page_title: Alpha Kappa Alpha
section_title: Membership
hierarchical_section_title: Alpha Kappa Alpha / Membership
caption_attribution_description: English: Author contacted me via e-mail in order to use image via Alpha Kappa Alpha. This is the organization's headquarters. http://groups.msn.com/NPHCArchivePhotoSociety/headquarters.msnw
context_page_description: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated is the first historically African American Greek-letter sorority. The organization was founded on five basic tenets:
  To cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of 'Service to All Mankind'.
  The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen students led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle. Forming a sorority broke barriers for African-American women in areas where they had little power or authority due to a lack of opportunities for minorities and women in the early 20th century. Alpha Kappa Alpha was incorporated on January 29, 1913.
  The sorority is one of the nation's largest Greek-letter organizations consisting of college-educated women of many diverse backgrounds from around the world, it serves through a membership of more than 300,000 women in 1,024 chapters in the United States and several other countries.
context_section_description: Alpha Kappa Alpha has a membership of over 300,000 women internationally, with 90,000 active members of diverse backgrounds and professions. Graduate members constitute the largest percentage of membership. Alpha Kappa Alpha has over 1000 chapters, located in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, and South Africa.
  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 preposed to the title of an international officeholder, such as Supreme Basileus. Deceased members are referred to as "Ivies Beyond the Wall".
  Honorary membership is Alpha Kappa Alpha's highest honor. Jane Addams, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is among the first honorary members. Eleanor Roosevelt, a former First Lady and wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was made an honorary member. United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Senator and First Lady, and wife of President Bill Clinton, accepted honorary membership into Alpha Kappa Alpha. However, Clinton later declined initiation into the organization due to the sorority's exclusive requirement preventing acceptance into other Pan-Hellenic organizations, and desired her membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha to be "non-exclusive."
caption: Alpha Kappa Alpha's National Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois
exif: {}