Our Ivy In expansion:
Alpha Kappa Alpha Women
Alpha Kappa Alpha woman, Otelia Cromwell at Smith University
Ivy Leaf Pledge Club, Alpha Chapter - Howard University, 1955
Gamma Mu Ivies in 1961
Apparently, its being stated that people are regarding Alpha Kappa Alpha's "Ivy Day" as merely "planting ivy".... Deeper explanations in GREEN!
I_V
In its first few months of life, Alpha Kappa Alpha cast the mold for its pattern of leadership in the activities of the campus.
The Sorority developed a ...
a.) beautiful tradition of ritualic services
b.) intimate social affairs for its members
c.) cultural presentations
d.) civic service for the general public, and
e.) varied contributions to the academic and spiritual life of the growing University & its community.
After securing these core elements of the organization, the original group invited seven honor students in the sophomore class to join the sorority. By inviting these women the process of ensuring the continuity of the organization was solidified. So successful were the efforts and contributions of the group that by 1910, the second phase of the sorority began to take form.
The group decided that their plan of cultivated uplift could be used to help more people excel with dignity by expanding the organization to other campuses. There was a great deal of work completed on this front and to this end helped the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority keep the torch of the ideals of the sorority lighted.
AS IF.....
It’s not considered the longest-running & most consistent form of SERVICE of all BGLOs and undergraduate Greek Societies.
It wasn’t the “pink print” for May Week & all BGLO “weeks”.
It wasn't the ritual/ceremony that gave a visual representation to the university that Sororities and Fraternities not only had a place at the university but helped form a stronger bond that fosters in their members a love for Alma Mater that endured.
It wasn’t the same Ivy John Harvard planted at Harvard. It wasn’t the Ivy that literally created and defined what we’ve all come to know as the “Ivy leagues”.
It literally is the same ivy planted at Harvard and 2 other ivy leagues schools and from other international world acclaimed spots.
It’s not a ritual custom from both African & Greek traditions & used to express strength & endurance.
It’s not the same Ivy that guards Former President Cleveland grave who passed in 1908 or the ancestral home of some of our earliest presidents.
As if it wasn't the ivy that surrounded royalty,
We didn't pledge to cover the Earth in Ivy, and doing so serves as a visual reminder that we grow by leaps & bounds.
It wasn't the event where 19 out of 22 women of the largest D9 sorority took their 1st sorority picture that became the blueprint for their national sorority painting.
It wasn’t the symbol used for our pins, worked with the Y, when we fed the hungry, clothed the poor, tutored students, or help establish the NAACP in general & in DC all before 1912.