The East Point/College Park Alumnae Chapter History

The East Point/College Park Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was conceived in the minds of six young sorors who recognized a need to bring young women who were already Deltas back within the folds of the sisterhood. These young women formed the Central Coordinating Committee and canvassed the East Point/College Park area seeking sorors who had not been active in the sorority since their undergraduate years. The committee included Sorors Kathy Lovett, Rosalyn Range, Duane Lee, Cynthia Banks, Virginia Brown, and Senita Williams. Through telephone conversations, letters, personal contacts, etc., they found an outpouring of interest from sorors anxious to become active Deltas and to commit to the establishment of a new chapter.  The committee assumed the task of organizing these sorors by forming an interest group that met on a regular basis.  Attendance at meetings increased throughout the year.  The idea of a new chapter in the East-Point-College Park area generated a great deal of enthusiasm and motivation among sorors.  They were committed to meeting the challenge of establishing a new chapter. 

After contacting the regional and national offices of Delta, the Central Coordinating Committee received information and instructions necessary for the chartering. They also sought and received guidance and assistance from a former undergraduate chapter advisor.  While the necessary paperwork was being completed, the stage was being set for the chartering ceremony.

Sorors continued to meet, discuss, plan, and share ideas on proposed public service projects to be undertaken by the newly chartered chapter. In an effort to have the group ready for chartering, a slate of officers was selected and presented to the group. The following sorors became the first officers of the East Point/College Park Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

• President – Kathy Lovett

• First Vice President – Pauline Washington

• Second Vice President – Dyanne Cunningham

• Recording Secretary – Deborah Evans

• Corresponding Secretary – Patricia Key

• Treasurer – Elwanda Thomas

• Financial Secretary – Dezma Cobb

• Parliamentarian – Beverly Harvard

• Chaplain – Meletta Wilcoxin

• Sergeant-at-Arms – Monica Bartee

• Keeper of Records – Dorothy Palmer

The chartering date was set for December 1, 1979.  At that time, Sorors Kathleen Wright, Southern Regional Director, and Alexis Roberts, Regional Representative, were present to conduct the services. (Note—Soror Kathleen Wright was one of the fatalities of the crash of Delta Airline’s flight 191 in Dallas, Texas on August 2, 1985. She was in route to the national convention being held in that city). A full day of activities was planned. Sorors gathered early at the Sheraton Inn in East Point to prepare refreshments, arrange displays, and to set the stage for receiving guests.  Preparations were also being made for the first activity of the day, an Internal Leadership Workshop conducted by Sorors Wright and Roberts. Sorors from the Atlanta, Decatur, and undergraduate chapters in the metropolitan area joined in this full day of workshop activities.

At eight o’clock that evening, the actual chartering ceremony took place. Soror Kathleen Wright, assisted by Soror Verdelle Bellamy, president of the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter, officiated. Thirty-one sorors were present to sign the charter.  The thirty-one charter members are:

• Cynthia Banks

• Monica Bartee

• Vernita Ellis Byrd

• Dezma Cobb

• Dyanne Cunningham

• Judith Diamond

• Valerie Edmonds

• Deborah Evans

• Jeannette Few

• Andrea Jones Fuller

• Rita Harrison

• Beverly Harvard

• Ann Davis Jones

• Angeline Jones

• Cynthia Joyner

• Patricia Key

• Kathy Lovett

• Jeannette Mosley

• Deborah Moss

• Dorothy Palmer

• Rosalind Range

• Angela Shipman

• Ivy Solomon

• Dianna Stevens

• Elwanda Thomas

• Eugenia Vidal

• Karen Walker

• Pauline Washington

Following the ceremony marking the official birth of the East Point/College Park Alumnae Chapter, sorors hosted a reception for friends and well wishers.  It was also the occasion to officially introduce the officers and charter members to the community they would serve.                    

As recorded by Ann Davis Jones, Ph.D., Charter Member

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