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 Record – 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.
East Point/College Park Alumnae Charter Members
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
Meletta Wilcoxin
Leroyce Norwood Williams
Cynthia Wilson