This past Weekend Gazette featured the stories of the histories of sororities at Dartmouth and questioned the existence of equal rights for these organizations today. The editorial mentioned the fact that today, there are nine sororities that are recognized by the College ae including Sigma Delta, Epsilon Kappa Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Delta Delta, Zeta Beta Chi, Kappa Delta Epsilon, Alpha Xi Delta. However, there was not any mentioning of two sororities -- Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Xi Lambda Chapter and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Pi Theta Chapter .
Alpha Kappa Alpha is a sisterhood of women who come together to promote high scholastic standards and service to the community. The sorority is the oldest Greek-letter organization established in America by African-American college women. It was founded in 1908 by sixteen women at Howard University. The sorority has since grown to a membership of over 140,000 with over 860 chapters, alumnae and graduates, in the US, Europe, East Africa, Korea, and the Caribbean. The Xi Lambda chapter was chartered at Dartmouth in 1983.
The history of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority spans over 80 years since its founding in 1913. DST has grown from an initial chapter of 22 at Howard University to become one of the largest Black women's organizations in the world with chapters in the United States, Liberia, West Germany, Japan, the Bahamas and Korea. With over 200,000 members worldwide, DST has been involved in social services as well as educational and cultural life from its inception and, in fact, terms itself a public service organization. The Pi Theta chapter was chartered at Dartmouth in 1985.
In comparison to the sororities listed above, the membership for these organizations is dramatically lower, however, both sororities have had a history at Dartmouth that has spanned over the past two decades. At present, the Xi Lambda members on campus this current term total nine, and there is only one member of the Pi Theta chapter (There are actually 11 members of Xi Lambda and 4 members of the Pi Theta chapter in total.) Despite our numbers, we attempt to service the Dartmouth community with quality programming and events.
The College requires that these two sororities are obligated to meet the same community service requirements as other Greek organizations. These two sororities have always exceeded this minimum. As it stands now, both sororities have to follow the same guidelines under the CFSC -- Co-ed Fraternity and Sorority Council. In addition to this, both sororities are nationally governed with separate guidelines and initiatives, which usually do not coincide with the guidelines of the College.
Due to the low membership, neither sororities have houses. The Xi Lambda chapter operates from a colleg- recognized apartment in the Maxwell-Channing Cox Cluster and the Pi Theta Chapter also has a college recognized apartment in the River Cluster, as well as an office in the Collis Center.
Members of the chapters of AKA and DST at Dartmouth are sometimes faced with questions regarding our sororities, not only by other Greek fraternity and sorority members, but by those who are non-affiliated as well. These questions range from issues regarding our basic histories to our rush processes. We are always willing to answer any of these questions concerning our organizations. However, it has been brought to our attention that many people have certain "qualms" that prevent them from inquiring about our organizations and this is quite unfortunate.
In closing, it is apparent to us that many people at Dartmouth are completely unaware of the existence of historically Black Greek organizations and the richness of their histories. Black sororities, in particular, seem to have even less visibility in the community than the fraternities. As we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Co-education at Dartmouth, it is extremely disrespectful to ignore the works and accomplishments of our sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta, and the vast impact that they have had on the Dartmouth community at large.
