Lambda
Zeta
Chapter
History
The Lambda Zeta
Chapter has a proud history
that has continued to shape the paths of its past
and current members. On
October 11, 1976 Marsha Lindsey and eighteen other women came
together
to form
a group called TIAKA, which stood for Those Interested In Alpha Kappa
Alpha.
Jacqueline Wright, who was at that time a perspective, suggested that
the group
talk
with her sister Cheryl Wright from
the Xi Omega Chapter about
becoming members, and the
steps needed to do so. TIAKA
performed
many
service projects
and on February 22, 1977,
nineteen young women were inducted
into the
Ivy Leaf Pledge
Club.
On February
25,
1977, the charter members were
initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,
Inc., and Lambda Zeta Chapter was
chartered at American University on February 26, 1977.
At one
time the Lambda
Zeta chapter included young women from Mount Vernon College,
which is
now George Washington University at Mount Vernon, and Georgetown
University,
until
the city chapter, Omicron Pi was chartered.
Sheri
Deboe was the first president of the
Lambda Zeta chapter and Janell Byrd served as the
vice president. Cheryl Wright
was the chapter’s first graduate advisor, and Mildred Stuart was
the
Regional
Director at that time. The first Lambda Zeta line was called
"Salongo," Zairian
for "We come together to create something
beautiful out of love." Since
then
there have been
28 groups of young
women, which have come through Lambda Zeta.
The chapter boasts such prominent
members as Starlet Jones Reynolds, formally of
ABC's
The View, who was
initiated in 1980. Many of
our
members have run for and won seats on
International Committees within
the sorority. In December of 2000 a former president of Lambda
Zeta
chapter, Evelyn Sample-Oates, was elected president of Rho Theta
Omega in Philadelphia.
At the 2006 National Conference, Evelyn was
elected as the North
Atlantic Regional Director.
Lambda Zeta to
date remains an influential part
of American University’s campus life and the local
community.
This summer Alpha Kappa Alpha will celebrate 100 years
of service to all mankind.
Therefore,
the Elegant ladies in Lambda Zeta are
excited about welcoming sorors to Washington D.C.
and are
in
the
process of preparing for the celebration and the continuation of
providing service.
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