also I think anyone else on this panel would say the networking capabilities that come with the personal networking and professional networking abilities that come with joining an
Organization as well do you want to add to that yeah I would definitely say The Sisterhood and networking is awesome I’m originally from California I moved to New Orleans Louisiana about six years ago I lived there for about six years I had no family out there no friends the
First place I went into to get hired the owner and supervisor the agency happened to be a Delta as soon as she found out it was like oh you only really need an interview it’s like you just hired it’s really like that so um it’s just you can
Go anywhere in the world really if there’s a chapter in the nation and if you are a member of an organization they will show you love you just have support and networking opportunities so it’s just endless the benefits but that’s some of the main ones that stick out to me is you can
Move around and you have sisters or I’m sure Brothers everywhere yeah and I’ll uh to Echo the same thing that they’re saying as well but um but you probably heard the quote on sharpens iron right and that’s one thing that joining this organization um and just being around the ladies and
Gentlemen on this panel you kind of see that man they’re doing what they are doing they not have no reason not to do what I’m gonna do to get to that level and or help um sharpen each other in that sense and so that’s one of the
Reasons why I joined and it drew me to the benefits of it of joining an organization in general you start the relationship with that organization depending on how you want that relationship to be either how active you want to be in that relationship
Um it’s all up to you but make use of it so I’m gonna Echo a lot of things that they said The Sisterhood the networking capabilities uh me personally I’m in the military so I move every two to three years and I’m 27 now yeah
So I’m 27 now and I’ve moved four times since I graduated from college and everywhere that I’ve been I’ve either met a solar or I’ve had an opportunity to just Network and be taken care of another great benefit is just having a bigger platform so like my store says
Lydia we are we’re both preemies and so Zeta is really big on March of Dimes and so that’s something that I’m allowed to now have a bigger platform I have more sisters more brothers that can spread the word and get um get those resources for the community so that we can give
Back and make sure that we are becoming more knowledgeable about all the issues that our community is currently faced with I think they have said it all um one one example that I can give is I play minor league baseball for the Phillies and it was all East Coast so
And going into those smaller towns um what was cool is every town or every place that we spent time in I was able to hook up with brothers from that City from that town from that school and they would come by the hotel and pick me up
And hang out and stuff like that so there was definitely a like benefit to it um but I always go back to it’s not only what you can get it’s what you can give and and I feel like uh even back in school I had a lot to give to Phi Beta Sigma
I said here in about a minute and he said I get a picture so our last question here what advice would you give students looking to join us for work okay you do your research so I’ll start off um first and foremost um volunteer get to know the
Organization so not only are we able to connect with our individual organizations as you can see we are a family collectively right um the National panhellenic Council so I always tell students again I’m a professor at Fresno State I serve as the department chair over the counseling department and
I always tell students to utilize your resources so now you don’t just look at us as sorority and fraternity members you see us as mentors you have people that you can contact directly if you need help with applications you want to go to a HBCU I went to ant in North
Carolina reach out to us we do have a scholarship program the African-American recognition program for for all of you who are seniors I don’t know if they can be like class if you want to come we can sign you up and help you get situated because that is money that the community
Is donating to give to you so you can be successful As you move forward in college so again just utilize your resources and look up here even Beyond this we are here for you and I’ll be quick uh same thing uh make sure that you’re applying yourselves uh
Uh applying to scholarships uh and then if you haven’t heard about the black comment app make sure that you’re applying yourself to that as well um and you can start as early as like applying to scholarships as early as your freshman year so this applies to all
They’re not a lot for freshmen and sophomores however make sure that you’re putting in those applications and or starting a process which is your accolades putting it down on paper start up Google doc and make sure that you’re um you have your emails in order I would say do your research volunteer
Academics are important there are um GPA requirements and all that kind of stuff but just um apply ourselves so you’re not this guy’s limit right so just make sure that you’re doing do it being trying to be the best for you essentially yeah I’d encourage you by all means
Whatever University you go to and listen to HBC you’ll find that you’ll be in the minority and um it doesn’t matter what organization they’re all great in their own right but pick one because then again do your research as they encourage you to do up here but also make sure you
Pick one because again the Brotherhood The Sisterhood you heard people reference when they go other places they automatically don’t have to get to know people they have a support group already there so very important and remember this is a lifelong membership um some fraternity some other fraternities and sororities you know you
Just hear about them in like college as you can see um from college to alumni it’s a lifelong membership you will continually do community service for the rest of your life in your organization so make sure it is an organization that you believe in their motto thank you
Oh okay yeah send any questions to uh Mr Randall and in that way we can answer as accordingly
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