ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA MOURNS THE LOSS OF
EDUCATOR AND MEMBER MARVA COLLINS

Chicago, Illinois – June 26, 2015 – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® mourns the loss of trailblazing member and American educator, Marva Collins. A renowned educator, Collins started the Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park, an impoverished neighbourhood of Chicago. Under her direction, Westside Preparatory School grew and became nationally known for taking students from impoverished neighbourhoods that were considered unteachable or having learning disabilities into solid and thriving students. Collins hosted and taught thousands of educators from around the country on her back-to-basics teaching approach. She was featured on 60 Minutes and was the subject of a made-for-TV movie depicting her life.

Speaking on behalf of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s 283,000 members worldwide, the sorority’s International President Dorothy Buckhanan Wilson lauded Collins as a “treasured and steadfast supporter of education, especially of African American young boys and girls who are all too often marginalized in our education system. She was a gifted educator, writer and advocate for the plight of students everywhere.”

Collins, who was inducted into the sorority in 1954 in the Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University chapter (Alpha Pi), was a 78-year-old resident of Beaufort, South Carolina at the time of her death. Memorial services are pending.

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