Ericka Johnson joined Delta Sigma Theta sorority at UWM because it gave her a chance to connect with other Black female students. She also loved the organization’s history, dating to 1913, and its focus on sisterhood, scholarship and service.
“Being a young Black student in a predominately white university, the sorority offered a place of belonging, a place of comfort with people who look like me,” she said. “I wanted to be part of something that was making change in our community and especially our city.”
Johnson, who graduated with her bachelor’s degree in education in 2003, was one of approximately 150 members of the sorority who gathered in Milwaukee on a weekend in June to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the chartering of UWM’s Kappa Eta chapter. The chapter was formed initially to include members from UWM, and in later years was opened up to Marquette, Alverno and Cardinal Stritch.
Joan Prince, UWM vice chancellor emerita and a UW System regent, organized the event with the support of the UWM Alumni Association.
Touring campus
The group, mostly dressed in variations of the sorority’s cream and red colors, toured the Sandburg residence halls and the Black Cultural Student Center before gathering for a reception, photos and visiting at the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center. They finished with a Saturday evening celebration dinner.
The sorority members were welcomed to campus by Chancellor Mark Mone, who led a tour of campus along with Liz Drame, special assistant to the vice chancellor of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The group also heard from Prince, who joined the sorority in 1974. She spoke at the reception, as did alumna Marquayla Ellison, a 2013 graduate of the Peck School of the Arts, and a member of a sister sorority.
Delta Sigma Theta sorority was founded 110 years ago by a group of young women from Howard University to promote women’s rights, academic achievement and service, with an emphasis on the African American community.
Members of the sorority attending last month’s event on campus said the sense of sisterhood and connections with other sororities and fraternities on campus were important to them. “I’m still friends with many of them,” said J. Joeblakely, a UWM graduate now residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.
‘A sense of camaraderie’
The UWM chapter organized social events and get-togethers for students, Prince remembered.
“It was so much fun. There was such a sense of camaraderie.”
But members also helped each other academically through study groups and exam preparation.
“The sense of support was so important to me as a minority student,” said Belinda Lipscomb, one of the charter members.
When the UWM chapter was founded in 1973, “It was an interesting time for Milwaukee,” Prince said. It was amid the civil rights movement and the arrival of many historically underrepresented people on campus, she said. “We wanted to make Milwaukee a stronger community to live in … to nurture and mentor African American females.”
Service is still a key priority of the sorority, which now has 1,100 chapters and 900,000 members worldwide, Prince said. She recently returned from Kenya, where the sorority has built hospitals, schools and orphanages and is supporting female entrepreneurs.
Donating to Grateful Girls
At the weekend’s event in Milwaukee, sorority members continued the tradition, donating $1,000 to Grateful Girls, a nonprofit organization geared to inspiring, motivating and encouraging teens and young women. Members delivered a workshop to the young ladies regarding academic achievement, consistent with their sorority’s mission, Prince said.
Sorority members also saw – and took many photos of – a plaque commemorating the founding of the chapter at UWM, listing charter members. It will be permanently installed in the Alumni Fireside Lounge later this summer when Student Union renovations are completed.
“Our roots go very, very deep,” said Cheryl Brown Harvey, a charter member. “We’ve been members for half the life of the sorority. We have some strong shoulders to stand on. As a group of women of color, we came together in a magnificent way.”
