2008 Woodie Awards
AKA Sorority celebrates 100 years of service
Chelsea Brown
Issue date: 1/22/08 Section: News
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"The ensemble will be an evening gown in salmon pink and apple green, official colors of the sorority," Nakeima Garrett, senior and sorority member, said.
The Iota Xi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha at Francis Marion celebrated its founding day Jan. 15 by giving out 100 bags of candy to students around campus, one for every year of the organization's existence.
Also, the sorority held an event in the Forest Villas Community Center in which students came out, dressed in their official colors of salmon pink and apple green, to support them. Sorority members were happy about the turn out.
"We really appreciated the young ladies who wore pink or green to show support and helped us celebrate," Garrett said.
AKA also held icebreaking games for students to get to know each other, as well as a trivia game consisting of questions about the sorority's history.
Senior sorority member Kimberley Cooper said the sorority has contributed positively to society.
"It's groundbreaking and made a sense of pride in African-American women," Cooper said.
AKA was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by 16 young women in 1908, a time when many black people were not able to receive a quality education. The sorority survived during times of social unrest and discrimination against women and people of different races, and members marched during the suffragette movement.
During the Depression, AKA worked with the Mississippi Health Project, which was established to provide library books and education to the rural areas of the state.
During the Civil Rights Movement, the sorority was involved with programs geared toward the younger generation.
"As the world became more complex, there was a need for associations which cut across racial, geographical, political, physical and social barriers," and the sorority fulfilled that need, according to their Web site.
Although the sorority was founded by black women, women of different races and ethnicities are members. Chapters exist in Japan, Korea, Germany and other countries.
Prominent members of this organization include former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Similar to other Greek lettered organizations on campus, the sorority's main goal is to give back to the community and help others. That was one of the top reasons Garrett wanted to become a part of Alpha Kappa Alpha.
"Community service is the core of the organization," Garrett said.
Sorority members help others in the community both on and off campus. For example, the FMU chapter has volunteered to help with the annual Art's Alive! Festival.
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