NATIONAL FOUNDERS’ DAY 113th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION Realizing the Aspirations of Our Founders January 15, 2021 Soror Glenda Glover Supreme Basileus National Founders’ Day 113th Anniversary Commemoration Realizing the Aspirations of Our Founders ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, INCORPORATED® Congratulates Vice President-Elect Kamala D. Harris On Her Historic Election! 4 Dr. Glenda Glover SUPREME BASILEUS January 15, 2021 Dear Sorors: I am simply delighted to convene this national commemoration as we celebrate our 113th Founders’ Day. Today, we celebrate the courageous vision of Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, the unflinching determination of Nellie Quander and the shared purpose of other like-minded women who blazed a trail where none existed. Today, we also celebrate the dawning of a new day in the history of this nation as one of our very own, Soror Kamala D. Harris, will ascend to the pinnacle of our democracy. Today, we marvel at the arc of history of our beloved sisterhood culminating in the realization of our Founders’ greatest aspirations. It is daylight for us in America. Alpha Kappa Alpha has helped to usher in this new day, this new light, this new season. With the commitment of our Founders as our compass, our sisterhood fought for freedom and equality for Black women as we struggled to expand our democracy to include the entire framework of the first three words of our Constitution, “We the People.” Alpha Kappa Alpha’s robust history is replete with instances where we stood up for justice and equality. The role of extraordinary Alpha Kappa Alpha women who have made indispensable contributions is too numerous to call. Indeed, when Incorporator Nellie Quander demanded a respectable place in the Women’s Suffrage March of 1913, she set Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority on a course that would change history. She empowered Black women to believe we are worthy, we are qualified, and we have something to contribute to our democracy and to the world. As we celebrate today on the eve of history, I am reminded of the inaugural poem by Soror Maya Angelou in which she summoned each of us to make a difference in the world, and she awakened us to the reality that each new day brings with it the chance for a new beginning. Sorors, we are on the pulse of morning, but we still have more work to do. It will be hard work, unending work, and often uncertain work, but we must continue to do the work. We must serve because that is who our Founders purposed us to be. I thank God for Alpha Kappa Alpha. I thank God for the opportunity to have been entrusted with this awesome mantel of leadership. I am proud to be a member of this great sisterhood. Sorors, because of you, my cup runneth over. I love you and I thank you for the ways in which you honor the legacy of our Founders. May God bless each of you, and may He continue to bless our great sisterhood. Happy Founders’ Day, Soror Glenda Glover 5 Danette Anthony Reed FIRST SUPREME ANTI-BASILEUS January 15, 2021 To Soror Glenda Glover, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc ® Supreme Basileus and my Sorors of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, I am excited to bring you greetings on this occasion of our 113th Founders’ Day. On January 15, 1908, nine progressive and courageous women on the campus of Howard University, Washington, D.C. imagined and dared to create the first African American Sorority. For more than 113 years, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sisterhood has become an indomitable force for good in our communities, state, nation, and the world. As we celebrate Founders’ Day, I want to extend salutations to our Diamond, Pearl, Golden and Silver honorees who are celebrating 75, 65, 50, and 25 years of membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc®. You have demonstrated continuous dedication to our sisterhood and to our service mission, Exemplifying Excellence Through Sustainable Service SM. Congratulations to our Soror Kamala Harris, the first woman of color and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc ® to become the next Vice President of the United States of America. I celebrate the fruition of her conviction and hard work that is making her vision a reality. Happy 113th Founders’ Day ! ! ! Danette Anthony Reed Soror Danette Anthony Reed 6 Jasmyne E. McCoy SECOND SUPREME ANTI-BASILEUS January 15, 2021 Greetings! Happy 113th Founders’ Day, Sorors! We honor the bold step our Founders made on January 15, 1908. We thank them for their vision, creativity, and perseverance to do something that had never been done before. It is because of our guiding light, Soror Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, college-educated African American women all over the world have united to be of “service to all mankind.” What started as 20 pearls have grown into a sea of more than 300,000. In this virtual celebration, we honor our Founders for doing what was previously unthinkable. As the first and finest African- American Greek-letter sorority, we set the standard! In Miner Hall at Howard University, great minds with even greater hearts came together to defy the status quo. These women were a generation removed from slavery and living in the segregation era. But even that was not enough to trample their spirits. They would become deans, teachers, and members of the NAACP. We also unite in a special celebration of Soror Kamala D. Harris’ ascension to Vice President-Elect of the United States. She represents the hope our Founders had for a future where women who look like us are accepted, chosen, and elevated to positions of power. As I said in a promotional video for the Biden-Harris campaign, “Seeing an African-American woman as the Vice- Presidential pick for the Democratic party is a major leap of progress. It’s women’s empowerment, it’s representation, and it’s breaking down barriers to preconceived notions of what a leader looks like.” Today, we celebrate the leadership of our Founders, Soror Kamala D. Harris, and every woman, past and present, who has had the honor to call herself a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated! Jasmyne E. McCoy Soror Jasmyne E. McCoy 7 National Founders’ Day 113th Anniversary Commemoration Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® NATIONAL FOUNDERS’ DAY 113th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION Realizing the Aspirations of Our Founders January 15, 2021 Welcome ........................................................................Soror Charisse Richardson Invocation........................................Soror Pamela Bates Porch, International Chaplain "Lift Ev’ry Voice & Sing" ........................................................................Afro Blue Introduction of the Directorate & Former Supreme Basilei........Soror Benita Stephens Presentation of Supreme Basileus Greetings and Occasion Soror Glenda Glover Supreme Basileus Soror Mattelia Bennett Grays 18th Supreme Basileus Regional Greetings ............. Soror Mary Bentley LaMar, North Atlantic Regional Director Soror Jennifer King Congleton, Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Soror Carolyn G. Randolph, South Atlantic Regional Director Soror Carrie J. Clark, Great Lakes Regional Director Soror Mitzi Dease Paige, South Eastern Regional Director Greetings .............................................................................Soror Daphne Rankin Soror Lorri Saddler Regional Greetings ........................Soror Joya T. Hayes, South Central Regional Director Soror Sonya L. Bowen, Central Regional Director Soror Twyla G. Woods-Buford, Mid-Western Regional Director Soror Shelby D. Boagni, Far Western Regional Director Soror Joy Elaine Daley, International Regional Director 8 Realizing the Aspirations of Our Founders National Founders’ Day 113th Anniversary Commemoration Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® NATIONAL FOUNDERS’ DAY 113th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION Realizing the Aspirations of Our Founders January 15, 2021 Musical Selection ......................... "Rise Up" by Andra Day, arr., Alpha Chapter Sorors Poetic Tribute . Soror Gayle Danley Introduction of Vice President-Elect....Soror Madison Thibeaux, Basileus, Alpha Chapter Vice President-Elect of the United States The Honorable Kamala D. Harris Conversation with Linesisters Soror Kamala D. Harris & 38 Jewels of Iridescent Splendor (J.O.I.S.) Congressional Greetings ..............................................Congresswoman Alma Adams Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson Congresswoman Terri Sewell Congresswoman Fredericka S. Wilson Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman Congresswoman Lauren Underwood Congresswoman Nikema Williams Special Tributes .......................Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, President, Howard University Soror Grace Davis, Diamond Soror Soror Josephine Baker, Pearl Soror Soror Phylicia Rashad, Golden Soror West Point Sorors Soror Jill Louis, Howard University Trustee and 38 J.O.I.S. Prayer .......................................................................................Soror Karen Hayes National Hymn.................................................................67th Boule Virtual Choir Closing Realizing the Aspirations of Our Founders 9 National Founders’ Day 113th Anniversary Commemoration Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® FORMER SUPREME BASILEI + ETHEL HEDGEMAN LYLE * HONORARY SUPREME BASILEUS Nellie Quander* Loraine R. Green* L. Pearl Mitchell* Pauline S. Puryear* B. Beatrix Scott* 1913-1919 1919-1923 1923-1925 1925-1927 1927-1929 Maudelle Bousfield* Maude B. Porter* Ida L. Jackson* Margaret D. Bowen* Dorothy B. Ferebee* 1929-1931 1931-1933 1933-1936 1936-1939 1939-1941 Beulah T. Whitby* Edna O. Campbell* Laura T. Lovelace* Arnetta