wyse3.jpgPresident’s Corner On behalf of the almost 300 members of the Huntsville Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., I am delighted to welcome you to our informative web site. Our sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. by twenty-two young African-American women who wanted to make a difference in their community. Those 22 founders started a rich tradition of promoting personal excellence and social progress that continues today. We are following in their footsteps, almost 96 years later. As we continue their legacy, we strive to empower our members to make a difference in the Huntsville/Madison community.

We created this web site to keep the community abreast of the extraordinary public service projects and programs which we offer throughout the year. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. has a five point program thrust to include the following:

  • Economic Development
  • Educational Development
  • International Awareness and Involvement
  • Physical and Mental Health
  • Political Awareness and Involvement

Some of our signature projects for this biennium in each of these five areas are as follows:

In the area of Economic Development, we will provide information throughout the community on financial education such as how to build wealth and financial security by understanding the basic principles of earning, spending, saving and investing. We are also tasked with paving the way for sorors, family and friends and the African-American community to achieve the dream of homeownership, as well as living in your home and keeping your home.

In the area of Educational Development, one of our signature programs is the Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy which is an educational program for at-risk young women between the ages of 11 to 14. The program offers mentoring, educational activities, and service learning opportunities to the participants. The Delta Academy program’s major emphasis is mathematics, science and technology and helps young women to excel and pursue careers in these areas. Anchored on the basic tenants of the sorority, sisterhood, scholarship and service, the Delta Academy also features a book club for the girls and a health education component that imparts awareness on the HIV/AIDS disease and a new module on parenting education to involve parents in the Delta Academy program.

We also have a DELTA GEMS (Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully), which targets girls between the ages of 14 to 18. The goals of the GEMS program is to provide tools that enables girls to sharpen and enhance their skills to achieve high levels of academic success; to assist girls in proper goal setting, decision making, and planning for their futures (high school and beyond); and to create compassionate, caring, community minded young women by actively involving them in service learning and community service opportunities.

We also sponsor the Ebony Fashion Fair each January. This is our premier fund raising project to help us generate funds to support our public service activities and to fund our five tuition scholarships to deserving incoming freshman at Alabama A & M University, and well as Drake State Technical College, Calhoun College and University of Huntsville in Alabama (UAH).

International Awareness and Involvement: We have a Delta House, which was established in Swaziland in 2002 for children who became orphans who lost their parents due to the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS virus. There is also a school for the physically disabled in South Africa which has been adopted by Delta in 2001. This school provides services to children who are physically challenged. Our sorority will participate in a mission trip to visit these facilities in December of 2009.

World Aids Day will be held on December 1, 2009. Delta will add its voice to the worldwide conversation and continue to promote the slogan:” Stop AIDS! Keep the Promise.”

International Day of Service is March 13, 2010. The sorority will observe its annual International Day of Service with a theme and focus on the necessity of having clean drinking water.

Physical and Mental Health: The theme is Healthy Lifestyle: The Total Woman: Mind, Body and Spirit. This is an initiative to address health issues disparately impacting the African-American family such as heart disease. We are uniting with other chapters and organizations to participate in the 50 Million Pound Challenge. Visit www.50millionpounds.com to join.

Political Awareness and Involvement: Voter Registration continues to be a priority to assure that all members of our community are registered and are able to vote! Our voices were heard with the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States of America, but we cannot stop here. We must continue to make our voices be heard and our votes be counted! As we approach 2010, we must also assure that every family is counted in the upcoming census.

We were recently honored and privileged to host the 42nd Southern Regional Conference here in Huntsville at the end of June. This conference was attended by close to 3000 Deltas from the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and the Bahamas. Congratulations to the members of the Huntsville Alumnae, Central North Alabama, Delta Delta and Omicron Gamma Chapters for making this regional conference one that will always be remembered.

Our signature project was “Bridging the Gap” as we provided back packs with school supplies and gift cards to our Title I schools in the Huntsville City, Madison County, Madison City and Limestone Counties. We generated over $8000 to give to 7 school districts.

As you can see, our chapter is very busy within this community. We invite you to visit our web site regularly for updates on these public service programs.

Jacqueline P. Wyse

22nd President

Huntsville Alumnae Chapter