Posts

The Phi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. celebrates 117 years of sisterhood

The Phi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. celebrates 117 years of sisterhood
January 22
10:00 2025

By Felecia Piggott-Long, PhD

Phi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.© was chartered on February 14, 1924. The chapter members, having just celebrated the centennial in 2024, is the oldest graduate chapter in the state of North Carolina. However, 2025 marks 117 years of “Service to All Mankind,” as the first sorority created for African American educated women on Jan. 15, 1908, at Howard University.

More than 150 members of the Phi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.© gathered at Simply Sonya’s Restaurant and Lounge, a soul food venue, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, to celebrate Founder’s Day.  Also the ladies wanted to reclaim members of the organization who are now inactive or have relocated, and to turn in donations for the Martin Luther King Day of Service.  

Entertainment during the evening took various forms. The atmosphere was pulsing with the musical sounds of DJ Toney Tone as he blasted familiar R & B sounds and hip-hop soul tunes that were sure to make you bust a move.  Others won prizes by participating in the AKA Sorority Phi Omega BINGO game based on historical facts about the organization. Others won prizes by participating in the Sorority Scavenger Hunt. They found members who have “a Pink and Green room in their homes,” “members who attended an HBCU,” “members who shared the same birthday,” “members who have visited Howard University,” or “members who were wearing pearls.”

President Evelyn Acree commended Nicole Roseborough, chairperson of the Mentoring Committee, and Kenyetta Richmond, chairperson of the Membership Committee, and their committee members for organizing such a dynamic event for Founders’ Day.

“This festive celebration represents 117 years of sisterhood! Not only are we celebrating Founders’ Day, but this is also a reclamation event where we draw inactive members of our organization back into the fold,” said Acree. “One hundred seventeen years ago today, nine sorors started the best thing that has happened yet! It is so beautiful to look out and see so many of you. I am the proud president of the best chapter in the whole United States. I welcome you and our invited guests.”

 “This social event today is also a donation drop-off in preparation for our MLK Day of Service. We will continue collecting school supplies and feminine-hygiene products on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, at the Ivy Arms Clubhouse located at 1115 East 2nd St. from 12 until 2 p.m.” said Flowers. “Period poverty is very real. It keeps many of our ladies out of school. I want to thank those of you who brought your items tonight, but you can still bring your items to the Ivy Arms Clubhouse on Saturday. Phi Omega has chosen to donate these products to Paisley Middle School.”

Every Friday, we pass out the backpacks with food in them to the children at Mineral Springs who are in the AKA CHIPP Program. We need more volunteers,” said Flowers. “This acronym means Childhood Hunger Initiative Power Pack, which provides weekend and holiday meals for children within local communities, and it is targeted to be Alpha Kappa Alpha’s most ambitious childhood hunger program to date. We will deliver the items to Mineral Springs on January 24.”

April Ruffin-Adams believes that it is very significant that Founder’s Day for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is on the birthdate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 “I teach Introduction to African Studies at UNC-G. When I walked in my classes today on Jan. 15, I asked my students, ‘Do you know what today is?’ I let them know that this is the actual birthdate of Dr. King and that even the January issue of the ‘Ivy Leaf Magazine’ of our organization bears the MLK insignia on the front,” said Ruffin-Adams. “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is our Alpha Brother, and this connection is too important not to acknowledge it. He was a man of service.”

In his vision of the “Beloved Community,” Dr. King believed it to be a realistic, achievable goal to be attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophies and methods of nonviolence. Because of his belief in the Beloved Community, Dr. King would applaud the MLK Day of Service. The Beloved Community is a global vision in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger, homelessness will not be tolerated—these are international standards of human decency, and these breaches will not be allowed to continue.

If it means that we create a campaign to deliver food to the poor to challenge food deserts in our communities, if we have to create and serve dinners in the community, if we are to build shelters for the poor, we will not allow these problems to continue without our efforts to curtail them.



About Author

WS Chronicle

WS Chronicle

Related Articles

_____________________________

Search wschronicle.com

Featured Sponsor

Sign Up For Chronicle Updates

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

Archives

More Sponsors