SUSSEX COUNTY – January has been quite monumental for members of the Sussex County Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

The celebration began Jan. 12 as the Sussex Chapter — officially the Alpha Alpha Mu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. — marked its one-year founding anniversary.

Several days later, Jan. 15 marked the 113th anniversary of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.’s founding, in 1908 at Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically Black university in Washington.

And, of course, on Jan. 20, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sister, Kamala Harris took the oath as vice president; the first woman, first Black person and first Asian-American to hold the second-highest elected position in America.

“We just celebrated our one-year anniversary. The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s Founders Day was the 15th of January. And now we have our sister, Vice President Kamala Harris, inaugurated,” said AKA Sussex Chapter member Tara Savage Laws. “January has been — Wooo-Whooo!”

Kamala Harris joined AKA as a law student at Howard University.

“So, Kamala joined the organization at its birthplace,” said Ms. Laws Savage.

“The fact that she (Harris) is one of our sisters, that fact that she is a woman of color, that she is female - the list goes on and on,” said AKA Sussex Chapter member Toni Barrett, the chapter’s public relations chairwoman.

“And she is such an inspiration, such a role model. It just uplifts us because we really have someone to look up to. Our daughters now have someone to look up to. She is just perfect for this position. She has all the qualities that someone would need — anyone would need — in this position. She is going to be very successful. I am very excited.”

Sussex Chapter member Marlene Saunders, a 1967 Delaware State University grad who chairs the chapter’s Connection Committee, recalls joining the AKA sorority 56 years ago, in 1965.

“Like many organizations that started in the early 1900s, Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. and the women who started it started it as an uplift organization, as a pathway for African-American woman to succeed in America according to their gifts and talents and aspirations. These were women who knew what African-American people could do in the United States if they had the opportunity,” said Ms. Saunders.

“So, in a way, Harris becoming vice president of the United States is something that had to happen. It’s just that doors had to be opened. And our founders gave that opportunity to the 300,000 women who belong to AKA Sorority Inc.”

Stephanie Collick, a graduate of both DSU and University of Delaware who is a teacher in the Cape Henlopen School District, said she is “overwhelmingly full of pride that a woman, that a woman of color has that position: as America’s vice president.

“I am also full of pride that people of color did not lose hope in the process,” said Ms. Collick.

“I’m glad to see that African Americans and people of color still see that their vote matters. They came out in overwhelming amounts to vote. They didn’t let rain or voter suppression or 10-hour lines or anything stop them from their civic duty. They didn’t allow any of that to stop them from pursuing what our ancestors died for. We are our ancestors’ wildest dream and that was fulfilled with our sorority sister becoming the vice president of the free world.”

All about service

Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Sussex Chapter has a proud membership.

All members have furthered their education at the college level. Many members have or are pursuing doctorate degrees.

“One of the tenants of our organization is service,” said Ms. Laws Savage. “And the fact that Kamala Harris has built her career on service to others just lets the world see that our mission in Alpha Kappa Alpha is going to be perpetuated throughout the whole county because she is still about service. It’s just at a different level and a different medium. I think that is part of why our hearts are just so full because we know that at our core, we are about service. And at her core, she is about service.”

Last January, armed with its formal incorporation, the Sussex group participated in a project in conjunction with several other local groups and the American Legion where many items, such as gloves, scarves, and socks were donated and put into backpacks to distribute to those in need around the community.

Throughout 2020, the sorority’s Connection Committee worked tirelessly to assist the citizens of Sussex County with voter registration, mail-in voting, as well as in-person voting. Virtual informational meetings were held to assist people with the registration and voting process and several letters were written to church pastors designed to help get information about voting out to a significant number of people.

Most recently, the ladies of Alpha Alpha Mu Omega participated in three holiday service projects.

Working with the organization, Unlimited Expectations/Church Without Walls, an organization which provides housing assistance, financial assistance and assistance to children with back-to-school and Christmas needs, the sorority donated money and helped with the purchasing of hats and gloves to distribute to school-aged children for Christmas.

Another project included purchasing items such as masks, gloves and hand sanitizer, and preparing “goodie bags” for Sussex County frontline workers.

The final project for 2020 involved working with Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc which provides education and support to pregnant and parenting teens. This year, AAMO sponsored a young mother and her son by providing them with Christmas gifts and money to purchase vital necessities.

“Alpha Alpha Mu Omega is very excited to be part of Sussex County and has many plans for continued outreach and community service projects throughout 2021,” said Ms. Barrett.

The Alpha Alpha Mu Omega Chapter was a lengthy work in project.

“Several of us were in other chapters, but we were not serving our dear Sussex County, being in those other chapters,” said Ms. Laws Savage. “So, when we became aware of the possibility of chartering a chapter in Sussex County, we went to work, and it took us two years.”

Membership rolls

Alpha Alpha Mu Omega totals 20 sorority members. Alpha Alpha Mu Omega is in the process of welcoming some new members, women who are already members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, but are new to the area or joining from an undergrad chapter after they have graduated.

“I believe we are welcoming five new members sometime in February,” said Ms. Barrett. “As far as new pledges, we will not have a new pledge group for a while, but eventually we will. To pledge into our chapter, a woman must be graduated from an undergrad institution. They don’t need to have been in an undergrad chapter. I didn’t pledge until I was in grad school.”

Inauguration day

Like millions in America, eyes of AKA Sussex Chapter members were glued to televisions for the presidential inauguration.

“It took me back to 1962, 1963 when we had the marches and everything going on in the country, at the time fighting to get the right to attend certain places and do certain things. And to look at that the woman standing there today who is the vice president of the United States just made me realize that, in due time, things will come,” said Mary Lomax, president of AKA Alpha Alpha Mu Omega Chapter.

“It has been a long time, with many struggles and we’re still struggling. It sends a message to anyone in this country that if you work hard, you can get whatever you want. It may be a struggle but with continued work, knowing how to get involved and work with others, it can happen. She is a good example. (Joe) Biden is a good example. He tried several times to be the president. Forty years but he is there.”

“I think I am the crybaby of the chapter. I am just elated; a long time coming,” said Lynelle Hyland. “It restores hope in the country that there are still some good people out there. I love my sisters. I love them death. And I love my sorority.”

“My two children are graduates of DSU. My tax dollars go to DSU. I have a granddaughter,” said Vickie Pendleton, who celebrates 42 years in the AKA sorority this February.

“When I grew up and where I grew up, that would have never happened. Now we know that not only can it happen, but it did. So, it is nice for my granddaughter to say, ‘I can become vice president of the United States or better yet, I can take it a step further” As a sorority member what can I say? I truly cannot describe how I feel internally.”

“One of the things that came to mind was just the fact that we are able to say we lived when there was a Black president and now a Black vice president, and more specifically a Black woman,” said Amanda Holman, a 2011 DSU graduate and the chapter’s financial secretary.

“Honestly, I am still a little shocked that it happened because it just seems like the dynamics of the country right now, that she was able to get past that and she showed the world that she deserves to be in that position. I am hoping that by the time that my 5-year-old daughter is an adult, this is normal for her. Like it’s no longer shocking or amazing a person of color is in the higher offices in the nation.”

“The takeaway for me is that there are no limits to what I can do if I only believe and put my mind to it,” said Shanay Snead. “But also knowing the support that helped to push our sorority where she is today, it lets you know you can lean on others and you trust them. Sometimes their energy will help propel you to heights that you might not have even imagined.”

“I also appreciate the diversity that was shown during the inauguration,” Ms. Snead added. “I am just overjoyed and elated, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next, not only for us as a country but also for our sorority. I think it will motivate Alpha Kappa Alpha women even more to serve so the world can see who we are and what we are about.”

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