Big Time Rush

Purpose

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, and to be of service to all mankind.

The Original Founders

Anna Easter Brown, Beulah Burke, Lillie Burke, Marjorie Hill, Margaret Flagg Holmes, Ethel Hedgeman (Lyle), Lavinia Norman, Lucy Diggs Slowe and Marie Woolfolk (Taylor)

Ethel Hedgeman Lyle

- Originator and "guiding light" of AKA

- Educator

Anna Easter Brown

- 1st treasurer of AKA

- She was an advocate of history and was known especially for her annual Negro History Week exhibits that received national media attention.

- Educator

Beulah Elizabeth Burke

- Created the organization's name, motto, and colors

- charter member & basileus of beta omega & mu omega

- language teacher & ms home ec

Lillie E. Burke

- She assisted her sister, Beulah Burke, in creating the motto.

- Educator

Margarett Flagg Holmes

- She helped write Alpha Kappa Alpha's first constitution and bylaws.

- VP and corr secretary of theta omega in Chicago

- educator/latin teacher

Marjorie Hill

- She became the 1st Ivy Beyond the Wall.

- Educator

Lavinia Norman

- She member of Alpha Kappa Alpha's first Constitution and Bylaws committee and was the presiding officer at the first Ivy Day ceremony.

- Educator

Lucy Diggs Slowe

- She was the newly-formed organization's first president, once its freshly-minted constitution and bylaws stipulated that the holder of the office should be in her senior term at the college.

- She also held the position of chairman on both the constitution and bylaws and nominating committees.

- 1st black female dean (at Howard).

Marie Woolfolk Taylor

- Because of her passion and strong-willed nature, she was selected by Ethel Hedgeman to help her make the case for a sorority to the Howard administration in the fall of 1907.

- She served as its first secretary and was a member of the first Constitution and Bylaws committee.

- She was one of the two blacks to work with the American Red Cross after the great Atlantic fire.

- Social worker

The Sophomores

Norma Boyd, Ethel Jones (Mowbray), Alice Murray, Sarah Meriweather (Nutter), Joanna Mary Berry (Shields), Carrie Estelle Snowden, and Harriet Josephine Terry

Johanna Mary Berry Shields

- Sophomore founder

- Alpha chapter records custodian 1909

-secured rosenwald grant for black schoolchildren in SC

Norma Elizabeth Boyd

- Sophomore founder

Last serving founder.

-an incorporator

-first NCS & basileus of Xi Omega

Sarah Meriwether Nutter

- Sophomore founder

- She delivered the oration at the May 1909 Ivy Day Celebration.

- planted some of the ivy remaining on Howard’s campus

Alice Porter Murray

- Sophomore founders

- She was also a gifted writer, noted for her poetry, prose and cultural commentary.

Carrie E. Snowden

- Sophomore founder

- became the corresponding secretary in fall 1909

Harriet Josephine Terry

- Sophomore founder

- She was the first of the sophomores to assume the role of president in the sorority.

- Author of "Hail Alpha Kappa Alpha" (Initiation hymn)

- Has a hall bearing her name

The Incorporators

Nellie Quander, Nellie Pratt Russell, Minnie Smith, Julia Brooks,

When the The Epsilon Upslion Chapter charted?

June 10, 1970

When was Alpha Kappa Alpa founded?

January 15, 1908, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Motto

By Culture and by Merit

Symbol

Ivy leaf

Colors

Salmon pink and apple green

Flower

Pink Tea Rose

When was Alpha Kappa Alpha incorporated?

January 29, 1913

What do the 20 pearls represent?

Founders and incorporators

International president

Dorothy Buckhanan Wilson

Program Initiatives

1. Educational Enrichment

2. Health Promotion

3. Family Strengthening

4. Environmental Ownership

5. Global Impact