Barbara A. McKinzie, Centennial International President

Commemoration of One-Hundred Year Milestone Takes Place January 12-15

Chicago, IL - When the clock ticked to 12:01 and a new year — 2008 — ushered in, Alpha Kappa Alpha marked its Centennial year. This history-making triumph makes the Sorority the first college-educated, primarily African-American female organization to reach this milestone.

To commemorate this 100-year landmark, the Sorority has a host of celebratory activities planned during the year.

The yearlong celebration begins at AKA’s birth home of Howard University from January 12-15. That mission continues today.

Among those who will attend are 103-year old Hazel Hainsworth Young, the oldest active member of the Sorority. Actress, trailblazer and Alpha initiate Phylicia Rashad is expected to attend. Faye Bryant, a past international president and an initiate of Alpha chapter, will also lead the festivities.

The Alpha Birthday Celebration is the first of two major celebrations to take place during its Centennial year. More than 20,000 members will converge upon Washington, D.C. for its Centennial International Conference from July 12-18. At that time, more tributes and commemorations will take place. The sorority will use the week to engage in a series of meetings, plenaries and “conversations” about how to deal with today’s pressing issues while charting a course for the Sorority as it enters its second millennium. The public will be invited to some of the events.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is America’s first Greek-letter organization founded in 1908 by, and for, African-American college women. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, it is one of the world’s leading service organizations. The sorority’s members have made a commitment “to serve all mankind” through a nucleus of more than 200,000 women in over 975 chapters in the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, Germany, Korea, Japan and in the continent of Africa.