Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
The Beta Eta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha was chartered at the University of Michigan on June 3rd, 1933. Five young Black women, Ruth Birch, Viola Goin, Mable James, Adele Jones, and Olive Manly, came together in the hopes of making the college experience valuable and meaningful by starting this chapter (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Beta Eta Chapter, n.d.).
An international service organization that was originally founded at Howard University in 1908. As the oldest Greek-letter organization founded by Black women, AKA has more than 390,000 initiated members. The sorority includes more than 1,105 chapters for undergraduate and graduate students. They have chapters in a wide span of nations outside of the United States, including the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, Japan, Liberia, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, South Korea, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
AKA’s mission has not changed since its inception over 100 years ago. Their core goals are:
- 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
- to be of “Service to All Mankind.”
At the time of AKA’s foundation, there were fewer than 1,000 Black students attending higher education programs in the United States. Of the 25 women attending Howard University between 1908 and 1911, nine of them were the founding members of AKA. Led by Ethel Hedgemon, who aspired to create an organization to support women with like minds, AKA was formed to uplift and support the strengths of all members (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, n.d.).
