PRINTER'S NO. 2049
No. 329 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY WASHINGTON, MAY 13, 2008
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MAY 13, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Honoring Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority by designating May 13, 2008,
2 as "Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Day" in Pennsylvania.
3 WHEREAS, In 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became America's
4 first Greek-letter organization established by black college
5 women; and
6 WHEREAS, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority celebrated its 100-year
7 anniversary on January 15, 2008; and
8 WHEREAS, The sorority's roots date back to Howard University,
9 Washington, DC, where the idea for formation was conceived by
10 Ethel Hedgeman Lyle of St. Louis, Missouri, who viewed the
11 sorority as an instrument for enriching the social and
12 intellectual aspects of college life by providing mental
13 stimulation through interaction with friends and associates; and
14 WHEREAS, Through the years, the sorority's function has
15 become more complex, branching out and becoming the channel
16 through which selected college-trained women improved the
17 socioeconomic conditions in their city, state, nation and the
1 world; and
2 WHEREAS, In a world in which materialism is pervasive and
3 technology and competition have decreased the need for
4 collaboration and cooperation, it is critical to have an
5 association that cuts across racial, international, physical and
6 social barriers to help individuals and communities develop and
7 maintain constructive relationships with others; and
8 WHEREAS, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is that vital
9 organization, a sisterhood composed of women who have
10 consciously chosen this affiliation as a means of self-
11 fulfillment through volunteer service, cultivating and
12 encouraging high scholastic and ethical standards, promoting
13 unity and friendship among college women, alleviating problems
14 concerning girls and women, maintaining a progressive interest
15 in college life and serving all mankind through a nucleus of
16 more than 200,000 women in the United States, the Caribbean,
17 Europe and Africa; therefore be it
18 RESOLVED, That the Senate honor the Alpha Kappa Alpha
19 Sorority by designating May 13, 2008, as "Alpha Kappa Alpha
20 Sorority Day" in Pennsylvania.
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