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Twenty-Two
undergraduate women established Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority, Inc, a private, non-profit organization on
January 13, 1913 at Howard University in Washington,
D.C. These young women wanted to use their collective
strength to promote academic excellence and to provide
assistance to persons in need. Delta's purpose is to
provide services and programs to advance the well being
of humankind.
Today, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is the largest
African-American women's service sorority and is
comprised of professional women who are college
graduates. It has collegiate members who are currently
matriculating at colleges and universities. A sisterhood
of more than 200,000 predominately African-American
college educated women, the Sorority currently has over
900 chapters located in the United States, England,
Panama Canal, Japan, Germany, the Virgin Islands,
Bermuda, Haiti, Liberia, the Bahamas and the Republic of
Koreas.
The major programs of the Sorority are based upon the
organization's Five-Point Thrust:
Five Point Program Thrusts
Educational Development
- Each year, local Delta Chapters conduct projects
designed to address the community's concerns about
excellence in education. On a national level, Delta's
pursuit of educational excellence takes the form of
scholarships and grants to individual members and local
chapters. Scholarships to members underwrite individual
studies in law, communications and science on both the
undergraduate and graduate levels. Grants to local
chapters subsidize locally-sponsored programs in career
education, financial and many other educational areas.
Economic Development
- Financial planning, money management, consumer
education, investments and employment opportunities are
but a few of Delta's "money concerns" under economic
development. Delta's most outstanding effort in support
of the communities it serves is the Adopt-A-Black
Business program. The aim of this program is to assist
Black entrepreneurs to reach a product "self-sufficiency
level" in business.
Physical & Mental Health
- Concerns about America's physical and mental
health have not escaped Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Delta's work in prevention and "wellness" translates to
health education programs , health fairs and the
provision of health care services. Delta also supports
medical research that examines illnesses that victimize
specific segments of the country's population.
Political Awareness &
Involvement
- Though non-partisan in nature and purpose, Delta
understands the importance of and the need for an
informed electorate. Delta's concern for the public's
"need-to-know" and the enfranchisement of all Americans
has been the philosophical basis for public service
programs in this area. Voter registration and voter
education programs, workshops and seminars highlighting
elected public official assessment and accountability
are ongoing.
International Awareness &
Involvement
- Delta has a rich history of involvement in the
international arena. The building and maintenance of a
maternity wing at the Thika Memorial Hospital in Kenya,
West Africa, to Delta's identification of 1987 at the
"Delta Internationale Year" underscores Delta's
committment to understanding the world. The "African
Diaspora," a Delta Cultural Awareness/Study Program,
focused on the dispersion of the peoples and cultures of
Africa through the continents of North and South
America, Europe, Asia and the island countries in the
eastern and western hemispheres.
Service programs initiated by the Sorority, at the
national level, include the following:
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Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy
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Summit V: Health and Healing-Let It Begin Within
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Delta Habitat for Humanity
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Delta Days in the Nation's Capital
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Social Action Commission
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., owns property located
at 1703-1709 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Washington,
D.C., which is its National Headquarters. Housed there
are their national staff and records, systems and
equipment necessary to conduct the business of the
organization. Delta was the first African-American
organization to purchase property for its headquarters
operation.
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