Karsceal Turner – I Got NEXT!
Part 3: Not your Mama and Daddy’s Divine Nine
The oldest Greek-letter organization established in America by Black college women, Alpha Kappa Alpha or AKA (for short) was founded January 15, 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine and rapidly grew to twenty students (uh excuse me PEARLS).
Forming a sorority broke barriers for African-American women in areas where little power or authority existed due to a lack of opportunities for minorities and women in the early 20th century. Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, along with a group of like-minded sisters answered the call. As such she is often referred to as the “Guiding Light” for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Hedgeman Lyle demonstrated her ambition and abilities very early after high school graduation by gaining a scholarship to Howard at a time when only one in three hundred African Americans and 5% of whites of eligible age attended any college. Howard was considered the tops among historically black colleges it still is depending upon whom you ask, however, as a Bethune-Cookman Wildcat I must beg to differ.
Founder Hedgeman Lyle had a forty-year career as an educator and was active in public life. She was national treasurer of the sorority for more than twenty years, and founder and first president of Omega Omega, its first alumnae chapter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lyle also founded the West Philadelphia chapter of the League of Women Voters and the Mothers Club in the city. In 2000, the Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Academy, a charter school in St. Louis, Missouri, was founded in her honor.
Hedgeman Lyle was aided in her efforts to create a sorority by her boyfriend George Lyle, whom she had dated since high school. He was a charter member the Beta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at Howard in 1907. The two eventually married. There’s your connection between AKA and A-PHI-A right there. Here ends my spill on Founder Ethel Hedgman Lyle. We move right along to what the sisters of AKA have done for over a century and are doing currently.
Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach is home to the Gamma Tau chapter and the Gamma Mu Omega (Daytona Beach Alumnae), are within a stone’s throw of one another. B-CU former Provost Ann D. Taylor Green is the second AKA to come to my mind, the first is none of your business.
Alpha Kappa Alpha is part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). The current International President is Carolyn House Stewart.
Over 106 years of Culture and Merit
Alpha Kappa Alpha has helped to improve social and economic conditions through community service programs. Members have improved education through independent initiatives, contributed to community-building by creating programs and associations, such as the Mississippi Health Clinic, and influenced federal legislation by Congressional lobbying through the National Non-Partisan Lobby on Civil and Democratic Rights.
The sorority works with communities through service initiatives and progressive programs relating to education, family, health, and business.
Throughout the fifties, sixties, and seventies, members helped to sponsor job training, reading enrichment, heritage and youth programs. By encouraging youth to improve math, science, and reading skills, the sorority continued a legacy of community service and pledged to enrich the lives of others.
The sorority responded to the call for help in fall 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, by raising money for a disaster relief fund. In July 2007, through Habitat for Humanity, the sorority helped build a house in New Orleans for a family that survived Hurricane Katrina.
Alpha Kappa Alpha celebrated their centenary with a year-long commemoration in 2008. The celebration coincided with the sorority’s biennial Boulé.
Alpha Kappa Alpha’s accomplishments were heralded by the United States Congress, with U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and sorority member U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, who both agreed to pass legislation in both houses of the United States Congress to commemorate the sorority’s founding.You like that don’t you? Don’t hate!
Famous AKAs too numerous to list
A lengthy list of well-known AKAs includes but is not limited to; Jane Addams, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is among the first honorary members.Eleanor Roosevelt, a former First Lady and wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was made an honorary member. United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Senator and First Lady, and wife of President Bill Clinton, initially accepted honorary membership into Alpha Kappa Alpha. In July 2008, Michelle Obama accepted the invitation to become an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, which had no active undergraduate chapter at Princeton University when she attended.
Here’s a couple you might be acquainted with right quick; Jada Pinkett-Smith, Maya Angelou Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Iyanla Vanzant, Ella Fitzgerald, Alicia Keys and Gladys Knight.
Mother of the modern civil rights movement, Rosa Parks was an AKA, as were Coretta Scott King, and C Delores Tucker (whom Gangsta rappers despise). There are so many famous AKAs I had to put down the pen because I was feeling cramps in my fingers. I simply pray I did the sisters justice because there is entirely too much information to be had about this trail-blazing organization. Lord knows this Nupe Loves some AKAs. Don’t we all?
Just as with other GLO, AKA is not without its scandals and hazing incidents, a lawsuit filed in 2002 by Strong-Fargas alleged a more troubling explanation: The young women died in a hazing ritual while pledging one of the country’s most venerated black sororities. most recently that whole thing in 2009 when then president Barbara McKenzie was relinquished of command for improper use of sorority funds. Hey, I’m not trying to stir up any memories or bad feelings but this is my forum to address this issue in my fashion. Hell, you’ve made it to the end anyway.
As stated within the sorority’s creed: The purpose of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of service to all mankind.
From what I’ve noticed personally, and without forgetting miscues, Founder Hedgeman Lyle and the other Pearls would indeed be proud.
