Happy Founders Day to the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated! The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, by 16 women at the Mecca Howard University in Washington, D.C. The sorority was the idea of Ethel Hedgeman in 1907 after advisement from Howard University faculty member Ethal Robinson, citing her own observations of sorority life at PWI Brown University.
Here are 5 celebrities you might or might not know are women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated!
1) Loretta Devine, Award-Winning Actress, Epsilon Lambda/University of Houston
This one caught me by surprise. The amazing Loretta Devine has been repping her sorority! She graduated from the University of Houston in 1971. Let that marinate as you watch Madea’s Big Happy Family for the 500th time on BET in the past month!
2) Wanda Sykes, Legendary Comedian, Gamma Theta/Hampton University
This was another shocker for me! She went to Hampton University and became a member of the Gamma Theta chapter! She’s currently a guest star on black-ish and Comedy Central ranked her as one of top 100 comedians of all time!
3) Phylicia Rashad, Legendary Tony Award-Winning Actress, Alpha Chapter/Howard University
The backbone of The Cosby Show and the first black woman to win a Tony Award is a Alpha woman and pledged at the institution where the sorority was founded!
4) Vanessa Bell Calloway, Superstar Actress, Delta Phi/Ohio University
Once again, another shocker to me! I’m getting straight educated on this Founders Day! I love Vanessa Bell Calloway, especially in her role in Biker Boyz! She is an Alpha Woman!
5) Dr. Rhonda Green-Barnes, Professor/Teacher & Mother of Me, Iota Eta/Mercer University (Macon, Georgia)
Yes, I am shouting out my mom, the most notable Alpha woman that I know! Without her, I wouldn’t be writing this Founders Day article right now! My mother is nothing short of amazing and embodies everything that the AKA’s stand for. She served as an adjunct professor at Wesleyan College and Virginia College in Macon, Georgia and currently teaches at her alma mater Northeast High School. Happy Founders Day to my mother and the other astonishing women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated around the world!
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