REGIONAL CONFERENCES

The regions that comprise our sorority have successfully executed conferences for the 2021 regional conference season with excellence, creativity and a laser focus on the business of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Sorors have supported these virtual regional conferences in record numbers and with unparalleled engagement. From workshop attendance to participation in plenary sessions, special events and shopping with our vendors, sorors have adapted and virtually exemplified Alpha Kappa Alpha excellence. With only one regional conference remaining, it is safe to say that the 2021 regional conferences have been a success by any measure. Our Supreme Basileus applauds the Regional Directors, regional conference planning teams, and Corporate Office Staff and Executive Team for their commitment and determination to ensure that the business of Alpha Kappa Alpha is carried out even in the midst of a global pandemic. Well done, Sorors!

CHAPTER OPERATIONS

The Directorate is continuing to meet frequently to consider ways to safely resume in-person activities. Progress has been made to gradually bring sorority operations back on line and additional developments are in progress. However, the virtual mandate prohibiting in-person chapter and related meetings and foundation and related meetings remains in effect. This means that chapter and related meetings along with foundation and related meetings must continue to be conducted virtually until further notice.

MEMBERSHIP INTAKE PROCESS*

As you know, the Directorate authorized a modified Membership Intake Process on a limited basis for undergraduate chapters only that either were in process in the Spring of 2020 or had been approved to proceed with MIP in the Spring of 2020 when the virtual mandate was imposed. Based on the success of this pilot effort, the Directorate has now authorized expansion of this modified process to graduate chapters. The modified Membership Intake Process has been developed in consultation with the Pandemic Task Force, International Risk Management Task Force and International Technology Committee to ensure the health and safety of all participants. Undergraduate Chapters must conduct MIP subject to university authorization. Graduate Chapters are strongly encouraged to conduct MIP.

PROGRAMS

The Directorate continues to meet regularly to assess the effect of the pandemic on all aspects of sorority operations, including our programs of service. The Supreme Basileus, Regional Directors and other Directorate members have heard from sorors across Alpha Kappa Alpha who have petitioned to resume in-person service programs. Given the continuation of the pandemic with no end in sight for the foreseeable future, there is a need to determine how we can safely resume in-person service programs. To that end, the Directorate recently approved the recommendation of the Pandemic Task Force to begin phasing in in-person program initiatives at the discretion of the Regional Director subject to CDC guidance and adherence to strict safety protocols. The Directorate has approved safety protocols and the International Program Committee has developed a list of approved program service initiatives to guide chapters as they work to safely resume in-person programming. It is important to bear in mind that this phased-in rollout applies only to service initiatives and projects. All other activities, including, among other things, chapter meetings, committee meetings, foundation meetings and fundraisers will continue to be virtual until further notice. The Directorate thanks sorors for their commitment to proceed cautiously and to observe all of the health and safety guidelines as we gradually resume in-person activities.

RISK MANAGEMENT/FACE MASKS AND COVERINGS

Alpha Kappa Alpha continues to implore sorors to adhere to CDC guidelines regarding the use of masks and face coverings. We thank sorors for their cooperation and adherence over the past several months since the pandemic was declared. In light of the ongoing nature of the pandemic, the Directorate recently voted to relax the prohibition against certain AKA trademarks on masks and face coverings. Authorized vendors were recently informed that they may now manufacture and sell masks and face coverings bearing certain AKA trademarks subject to approval by the Corporate Office. Authorized vendors may not manufacture or sell masks bearing the sorority shield or any parts thereof. We urge sorors to assist in the enforcement of this prohibition by only supporting authorized vendors and by reporting any vendor who violates the licensing agreement and prohibition on use of the sorority shield by submitting the Vendor Infraction Form to the Corporate Office. Thank you in advance for your support and vigilance as we work together to protect and preserve our brand.

RITUALS

The International Rituals Committee has released a Virtual Memorial Tribute Guide to assist chapters in honoring and celebrating Ivies Beyond the Wall until chapters are authorized to gather in person for the official Ivy Beyond the Wall Ceremony. Access the Guide by clicking here. Please also be advised that the Directorate has authorized a solo or instrumental version of the hymn to be broadcast in a virtual setting. Please continue to refrain from reciting the pledge while we are still in a virtual mode. Thank you for your understanding and sisterly cooperation.

Thank you for continuing to join your region’s prayer calls. Let us continue to pray for our sorors and all of the families impacted by COVID-19, healthcare workers, first responders and other essential workers, our sisterhood, this nation and our world. Please also pray for leadership and wisdom for national, state, and local leaders as they continue to make important decisions regarding our communities, businesses and schools. Let us also continue to pray for justice and equal protection under the law for African Americans in this country.

Alpha Kappa Alpha is proud of our members who are still on the front lines fighting this deadly virus. Soror Shana Stoddard is among the community of scientists all over the globe working hard and fast to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. Frontline Shero, Soror Shana Stoddard, was initiated at Zeta Gamma Chapter on the campus of Prairie View A&M University in Houston, TX. She is currently a member of Beta Epsilon Omega Chapter in Memphis, TN. Soror Shana is an assistant professor of chemistry at Rhodes College in Memphis. Her research is focused on improving patient outcomes with autoimmune disorders, in particular idiopathic membranous nephritis (IMN), through development of auto-antibody-specific inhibitors, antigen-specific therapies, as well as novel methods for development of antigen specific therapies. In her lab, she uses a combination of computational chemistry, biochemistry and cell-based assays. Soror Shana is illustrating for her students how they can use what they learned in chemistry and apply it to solving a real-world issue in real time, even while in a virtual environment. The group of students, during the remote phase of instruction in Professor Stoddard's Foundations of Chemistry Lab class, developed rules to help researchers design the best antiviral drug to target COVID-19. The students then used these rules to design several antivirals that could shorten the length of time someone is sick with COVID-19.

Read more about this Frontline Shero here.

COVID-19 FACTS TO KNOW

The US has averaged more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths per day in 2021.

COVID-19 & THE LEGACY OF RACISM: VACCINE HESITANCY, ACCESS & UPTAKE

43% of BLACK ADULTS say they want to wait and see about the vaccine. Read more here.

The integrity of sorority impact data is directly tied to the information collected. Who should I notify?

• Notify your Chapter Basileus if you test positive for COVID-19.
• General Members should notify your Regional Director if you test positive for COVID-19.
• Undergraduate Members should notify your Graduate Advisor if you test positive for COVID-19, and the Graduate Advisor will notify the Basileus of the supervising Graduate Chapter.
• Chapter Basilei should notify the Regional Director.
• Inform your Chapter Basileus if you have been in close contact with other chapter members or sorors and where the contact occurred.
• Chapter Basileus will notify only sorors who are at risk for possible exposure without divulging the infected soror's name.
• Chapter Basileus will remind at-risk sorors to regularly monitor their symptoms and immediately notify their doctor if they become symptomatic.
• Chapter Basileus will remind at-risk sorors to quarantine themselves and STAY AT HOME for 14 days to stop the spread of the virus in the event they become symptomatic and test positive.

HOW HAS COVID-19 AFFECTED ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA?

Visit https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ for up-to-date worldwide COVID-19 statistics.

TWENTY PEARLS: THE STORY OF ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, INCORPORATED^® PREMIERES!

Narrated by Phylicia Rashād, Twenty Pearls journeys through 113 provocative years and tells the story of a powerful sisterhood founded in 1908 by nine college women enrolled at Howard University, only 40 years after the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. The vision of those nine women would become Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and grow to include more than 300,000 members. Their collective determination, service and advocacy directly influenced some of the most significant watershed moments in American history. Through narration, interviews and archival footage, viewers will learn about the sorority’s impact on the Harlem Renaissance, World War II, NASA, Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) culminating in the election of Alpha Kappa Alpha member and the first woman, African-American and Asian-American Vice President, Kamala Harris. Twenty Pearls features interviews with Alpha Kappa Alpha International President and CEO Dr. Glenda Glover, Vice President Kamala Harris, Miss Universe Ireland Fionnghuala O'Reilly, Smithsonian Institute Secretary Lonnie Bunch, and many more.

You can watch our documentary by clicking here. Proceeds will benefit EAF.

Soror Glenda Glover
Supreme Basileus

Soror Joy Elaine Daley, International Regional Director (Chairman)
Soror Kimberly Esmond Adams, Special Assistant & Risk Management Task Force Chairman (Co-Chairman)
Soror Danette Anthony Reed, First Supreme Anti-Basileus
Soror Jasmyne E. McCoy, Second Supreme Anti-Basileus
Soror Cynthia D. Howell, Executive Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Soror Martha Perine Beard, Chief of Staff to the Supreme Basileus
Soror Ora B. Douglass, Program Committee Chairman
Soror Cynthia J. Finch, MIP Committee Chairman & Healthcare Professional
Soror Jasmine Adkins Moore, Disaster Relief Committee Chairman
Soror Kasey D. Coleman, Leadership Development Committee
Soror Carol R. Dixon, Corporate Strategic Partners Committee
Soror Kaylen D. Long, Membership Committee
Soror Hollye J.V. Weekes, Program Committee
Soror Robyn R. Jones, Physician & Medical Director for Women's Health