Black Greek Lettered Organizations

Born to Lead was written to inspire change agents and young activists searching for an authentic story about the fight for social justice and life in public service. It’s a non-conventional case study on the role of culture in America. It explores my personal loss while attending Yale Divinity School and transitions backwards through my professional and academic achievements that include: serving as president of the student divestment movement that convinced the University of Maryland Board of Regents and the state’s eleven campuses to withdraw all holdings from South Africa; encounters living and working in sustainable development (in Benin, West Africa, Haiti, and other countries); and chronicles my rise in political communications having served as director of communications for the second largest polling firm in America during the 2004 presidential election (with partners like NBC’s Meet the Press, Wall Street Journal Online and Reuters Newswire). It’s a fairly short semi-biographic that celebrates the highs and lows of exceptional opportunities and the implicit pressures of being young, black and female in Washington, DC’s political jungle.

Between the 1920's and 1990, pledging historically Black fraternities and sororities was a mode of cultural expression that became more violent over time (Kimbrough, 2003). The pledge process often consisted of walking in lines, dressing alike, and taking direct orders from older members. Kimbrough (2003) acknowledges it was clear pledging members were second-class citizens as early as the 1930s. In February 1990, the national presidents and leaders of eight of the nine major Black fraternities and sororities met and with consensus, banned the pledge process. However, violence and risk continued to plague the membership process.  There are three main implications of the ban regarding membership development in historically Black fraternities and sororities. These implications are explored through the lens of college students, fraternity and sorority staff, and college administrators.