Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (ΆΚΆ) is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African-American college women. Led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded on January 15, 1908, in Miner Hall on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. by nine college students. After a schism occurred between undergraduate and graduate sorority members, the group expanded to twenty when the organization was incorporated on January 29, 1913. The sorority's document and pictorial archives are located at Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

Consisting of women of African, Caucasian, Asian, and Hispanic descent, the sorority serves all mankind through a nucleus of more than 200,000 women in over 950 chapters. An interested member can join through undergraduate chapters at a college or university, or through a graduate chapter, after acquiring a college degree. Chapters consisting of Alpha Kappa Alpha women can be found nationally and internationally.

Alpha Kappa Alpha works with communities through service initiatives and progressive programs relating to education, family, health, and business that have a direct impact on the world community. The sorority is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), and the current International President is Carolyn Stewart. Alpha Kappa Alpha will celebrate a centennial anniversary on January 15, 2008.

Beginnings: 1907–1912
The efforts into creating the sisterhood of Alpha Kappa Alpha were led by Ethel Hedgeman beginning in Spring 1907 at Howard University. Hedgeman was persuaded by Ethel Robinson, a faculty member at Howard who also shared her sorority experiences with Lyle at Brown University. Hedgeman was also inspired by her then high school and college sweetheart and soon to be husband George Lyle, a charter member the Beta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at Howard in 1907. In order to proliferate her idea in forming a sorority, Hedgeman began recruiting interested classmates throughout the summer of 1907.

Eventually nine women, along with Hedgeman were involved in the instrumental phases in organizing the sorority in fall 1907. As the main founder, Hedgeman was also the temporary chairperson of the sorority in the organizational phases. The nine also organized the sorority's motto, colors, constitution, as well as the name. Later in 1908, seven other sophomores expressed interest in the sorority and were accepted without initiation. The first initiation was held in a wing of an attic in Miner Hall on Howard University during February 11, 1909. Almost two months later, on May 25, 1909, some members of the sorority planted ivy at the southern part of Miner Hall in celebration of "Ivy Day."

Cession and formation of Delta Sigma Theta: 1912–1913
At the time, Alpha Kappa Alpha existed as one chapter at Howard University with only a ritual and sponsored social events. No plan of nationalizing or incorprorating the organization existed. To expand the sorority at Howard, new members were initiated. In October 11, 1912, twenty-two members were initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha. Seven officers were elected into the sorority: Myra Hemmings, president; Ethel Black, vice-president, Edith Young, secretary; Jessie Dent, corresponding secretary, Winona Alexander, custodian; Frederica Dodd, sergeant-at-arms, and Pauline Minor was the treasurer. The twenty-two began to be dismayed at the progress of the sorority and wanted to reorganize. According to Giddings, the group wanted to "establish a national organization, enlarge the scope of activities of the sorority, change its name and symbols, and be more politically oriented." When the word was spread to Nellie Quander, a graduate member, about changing the sorority namesake, she was said to be "horrified" at the proposal and gave the women who disagreed with her a deadline to terminate the efforts of reorganizing the sorority.

However, the twenty-two declined, and formed Delta Sigma Theta on January 13, 1913. Later Quander along with five other sorority members led an initiative to incorporate Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority as a perpetual body on January 29, 1913. The organization was nationally incorporated in Washington, D.C., as a non-profit under the name Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated on January 30, 1913. During the same year the sorority began using Greek names for officers.



Expansion and initial implementation of programs 1920–1940
The sorority continued to grow in membership with additional resources. The sorority's pledge was written by Grace Edwards and was adopted by the 1920 Boulè. In addition, the sorority's crest was designed by Phyllis Wheatley Waters and accepted in the same Boulè. A year later, at the 1921 Boulè, the Ivy Leaf was designated as "the official organ of Alpha Kappa Alpha," and Founders' Week, paying honor to ΆKΆ's founders was established. In addition, pearls were first introduced to the sorority in the same year. The sorority membership pin was accepted in the following Boulè in Kansas City, Missouri. At the 1947 Boulè, pins for honorary members were designed and approved.

On May 10, 1930, Alpha Kappa Alpha, along with the fraternities Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi and sororities Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta, founded the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) at Howard University. Currently consisting of nine predominately black fraternities and sororities, NPHC promotes interaction through forums, meetings, and other mediums for the exchange of information, and engages in cooperative programming and initiatives through various activities and functions. Throughout the Great Migration, members assisted the Travelers Aid Society, helping Southern Blacks adjust to North society, and volunteered at the Freedman's Hospital. In April 1933, soon-to-be eight Supreme Basileus Ida Jackson visited All Saints Industrial School in Lexington, Mississippi. The principal described the deplorable conditions around the Mississippi Delta — such as teachers not having an education past the seventh grade and African-Americans settling on plantation land. In the summer of 1934, the Summer School for Rural Teachers was initiated to train future teachers. Twenty-two student teachers and 243 school children were involved. In addition, night classes were held for forty-eight adults. Furthermore, Jackson attained 2600 books for the school's library, making the library "the largest library owned by white or colored in all Holmes County." In the second summer, Jackson focused on the region's poverty and adopted a health clinic. In December 1934, Jackson had acquired $1,000 from the Boulè for funding the project. The health clinic eventually evolved into the Mississippi Health Project, with Jackson serving as the founder and Dr. Dorothy Boulding Ferebee as the director.

The Mississippi Health Project operated for six summers to bring primary medical care to the rural Black population across the state of Mississippi. The Mississippi Health Project is recognized as the first mobile health clinic in the United States, and noted for its work to eliminate diphtheria and smallpox and improve nutritional and dental practices throughout rural Mississippi. The project has helped approximately 15,000 people in the Mississippi Delta.



In 1938, with the help of incorporator Norma Elizabeth Boyd, the sorority created the National Non-Partisan Lobby on Civil and Democratic Rights (NPC), later renamed the National Non-Partisan Council on Public Affairs, the first full-time congressional lobby for minority group civil and human rights. Throughout the organization's existence, the Non-Partisan Council worked with the NAACP, National Urban League, The United Office and Professional Workers of America, The National Association of Graduate Nurses, the American Federation of Churches, the Colored Women's Club, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Auxiliary, and the New York Voter's League. The NPC was dissolved on July 15, 1948, by twelfth Supreme Basileus Edna Over Gray-Campbell. A year later, Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first sorority to apply for life membership in the NAACP.

In replacement of the NPC, Alpha Kappa Alpha established the American Council on Human Rights (ACHR), beginning in August 1945 to make government recommendations concerning civil rights legislation. The ACHR was proposed at the 1946 Boulè, since World War II caused cancellation of 1945 meetings. At the same time in October 1946, Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first sorority to obtain observer status at the United Nations. On January 15, 1948, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho sororities and Alpha Phi Alpha and Phi Beta Sigma fraternities were charter members of the ACHR. Kappa Alpha Psi later was included in March 1949.

On September 1, 1945, Alpha Kappa Alpha established The National Health Office in New York City. The National Health Office correlated activities with local chapters and worked with the ACHC to promote health initiatives before Congress, increase the number of student nurses, and improve the state of health programs at historically Black Colleges and Universities. The National Health Office was dissolved in 1951, in order to incorporate ideals as a part of the sorority's international program.

Civil rights, technology and educational training: 1950–1970
Throughout the 1950s and 1970s, members helped to sponsor job training, reading enrichment, heritage, and youth programs. In 1953, FashionettaTM, the sorority's biggest fundraiser was trademarked.

By encouraging youth to improve math, science, and reading skills, the sorority continued a legacy of community service and pledged to enrich the lives of others. The ACHR continued lobbying for equality concerning civil rights during the 1950s and 1960s. According to Collier-Thomas, the ACHR drew attention to legislation concerning education, transportation, employment, and improving equality in the armed forces and public places. The ACHR participated in filing civil rights cases in amicus curiae with Bolling v. Sharpe and 1954's Brown v. Board of Education. However, as a whole, ACHR voted to dissolve operations in 1963.

On August 20, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, which allowed the creation of the Job Corps. At the time, the sorority wanted to operate a job training center for students. Led by sixteenth president Julia Purnell, ΆKΆ negotiated with the Office of Economic Opportunity to operate a women's center from October 1964 to January 1965. On February 12, 1965, the sorority was awarded a US$4 million grant to operate the Cleveland Job Corps, allowing ΆKΆ to become the first organization to function a women's training center. Beginning in 1965, the Cleveland Job Corps trained female high school dropouts from 16 to 21, until 1976 when males were accepted, with job skills and an education. The sorority operated the Cleveland Job Corps until 1995.

Between 1968 to 1972, Alpha Kappa Alpha published The Heritage Series. The Heritage Series consisted of five pamphlets, consisting of biographies of top African-American women in judiciary, politics, medicine, business, and dentistry. Also, in the early 1970s, Alpha Kappa Alpha donated $20,000 for preserving Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth place in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1978, during the sorority's seventieth anniversary, the Memorial Window at Howard University was dedicated to the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Designed by Lois Mailou Jones, the unveiling of the Memorial Window was seen by surviving founders Lavinia Norman and Norma Boyd.

Bridging Towards the Twenty-first Century: 1980–2007
Celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of founding in 1983, the sorority unveiled portraits of the founders. The oil portraits were painted by Ernest McNealey. One year later, the sorority contributed overseas with the establishment of African Village Development Program (AVDP). As a conjoint program with Africare, the sorority sought to decrease poverty in African villages. Also, in collaboration with the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH), the sorority was able to build ten schools in South Africa after apartheid and donated computer technology to the region. On October 11, 1991, the sorority donated a plaque commemorating the life of Doris Miller, the first African-American to earn a Navy Cross, at Miller Family Park in Pearl Harbor.

Throughout the 1990s, the sorority continued to provide after school mentoring programs, such as ON TRACK. ON TRACK, an acronym which stands for "Organizing, Nurturing, Team building, Respecting, Achieving, Counseling and Knowing," was designed to keep progression of 20,000 third graders, who were at-risk. Sponsored by Daimler Chrysler, ON TRACK was designated to "improve communication, academics, physical and emotional health, peer leadership, etiquette, and interpersonal relationships." In addition, programs such as the Ivy Reading AKAdemy and Young Authors Program improved elementary reading comprehension skills, while P.I.M.S. assisted to bring attention to math and science.

In 1999, the sorority adopted a strict anti-hazing policy which is against "underground hazing, financial hazing, pre-pledging, post-pledging and post-initiation pledging." However, on September 9, 2002, a ten foot surf killed twenty-two year old Kristin High and twenty-four year old Kenitha Saafir during an underground ceremony at Dockweiler State Beach near the Pacific Ocean. The Los Angeles Police Department determined that the deaths were accidental. The two California State University students were interested in joining Alpha Kappa Alpha through an unauthorized chapter which was not recognized by the national organization nor the university.

As a result of the incident, Kristin High's family filed a US$100 million wrongful death lawsuit on September 23 in Los Angeles District Court. The suit claimed that the two women lost sleep while performing tasks for the members of the underground sorority, carried out physical exercises on the beach, and were wearing jogging clothes and tennis shoes in the water, hindering their ability to remain afloat. According the lawsuit, which was reported by CNN, the two women were "blindfolded and tied by their hands and their bodies and led into the rip tide conditions of the ocean."

The sorority responded to the call for help in fall 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, by raising money for a disaster relief fund. In addition, with the assistance of Habitat for Humanity, the sorority helped build a house for a family that survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in July 2007. In the entertainment arena, Alpha Kappa Alpha supported NPHC member Alpha Phi Alpha in the denunciation of the film, Stomp the Yard for unauthorized use of the fraternity’s symbols and trademarks. The support from the sorority aided in a resolution to the satisfaction of the fraternity, producers Rainforest Productions, Sony Pictures and Screen Gems. The sorority continues to assist the community by initiating service related projects and serves as an organ. In addition to educational programs, the sorority contributed to drawing awareness to health related issues, such as AIDS, sickle cell anemia, breast cancer, and the importance of staying in shape. Recently, the sorority has supported the efforts of justice for the Jena Six.

Centennial Celebration: January 15, 2008
Alpha Kappa Alpha will celebrate their centenary with a year long commemoration in 2007, and will end with a week of recognizing accolades in Washington, D.C. The celebration will also coincide with the sorority's biennial Boulè. In addition, the organization will be marking their centennial by making a pilgrimage to Howard University from January 12 to January 15, 2008.

The sorority has connected to the past by associating with African Ancestry. African Ancestry's DNA testing will be used to find genealogical chronology for families of sorority members. The purpose of the partnership is to trace familiar relativity throughout the world as well as in Africa so as to fully embrace the self recognition of the African-American culture and the community at large.

Membership
Alpha Kappa Alpha asserts that it has a membership of over 200,000 college-trained women from around the world. The sorority has over 49,000 active members who represent a diverse constituency, from educators to heads of state, politicians, lawyers, medical professionals, media personalities, and decision-makers of major corporations. Graduate members constitute the largest percentage of membership. Alpha Kappa Alpha has 950 chapters located in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, Germany, Korea and Japan.

The term soror, derived from the Latin for "sister", is used between members of the sorority. Membership of the Directorate includes the Board of Directors. For graduate chapters, "Omega" is added to distinguish those which consist of college graduates from undergraduate chapters. "Supreme," as a term, is amended to an international officeholder, such as Supreme Basileus. "Ivy Beyond the Wall," approved in 1930, refers to a deceased member of the sorority.

Honorary membership is the highest honor that the sorority presents to prospective members. For example, Jane Addams, was the first honorary member. Eleanor Roosevelt, a former First Lady and wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was a honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Senator Hillary Clinton, former First Lady and wife of President Bill Clinton, initially accepted honorary membership into Alpha Kappa Alpha, but later declined due to the sorority's exclusive requirements which would prevent her from accepting honorary membership in other NPHC organizations.

Membership interest and intake


The Ivy Leaf Pledge Club was the official pledge club of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. The club consisted of potential candidates who were interested in joining the sorority. For example, at Wilberforce University, the Ivy Leaf Pledge Club's motto was "nothing but the highest" and their colors were pink and blue. Interested members would join the pledge club before being inducted into the sorority. In Our Kind of People: Inside America's Upper Class, Lawrence Otis Graham tells of his aunt's experience in joining the Ivy Pledge Club: We had to learn a lot more about the historic beginnings of the AKAs, and we did it by writing long letters of application to the Ivy Leaf Pledge Club—the senior wing of the sorority that regulated the admissions process—and then attending monthly meetings where the older students tutored us on the history. In addition, according to Graham, the sorority would have "Pledge Week", a period where a candidate's grades and behavior were examined by chapter members. Candidates who withstood this period were subsequently initiated into the sorority. Currently, in undergraduate chapters, membership interest is processed by an interest meeting, which is also known as a "rush". After the candidate receives an official letter from the sorority's headquarters, she can participate in the membership intake process. Prospective members must have a C+ average prior to their membership submission as well as have a record in community service. If a prospective member has graduated, that member could be invited to join the sorority at the discretion of the graduate chapter.

Leadership: Founders and Executive Directors
The leadership of the sorority in the early years was derived from three separate groups&mdash;the original group, the sophomores and the incorporators, whose combination is well known as "The Twenty Pearls." The Executive Director position has been held by eight members since the office's creation on October 9, 1949.

The Boulè
The Boulè is the regulating institution of the sorority and currently meets every two years. Throughout the years at the Boulè conferences, notable individuals such as civil rights activists Martin Luther King, Jr. and Roy Wilkins, former Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder, Johnnie Cochran, First Lady Laura Bush, former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were notable speakers.

Regions
Beginning in 1924, after the establishment of 32 graduate and undergraduate chapters, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority organized chapters according to their regions in the United States and abroad. The Boulé determines the boundaries of the regions. The ten regions are each led by a regional director, where she serves a member of the sorority's Board of Directors. In addition to serving on the sorority's Board of Directors, the regional director also follows guidelines, program targets set by the International President, as well as procedures. Almost two-thirds of the sorority's regional directors have been elected international presidents. A comprehensive list of regions is shown below:


 * Far-Western
 * Mid-Western
 * South Central
 * Central
 * South Eastern


 * South Atlantic
 * Mid-Atlantic
 * North Atlantic
 * Great Lakes
 * International

Current platform
The National Program theme for 2006-2010 administration, led under Alpha Kappa Alpha's International President Barbara A. McKinzie, is "The Heart of ESP: An Extraordinary Service Program." ESP is an acronym for Economics, Sisterhood, and Partnerships. The purpose of ESP is to energize and strengthen service to the community and sisterhood within Alpha Kappa Alpha. The five platforms included in the International Program and implemented in the Ivy Reading AKAdemy are:


 * Platform I - Non-Traditional Entrepreneur
 * Platform II - Economic Keys to Success
 * Platform III - The Economic Growth of the Black Family
 * Platform IV - Undergraduate Signature Program: Economic Educational Advancement Through Technology
 * Platform V - Health Resource Management and Economics

On April 21, 2007, Centennial International President Barbara McKinzie announced at North Carolina A&T that the Undergraduate Signature Program, Economic Educational Advancement through Technology, would provide free technology training at ten universities, (five are HBCUs), which include the following:


 * Langston University
 * University of Toledo
 * Florida A&M University
 * Texas Southern University
 * Northwestern University


 * Brown University
 * Vanderbilt University
 * Stanford University
 * University of the Virgin Islands
 * North Carolina A&T

Educational Advancement Foundation
Alpha Kappa Alpha's Educational Advancement Foundation (EAF) is a separate and tax-exempt branch of the sorority, which "provide[s] financial support to individuals and organizations engaged in lifelong learning." The foundation awards academic scholarships (for undergraduate members of the sorority, as well as non-members), fellowships, and grants for community service. In awarding the grants, the sorority does not discriminate against candidates based on gender, sexual preference, race, disability, or religion.

History and donations
The foundation was the brainchild of Constance Holland, the sister of former Alpha Kappa Alpha International President Dr. Barbara Phillips, in 1978. The foundation had official beginnings in 1980 and the sorority donated US$10,000 for the project. Eight years later, the organization first awarded $10,000 to fourteen students. In 1991, EAF first awarded mini-grants to community organizations. In 1998, EAF provided the first Youth Partners Accessing Capital (P.A.C.) award to an undergraduate member. After twenty years of the organization's founding in 2000, EAF published Perpetuating Our Posterity: A Blueprint for Excellence. The book served as a comprehensive history of the organization and as a source of advisement for other beginning philanthropic groups to follow. Taking advantage of the digital age, EAF first went online with a website in 2003. The organization celebrated a silver anniversary in Nassau, Bahamas in 2005. Currently, EAF is incorporated into International President Barbara A. MacKenzie's centennial program for funding under Excellent Scholarly Performance. Overall, EAF has donated more than $200,000 in grants and awarded 1,400 students scholarships. Along with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, some main donors to the organization include Continental Airlines and Northern Trust. Several other organizations have contributed to the foundation via matching donations.



Projects

 * The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Traveling Exhibit chronicles the advancements of Alpha Kappa Alpha members throughout the organization's ninety-nine years of existence. The exhibit appears in several cities across the nation from 2006 to 2008.


 * Advocates for Black Colleges - The purpose of the Advocates for Black Colleges is to financially support $100,000 for selected historically black college and university, in order to support the institution's scholarships and program grants. Corporations as well as minority graduates of historically black colleges are encouraged to donate funds as well.  The first college receiving aid is Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.


 * Howard University Fund - Alpha Kappa Alpha is celebrating the centennial of the sorority's founding by donating two million dollars to Howard University though two facets. First, the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center houses the historical artifacts, photographs, documents, and recordings of Alpha Kappa Alpha's contributions to community service. One million dollars will be used to improve Alpha Kappa Alpha's archives from the donations provided by members of the sorority as well as external donors. In addition, one million dollars will be donated to the Nellie M. Quander Scholarship Fund.  The fund will be used to finance partial or full scholarships for Howard University women in their junior and senior years.


 * Chapter Scholarships - Undergraduate and graduate members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority's chapters send separate dues to the Educational Advancement Foundation in order to fund local scholarships. Depending on the size of the contributions by the chapter, the scholarships generally range from $100 to $500. In order for a chapter to donate under the EAF's Endowment Fund, a chapter needs to raise $20,000. Afterwards, the chapter can award scholarships to individuals in the local arena under EAF's namesake.

Ivy Acres
Ivy Acres will be a retirement center located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and is sponsored by Senior Residences, Incorporated, a subsidiary of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Ivy Acres will be one of the first retirement centers founded by African-Americans and minorities in the United States and offers assisted or individual living for individuals who are over fifty-five, regardless of background, ethnicity or religion. Barbara K. Phillips, former Vice-President and Project Coordinator for Senior Residences, Incorporated, explains the purpose of Ivy Acres: "We determined that there is a need out there, but this will be open to all. We want to be diverse, we want to be multicultural. Anyone who wants to come will be welcome."

The site will be located on a forty-eight acre gated community. The planning for Ivy Acres cost approximately thirty-two million dollars. In addition, according to Business Wire, Ivy Acres will ultimately comprise of " 188 independent residential units, which will be both apartments and cottages, forty assisted-living apartments and twenty private accommodations for skilled nursing care.". However, residents are expected to pay $1,890 to $2,890 per month for services. In addition to housing, meals will be provided for residents.

Ivy Reading AKAdemy
The Ivy Reading AKAdemy provides programs that encourage the entire community to become involved and serves as an educational and human resource center for programs provided by Alpha Kappa Alpha. Working with No Child Left Behind in mind, "The Ivy Reading AKAdemy," a reading initiative, focuses on early learning and mastery of basic reading skills for by the end of third grade. A $1.5 million dollar proposal is currently pending with the United States Department of Education to fund a three-year nationwide after-school demonstration project in low-performing, economically deprived inner city schools in 16 sites within the continental United States.

Leadership Fellows Program
The Leadership Fellows Program is a fully funded event in which thirty Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority sophomore and junior undergraduate members worldwide are individually trained for professional leadership roles. In addition, the fellows contribute to community service for one week. One of the selection criteria is that members must have at least a 3.0 GPA. The program initially was planned in 1978. In the following year, the first program was held in Indiana with twenty-nine students. Various cities around the United States have held the Leadership Fellows Program. In the past, Alpha Kappa Alpha has sponsored the event through the Educational Advancement Foundation. The event has also been sponsored by corporations such as Pillsbury, Tyson Foods, and Johnson & Johnson.

P.I.M.S. (Partnerships in Mathematics and Science)
"As a college sorority, we've always advanced an educational agenda. We always had high GPA requirements. And more than ever, we're pushing the importance of math and science for our girls. We need more black women in those fields."

- Linda Evans, 24th International President.

Partnerships in Mathematics and Science (P.I.M.S.) began in Linda Evans's administration in 1994, and was a part of the S.P.I.R.I.T. program during the Linda White administration. The program's purpose is to increase the successes of youth in mathematics, science, as well as technology. Campaigns to draw the program's importance were sponsored by the National Science Foundation and historically black colleges from across the country. Several chapters provided two-week math and science summer camps on college and day school campuses which consisted of hands-on-learning through laboratory interactions, field trips to important sites, youth camps, and speeches from influential experts in specific areas of studies. For example, a P.I.M.S. program at Park Street Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia, consisted of third through fifth grade girls and provided educational field trips in order to stimulate involvement in math and science. Also, a national P.I.M.S. Olympiad, deriving from knowledge of math and science, in conjunction with the P.I.M.S. Community Parade was held at the 58th Boulè in Dallas, Texas.

Young Authors Program
In Linda White's administration, the Young Authors Program was born. The purpose of the program is to encourage and raise involvement in reading and writing in kindergarten through third grade school children. Each of the ten regions in the sorority had the opportunity to choose a child's story to be published in a two volume anthology entitled, The Spirit Within: Voices of Young Authors. In 2004, twenty children were honored in the first anthology. The authors were recognized and performed book signings in the 2004 and 2006 Boulés. At the 2004 Boulé in Nashville, Tennessee, former Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige attended, and First Lady Laura Bush spoke on the importance of reading as well as the importance of the program. "Teaching our children to read is the most critical educational priority facing our country. Children who do not learn to read by third grade continue to find reading a challenge throughout their lives. These expectations increase in amount and complexity each year. — First Lady Laura Bush. July 15, 2004."