Nationwide — Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA) at Howard University are filled with pride as Vice President Kamala Harris, a fellow Black woman and a member of their sorority, runs for President of the United States. The organization has confirmed that Harris joined the AKA sorority during her time at Howard University in the late 1980s. She also recently addressed the sorority at their annual convention in Dallas, Texas, where her candidacy has inspired many.
Imani Smith, a rising senior and president of the Alpha chapter of AKA at Howard University, expressed the significance of Harris’s representation. “We’re very excited to see this. Representation is so important. And when we see her, we see ourselves. We see our sisters, our grandmothers, and so really, it’s just truly an inspiration,” Smith said.
Jadyn Cobb, a rising senior and vice president of the Alpha chapter, highlighted the pride in Harris’s achievements. “Kamala is a Black woman—a powerful, smart, intelligent Black woman. As a Howard student, it’s very, very exciting for the possibility of a Howard alumna to be in the White House. That just goes to show, Bison Pride, how far we can go,” Cobb stated.
Founded at Howard University in 1908, AKA is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American women in higher education. The sorority has a strong presence on all HBCU campuses and boasts more than 360,000 members in 1,074 chapters worldwide.
Deidra Davis, graduate advisor to the Alpha chapter and a member of the XI Omega chapter of D.C.’s AKA chapter, emphasized the sorority’s mission of service and excellence. “Our mission is service to all mankind. So that is something that, as members, we have been trained and steeped in from the date of initiation. … I believe that what has contributed and helped lay the success for Vice President Kamala Harris is the level of excellence that is produced out of our sorority,” Davis said.
As a nonprofit, the sorority remains nonpartisan but is committed to major voter registration drives before the upcoming election, including efforts to register incoming freshmen during move-in day at the start of the fall term.
AKA was founded on January 15, 1908 at Howard University in Washington, DC, a historically Black university. It is the first intercollegiate Greek-lettered sorority established by African American college-educated women.
