Recognizing the 113th anniversary of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Recognizing the 113th anniversary of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, was founded on January 13, 1913, by 22 college women at Howard University;

Whereas the founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, include Osceola Macarthy Adams, Marguerite Young Alexander, Winona Cargile Alexander, Ethel Cuff Black, Bertha Pitts Campbell, Zephyr Chisom Carter, Edna Brown Coleman, Jessie McGuire Dent, Frederica Chase Dodd, Myra Davis Hemmings, Olive Jones, Jimmie Bugg Middleton, Pauline Oberdorfer Minor, Vashti Turley Murphy, Naomi Sewell Richardson, Mamie Reddy Rose, Eliza P. Shippen, Florence Letcher Toms, Ethel Carr Watson, Wertie Blackwell Weaver, Madree Penn White, and Edith Motte Young;

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, is a private, non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world;

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, is the largest African-American Greek letter sorority, a sisterhood of more than 350,000 predominately African-American college-educated women, comprised of over 1,050 chapters located throughout the United States, the continent of Africa, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Jamaica, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the Virgin Islands, and the Republic of Korea;

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, has a legacy of exercising its collective strength to promote academic excellence and to provide assistance to persons in need;

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, uses its Five-Point Program Thrust of Economic Development, Educational Development, International Awareness and Involvement, Physical and Mental Health, and Political Awareness and Involvement to uplift, encourage, and develop the global community;

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to service by implementing and sustaining programs such as those through the Financial Fortitude initiative, which seek to close the widening gap via personal financial planning initiatives, and through educational programs, such as the established Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy, which provides opportunities for local chapters to enrich and enhance the education that young women receive in public schools across the Nation to prepare them for full participation as leaders in the 21st Century;

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, has demonstrated a steadfast global commitment to service by establishing and maintaining the Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital in Thika, Kenya, and as evidenced by its designation as a non-governmental organization to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and its promotion to special consultative status, as a result of its volunteer services and humanitarian efforts performed to address issues throughout the world;

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, has remained an active and committed participant in the democratic process by instituting its annual Delta Days at the United Nations and Delta Days in the Nation’s Capital;

Whereas the current members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, stand on the shoulders of giants, such as Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, Secretary Marcia Fudge, Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Dr. Dorothy I. Height, and the Honorable Patricia Roberts Harris to name a few, who have left an incredible imprint on the Nation’s history; and

Whereas Delta Sigma Theta, Incorporated, continues to make a difference in American and international communities, always following in the footsteps of its Founders and upholding its commitment to be great stewards of sisterhood, scholarship, and service: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) recognizes the 113th anniversary of the founding of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; and

(2) applauds and honors Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and all its members for more than a century of fortitude and distinguished service to the people of the United States and the global community.