[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15469]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




HONORING AND RECOGNIZING THE DEDICATION AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF ALPHA KAPPA 
    ALPHA DURING ITS NATIONAL BOULE CONFERENCE CELEBRATING 100 YEARS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 17, 2008

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I rise to express my 
enthusiastic congratulations and support of the Alpha Kappa Alpha 
sorority during its national Boule conference celebrating 100 years of 
the organization in Washington, DC. The sorority, founded at Howard 
University on January 15, 1908, is the first Greek-lettered sorority 
established and incorporated by a group of nine African-American 
college women. The AKA sorority broke barriers for African-American 
women in areas where little power or authority existed due to a lack of 
opportunities for minorities and women in the early twentieth century.
  Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the sorority consists of college-
educated women of African, Caucasian, Asian, and Hispanic descent. The 
sorority serves through a membership of more than 200,000 women in over 
900 chapters in the United States and several other countries.
  Since its inception, Alpha Kappa Alpha has helped to improve social 
and economic conditions through community service programs. Members 
have improved education through independent initiatives, contributed to 
community-building by creating programs and influenced Federal 
legislation by legislation advocacy through the National Non-Partisan 
Lobby on Civil and Democratic Rights.
  My wife Vera, is a proud member of Tau Gamma Omega graduate chapter 
of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Two of my sisters, Ceola and 
Floretta, are also AKA's. Tau Gamma Omega often meet in our home and I 
have always been very proud of the leadership and mentoring 
relationship my wife has established and continues to display with 
younger women who join. Tau Gamma Omega is a strong voice and positive 
presence in the community where they serve.
  As a member of the fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha and the United States 
House of Representatives, I commend the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority on 
all their continuing endeavors to help the community, and I welcome the 
26,000 attending members of the 2008 Centennial Boule to their founding 
place of Washington, DC.

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