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The
Divine Nine
These eight
fraternities and sororities along with Alpha
Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. constitute the
divine nine.
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Alpha
Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first
Greek-lettered organization established by
Black college women (Anna Easter Brown, Beulah
Elizabeth Burke, Lillie Burke, Marjorie Hill,
Margaret Flagg Holmes, Ethel Hedgeman Lyle,
Lavinia Norman, Lucy Diggs Slowe, Marie Woolfolk
Taylor), was founded on January 15, 1908 at
Howard University. The following group of sophomore
women were chosen to complete the first group
so that the sorority would continue after those
of the first group had graduated. They were
Most Gracious Ladies: Norma Elizabeth Boyd,
Alice P. Murray, Ethel Jones Mawbray, Sarah
Merriweather Nutter, Joanna Berry Shields,
Carrie Snowden, Harriet Josephine Terry. One
year later, on February 11, 1909, the first
initiation was held in Minor Hall at Howard
University. In January 29, 1913, Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority was incorporated to ensure perpetuity.
The incorporators of Alpha Kappa Alpha were
Nellie Pratt Russell, Nellie Quander, Norma
Elizabeth Boyd, and Beatrice Smith. Alpha Kappa
Alpha has grown from one undergraduate chapter
to an international organization with a membership
of more than 140 women. Our membership consists
of ladies of distinction and exemplary character
who excel in scholarship, leadership and service.
Our undergraduate and graduate chapters are
located throughout the United States, West
Africa, the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, the
Virgin Islands, Korea, and Germany. Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority, Inc. is the epitome of class,
grace, and finer womanhood. {Source: Alpha
Kappa Alpha: www.auburn.edu}. PROMINENT
SORORS: Coretta Scott King,
Gladys Knight, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lynn Whitfield,
Phylicia Rashad, Star Jones, Maya Angelou,
Rosa Parks, Debbie Allen |
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Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated was
founded on January 13, 1913 at Howard University
by 22 dynamic undergraduate women. These young
women wanted to use their collective strength
to promote academic excellence and to provide
to the needy. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
is a private, non-profit organization whose
purpose is to provide services and programs
to promote human welfare. Delta Sigma Theta
has a membership of over 200,000 predominately
African-American college educated women. The
Sorority currently has over 850 chapters located
in the United States, Japan, Germany, Bermuda,
Haiti, the Bahamas, the Republic of Korea and
the Virgin Islands. The major programs
of the Sorority are based upon the organization's
Five Point Thrust which is as follows: Economic
Development, Educational Development, International
Awareness, Involvement Physical and Mental
Health Political Awareness and Involvement. Program
Development and
Implementation in Delta is a cooperative
function with several committees and executive
boards involved those with direct leadership
responsibilities for implementation
include members of the Program, Planning,
and Development Committee, Social Action
Committee, Membership Services and Regional
Officers. A brief listing of the selected
national program areas are as follows: Delta
Habitat for Humanity Summit III: Preparing
our Sons for Manhood, School America, Delta
Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and AIDS Community Education
Project (ADACE) Black College Convocation
Distinguished Professor Endowed Chair Delta
Days at the Nation's Capitol Young Artists
Renaissance Gala. {Source: Delta
Sigma Theta www.uiuc.edu}. PROMINENT
DELTAS: Aretha Franklin,
Keshia Knight Pulliam, Lena Horne, Natalie
Cole, Roberta Flack, Cicely Tyson, Carol
Mosely Braun, Ruby Dee Davis, Alexis Herman
{Former Labor Secretary}, Shirley Chisholm
{1st Black Congresswoman}, Erika Dunlap {2004
Miss America} |
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A Community Conscious
Action-Oriented Organization, Zeta
Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was
founded in 1920, on the campus of Howard University
in Washington, D.C. as the sister organization
to Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Five women chose
not to embrace the tenets of the established
black sororities, and chartered Zeta Phi Beta
Sorority to encourage the highest standards
of scholarships through scientific, literary,
cultural and educational programs; promote
service projects on college campuses and in
the community; foster sisterhood and exemplify
the ideal of Finer Womanhood. A private nonprofit
organization, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority is incorporated
in Washington, D.C. and in the state of Illinois.
Since its inception, the sorority has chronicled
a number of "firsts" among the established
black sororities. In addition to being the
only organization constitutionally bound
to a fraternity, the sorority was the first
to charter international chapters, those in
West Africa and Germany; to form adult and
youth auxiliary groups, the Amicae, Archonettes,
Amicettes and Pearlettes; and to organize its
internal affairs within a central, national
office administered by a paid staff. Today,
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority is classified as a non-profit
service organization with a membership exceeding
100,000 college educated professional women.
The membership operates within eight regions
in more than 700 chapters located in the domestic
United States of America, Hawaii, Alaska, West
Africa, West Germany, Bahama Islands, Virgin
Islands, South Korea and Italy. {Source:
Zeta Phi Beta www.accessatlanta.com}. PROMINENT
ZETAS: Dionne Warwick, Zora
Neale Hurston, Vanessa Williams {from Soul
Food the SERIES, not the MOVIE}, Ja'Net DuBois,
Algenita Scott Davis {Past National President
of the National Bar Association}, Anita Turpeau
Anderson {1st female member on Harvard's debate
team}, Clara McLaughlin {1st African-American
woman to own and operate a television station},
Dr. Alyse Gullantee {1st African-American psychiatrist
to win an Emmy}, Dr. Deborah Wolfe {former
U.S. Education Chief in U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Education and Labor}, Elizabeth
Koontz {1st African-American president to the
N.E.A.}, Freddye Henderson {1st African-American
owner of a travel agency in the U.S.}, Jylla
Foster {national president for IBM} |
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Sigma
Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc was founded
seventy-five years ago on the campus of Butler
University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Sigma
Gamma Rho Sorority is the youngest sorority
in the National Pan-Hellenic Council and remains
the first and only historically African-American
collegiate sorority founded on a predominantly
white campus. This non-profit service and social
organization was founded on November 12, 1922--a
time when higher education for women and
African-Americans was difficult to obtain.
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority's aim is to enhance
the quality of life within the community. Public
service, leadership development and education
of youth are the hallmark of the organization's
programs and activities. Sigma Gamma Rho addresses
concerns that impact society educationally,
civically, and economically. Despite all odds,
seven dynamic, spiritual and strong African-American
women rose to meet the needs of the African-American
and women communities by organizing this stellar
institution. And today, seventy-five years
later, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority continues to
be a beacon of light for all. {Source:
Sigma Gamma Rho www.osu.edu} PROMINENT
SGR: Marilyn McCoo, Rev. Willie
T. Barrow {National Executive Director of Operation
Push}, Hattie McDaniel {1st African American
to win an Oscar - "Gone With The Wind"},
Victoria Rowell {Actress - "The Young
and The Restless}, Cynthia Horner {Editor-In-Chief
- "Right On" magazine} |
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Kappa
Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. was founded
on the campus of Indiana University on January5,
1911. Originally charted and incorporated Kappa Alpha
Nu on April 15, 1911, the name was officially
changed to Kappa Alpha Psi on April 15, 1915. The
Fraternity is predominantly African-American whose
fundamental purpose is achievement. Kappa
Alpha Psi seeks to train its membership, particularly
undergraduates, for leadership roles in their
respective communities and the attainment of
a high degree of excellence in their academic
pursuits. Early in this century, African-American
students were actively dissuaded from attending
college. Formidable obstacles were erected
to prevent the few who were enrolled from assimilating
into co-curricular campus life. This ostracism
characterized Indiana University in 1911, thus
causing Elder W. Diggs, Byron K. Armstrong,
and eight other black students to form Kappa
Alpha Psi which remains the only Greek letter
organization with its Alpha Chapter (first
Chapter) on the University's campus. The founders
sought a formula that would immediately raise
the sights of black collegians stimulating
them to reach accomplishments higher than they
had imagined. With achievement as its purpose,
Kappa Alpha Psi began uniting college men of
culture, patriotism and honor in a bond of
fraternity. Subsequently, chapters spread in
succession to the University of Illinois, the
University of Iowa, and Wilberforce University
campuses. By 1919, the Kappa Alpha Psi experience
had generated serious interest among black
college degree holders to form Alumni Chapters. As
graduate chapters multiplied, the Fraternity
began to expand its programming, for example,
"Guide Right," its national social
out-reach program was started three years
after the first Alumni Chapters were formed.
Today National Guide Right programs provide
programming, role models, and mentors for
at risk and other youth in communities throughout
the country and internationally. PROMINENT
KAPPAS: Arthur Ashe, John
Singleton {Director - "Boyz N The Hood"},
Ralph Abernathy, Kenny Lofton, Daniel "Chappie" James,
Ed Bradley, Montell Jordan, Penny Hardaway,
Johnnie Cochran, Robert Johnson {BET Founder},
Keith Clinkscales {CEO - Vibe Magazine},
John E. Jacob {Former CEO - National Urban
League}, Cedric the Entertainer, Tavis Smiley,
Ralph Wiley, Wilson Goode {first African-American
mayor of Philadelphia}, Ukee Washington,
Oscar Robertson, Kerry Kittles, Kwame Jackson
{from "The Apprentice"} |
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The
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity was founded
on Friday, November 17, 1911 at Howard
University in Washington, D.C. The founders
of the Fraternity were three students: Edgar
Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper, and Frank
Coleman and their first faculty advisor
Ernest Everett Just. The Fraternity's motto
is "Friendship is Essential to the
Soul." Omega Psi Phi was the first
Black fraternal organization founded at
a Black university or college.
From its inception, the Fraternity has worked
to build a strong and effective force of
men dedicated to principles of manhood, scholarship,
perseverance, uplift, and capable of giving
expression to the hopes and aspirations of
an unfree people in the land of the free.
Since 1945, the Fraternity has undertaken
a National Social Action Program to meet
the needs of African-Americans in the areas
of health, housing, civil rights, and education.
In 1927, the Fraternity made National Negro
Achievement Week an annual observance and
it continues today as Achievement Week. In
its continuing support of African-American
education, the Fraternity gives a gift of
$50,000 each year to the United Negro College
Fund. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. has
supported the UNCF since 1955. {Source:
Omega Psi Phi users.vnet.net}PROMINENT
QUES: Rev. Jesse Jackson,
Bill Cosby, Hank Aaron, Michael Jordan, Shaquille
O'Neal, Steve Harvey, David Justice, Alonzo Mourning,
Count Basie |
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Phi
Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. was founded
at Howard University in Washington, DC on January
9th, 1914 by three young black male students. The
founders, Honorable A. Langston Taylor, Honorable
Leonard F. Morse and Honorable Charles I. Brown
wanted to organize a Greek-letter fraternity
that would truly exemplify the high ideals
of brotherhood, scholarship and service. The
founders deeply wished to create an organization
that viewed itself as "a part of" the
general community. They believed that each
potential member should be judged on his own
merits rather than his family background or
affluence, without regard of race, nationality,
color, skin tone or texture of hair. They wished
and wanted their fraternity to exist as a part
of an even greater brotherhood-sisterhood which
would be devoted to the "inclusive we" rather
than the "exclusive we."
From its inception, the founders also conceived
Phi Beta Sigma as a mechanism to deliver
services to the general community. Rather
than gaining skills to be utilized exclusively
for themselves and their immediate families,
the founders of Phi Beta Sigma held the deep
conviction that they should return their
newly acquired skills to the communities
from which they had come. This deep
conviction was mirrored in the fraternity
motto, "Culture For Service and Service
For Humanity."
Today, more than three-quarters of a century
later, Phi Beta Sigma has blossomed into
an international organization of leaders.
No longer a single entity, the fraternity
has now established the Phi Beta Sigma Educational
Foundation, Inc. and the Phi Beta Sigma Federal
Credit Union (to build financial equity
within our target communities). With the
force, vigor, power and energy of its more
than 100,000 dedicated men united in more
than 700 chapters across the United States,
Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean, Phi Beta
Sigma continues to faithfully perpetuate
composite growth and progress as the "people's
fraternity" dedicated to providing services
to all humanity. {Source: Phi Beta Sigma www.sa.sc.edu} PROMINENT
SIGMAS: Dr. George Washington
Carver, Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Blair Underwood,
Karl Malone, Nelson Mandela, Morris Chestnut,
Malik Yoba, Dr. Bobby Jones {TV host}, Jay
Anthony Brown {Comedian} |
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Iota
Phi Theta was founded on September 19,1963
on the campus of Morgan State University. Our
founders were unique because they were "non-traditional" students
and 3 to 5 years older than the average college
student. Some were married, some were veterans,
and some even held full time jobs while attending
college to earn a degree. This led to the concept
of a
"fraternity" that was different
than the others at the present time. A very
mature group of young men had a vision...a
vision of Iota Phi Theta. As of
today, Iota Phi Theta exits as a nationally
incorporated social/service fraternity which
continues to remain true to the original
aims of its founders. While the fraternity's
membership is comprised primarily of African-
Americans, membership is not restricted by
race, creed, or national origin. The fraternity
consists of over 100 undergraduate and alumni
chapters with nearly 15,000 members located
in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
The fraternity colors are Charcoal Brown
and Gilded Gold. The fraternity motto is "Building
a Tradition.....Not Resting Upon One."
As iota has grown, it has endeavored to maintain
a standard of excellence and leadership on
campus and in the community. Individual chapters
involve themselves in activities that allow
members the opportunity to give of themselves
and enrich the lives of others. A partial
listing of involvements undertaken
by Iota Phi Theta chapters includes: The
NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, The National Federation of the
Blind, The National Sickle Cell Foundation,
The United College Negro Fund, Big Brothers
of America, and Project IMAGE. Additionally,
Iota Phi Theta is a member of the National
Interfraternity Conference (NIC). The NIC
is an international organization consisting
of over 60 national fraternities with a combined
membership of over six million individuals. As
a member of the NIC, Iota Phi Theta is able
to directly affect the issues of importance
to the fraternal community at large. {Source:
Iota Phi Theta www.uakron.edu} PROMINENT
IOTAS: Spencer Christian,
T.C. Carlson {Actor - "Living Single",
Vaughn Booker {Football Player} |
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Alpha
Phi Alpha
Gamma Theta Lambda Chapter
P.O. Box 1622
Wilmington, DE 19899 |
