Delta's Stories of Triumph (DST in the News)

[pinkies up]

Oh no! At least she was able to see her life portrayed on the silver screen.

[Ms Public Service]

Sorority chapter celebrates 60 years of serving Columbus

BY LARRY GIERER - lgierer@ledger-enquirer.com

Blacks had the vote in Columbus.
At the polls, it wasn't just the color of their skin that was different -- it was also the color of the cards they signed.

"Whites signed white cards, and we had colored cards," Mae Washington said. "I think they were pink. I can't say that votes weren't being counted but something was still wrong."

It was the sorority Delta Sigma Theta, of which Washington was the president of the local chapter in the mid-1960s, that fought and got that changed so there was no distinction made between white and black voters.

"Deltas have always been in front of fights for justice and for better education," said Washington, a retired school psychologist.

She said Deltas played a big part in the support of the Little Rock Nine, who integrated Central High School in Arkansas 50 years ago.

Delta Sigma Theta was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington in 1913 and now has more than 900 chapters.

The Columbus Alumnae Chapter, which boasts 272 active members, is celebrating its 60th anniversary in grand style this month with several activities planned for the community.

A few examples of celebrity Deltas include singers Roberta Flack, Lena Horne, Natalie Cole and Aretha Franklin, actress Ruby Dee and Brig. Gen. Hazel Johnson Brown, Ph.D, the first black female general in the United States Army.

The local group consists of many civic leaders. Among them are Columbus Tax Commissioner Lula Lunsford Huff, Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Turner Pugh, Keep Columbus Beautiful Director Gloria Weston-Smart, Aflac Executive Vice President Audrey Boone Tillman, WRBL anchor Teresa Whitaker and Muscogee County School District Director of Elementary Education Karon Greyer.

"We're all about service, scholarship and sisterhood," said Jeanella Pendleton, principal at Reese Road School. "There is a social aspect to the sorority, but we work hard so we can play hard. We have helped many a student get to college who might not have done it without our help."

"We've given out more than $500,000 in scholarships," said retired teacher Constance Lindsey, whose son Chris is principal at Carver High.

"There's also the Delta Academy," a program that provides mentoring for girls in the understanding, utilization and appreciation of technology and math," she said.

"Those are areas in which girls typically have not shown much interest," Pendleton said.

Health is another Delta cause.

"We work to help get information out about health problems that are common in the black community such as high blood pressure," said Huff, chapter president. The "Lose to Win" healthy lifestyle program provides a guide for good women's health.

Voter registration is always on the minds of the Deltas. "We have people trained and deputized, who go into areas and get people to register," retired teacher Emily Walker said. "That is not as hard as getting them to actually come to the polls."

In 1995, the Deltas became the first black group to build a Habitat for Humanity House.

"Every member but one showed up with a hammer," Huff said.

"She showed up with a hatchet," Washington laughed.

The community will get to join in as the Deltas, who will be honored at Columbus Council, celebrate this week.

At 5 p.m. today, there will be a GospelFest at the Salvation Army Lovick P. Corn Worship and Community Center on Warm Springs Road. The event is free, but the sorority is hoping for financial or canned good donations for the Salvation Army.

On Feb. 16, the chapter will collaborate with the American Heart Association to sponsor "Walking for the Heart" at Shirley Winston Park. It will begin at 10 a.m., followed at 10:30 a.m. by a public seminar on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

Later that evening, there will be a jazz concert featuring the Atlanta group Five Men On A Stool at the Columbus State University Fine Arts Hall beginning at 7:30 p.m. Champagne and chocolate will be served. Proceeds from the $45 ticket will benefit the American Heart Association, HIV/AIDS programs and CSU scholarships.

On Feb. 17, chapter members will worship at St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church and National President Louise A. Rice will address them.

The sorority also shows sisterhood to women in other countries.

"We help support a hospital in Africa," said Pendleton, who said the sorority supplies "Mama Kits" to help mothers with newborns.

Walker said the sorority lent support to the efforts to help Hurricane Katrina survivors. Huff tells of helping the impoverished in Buena Vista, Ga., in a neighborhood known unkindly as "Rat Row."

"Deltas do what needs to be done," Lindsey said. "We'll continue to do so."
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/...ry/244368.html

[ladygreek]

I take it this is Columbus (GA) Alumnae and not Columbus (OH) Alumnae?

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

I take it this is Columbus (GA) Alumnae and not Columbus (OH) Alumnae?

Yup Columbus, Ohio's newspaper is The Dispatch and is in Franklin County.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by CrimsonTide4

Yup Columbus, Ohio's newspaper is The Dispatch and is in Franklin County.

Thanks. It's kinda confusing when we have chapter with the same name. But I also didn't think Columbus (OH) had that many members and I didn't recognize any of the names--it's a Midwest thang. But you know tha, cuz no matter where you live you still a Mighty Midwesterner.

[divainred]

Good Morning Sorors,

I wanted to inform you that our very own Soror Tanya Hutchison(Delta Upsilon-Western Michigan University-1982) won the first ever season of "She's Got the Look"!!!!!!!!!!! Soror Tanya is a wife, mother of 5, community leader, author and inspirational speaker!

This is a major milestone for her--and she is so elated at the support she has received from this endeavor. Her whole platform has been Phenomenal Beauty: "It's a Journey, Not a Destination"! This is also the tile of her book. Her book chronicles her journey to Phenomenal Beauty!

This is a true testament of how resilence, faith, tenacity, exercise(lol), hardwork, persistence, and health eating habits can result into a Phenomenal Beauty. I hope mothers, women over 35, those who have been scorned by family, men, and others will now realize that it is never too late to conquer your dreams.

If any of you are up early in the morning--please tune into the Early Show--Tanya will be a guest tomorrow morning.

As with many of the other firsts....A DELTA GOT THE LOOK!

http://www.tvland.com/originals/shesgotthelook/

[mccoyred]

Originally Posted by divainred

Good Morning Sorors,

I wanted to inform you that our very own Soror Tanya Hutchison(Delta Upsilon-Western Michigan University-1982) won the first ever season of "She's Got the Look"!!!!!!!!!!! Soror Tanya is a wife, mother of 5, community leader, author and inspirational speaker!

This is a major milestone for her--and she is so elated at the support she has received from this endeavor. Her whole platform has been Phenomenal Beauty: "It's a Journey, Not a Destination"! This is also the tile of her book. Her book chronicles her journey to Phenomenal Beauty!

This is a true testament of how resilence, faith, tenacity, exercise(lol), hardwork, persistence, and health eating habits can result into a Phenomenal Beauty. I hope mothers, women over 35, those who have been scorned by family, men, and others will now realize that it is never too late to conquer your dreams.

If any of you are up early in the morning--please tune into the Early Show--Tanya will be a guest tomorrow morning.

As with many of the other firsts....A DELTA GOT THE LOOK!

http://www.tvland.com/originals/shesgotthelook/

Get out of here!! I happened upon the marathon that they ran earlier this week just before the finale. I was so happy that she won and now I know that she is my soror. Deltas doing the darn thing, again!!

[Ms Public Service]

GE partners with sorority to grow women techies

Leadership DELTA program gives students a year of training and mentorship

Every year since 2002 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc (DST) has offered selected members an opportunity to learn from some of the most talented African American women in the country. The vehicle is a mentoring program called Leadership DELTA (Defining Emerging Leaders Through Advocacy).

The program is sponsored and managed jointly by General Electric (GE, Fairfield, CT) and the African American sorority.
The year-long experience matches collegiate DST members
with executive female mentors who provide the students
with insight on how to become leaders in their communities
and chosen fields.

“My experience was phenomenal and my relationship with my mentor is unparalleled,” says Khia Moses, a 2005 graduate of Leadership DELTA and current co-chair of the program for GE.
“I was mentored by Dee Wood, a woman who has been instrumental in building the careers of many prominent
African American women at GE and elsewhere.”

Gwendolyn Boyd, DST’s twenty-second national president, and the first technical professional to lead the sorority, created Leadership DELTA in 2002 to “coach, mentor and develop young African American women.” Boyd herself is a ChE. The program is geared towards engineering and technology students, but not all the mentors or program participants are technical. In addition to technical and business professionals, mentors have included doctors, lawyers and educators.

Although the Leadership DELTA website lists eligible majors as math, science, engineering and technology, computer science and business, the program does consider serious candidates from other fields. Applicants are asked to submit two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose and a resume. They must be active members of the sorority and also demonstrate the values that black Greek letter organizations (BGLOs) are known for: scholarship, a commitment to community service and leadership. Most BGLOs were organized in the early 1900s to develop unity among collegiate African Americans and offer career opportunities not easily available at the time.


Activities and leadership

Throughout the year Leadership DELTA participants facilitate workshops, engage in challenging career-building exercises and meet regularly with their mentors, many of whom are GE employees. They learn practical skills like job interviewing and augment knowledge about their field of study.

Moses and co-chair Khristie Dyson, a graduate of the inaugural year of the program, agreed to take on the responsibility of managing the program because they wanted other rising tech professionals to benefit from the extraordinary opportunity they had. Heading the program is a volunteer effort that both women do in addition to their day jobs.

“It’s an awesome program. I was so passionate about it as a participant that I wanted to stay involved and see it grow,” says Dyson. Six years later Dyson is still in regular contact with her mentor, GE Executive Dot Harris.

Many Leadership DELTA participants come from families that don’t have a lot of experience in corporate America, Dyson and Moses note. “My parents graduated from college much later in life, so I am a first generation traditional college graduate. Programs like this were key to my professional development,” says Moses. She earned her BSEE from Kettering University (Flint, MI) in 2005.

Dyson grew up in Louisiana and graduated from Southern University and A&M College (Baton Rouge, LA), also with a BSEE, in December 2002. She describes her family as entrepreneurial. Both her parents have owned businesses but never attended traditional four-year colleges. Leadership DELTA taught her things like etiquette, professional dress, networking skills, even how to fill out benefit forms and start a retirement plan.

Today, Moses is a power nozzle cell leader at the Cincinnati Service Center of GE Energy Services, where she’s the strategic and operational leader for the manufacturing repair cell. Dyson is a product planner at a GE Power electricity meter factory in New Hampshire. She manages product line information and processes for GE employees and customers.

GE benefits from sponsorship

Delta Sigma Theta has more than 200,000 members and chapters in nine countries, which makes its Leadership DELTA program a rich pool from which to recruit aspiring diverse female techies. It’s indeed a worthwhile investment for GE, says Deborah Elam, vice president and chief diversity officer.

GE has nearly 500 BGLO members working with the company, from Delta Sigma Theta and other organizations. Elam emphasizes that Leadership DELTA is about more than just writing a sponsorship check. GE’s hands-on involvement, she says, has been a big factor in the program’s success.

“When we started this we had a goal to help the organization develop leaders and strengthen our company pipeline for African American women and other minorities,” she says. “The women we have hired through the program have done extremely well.”

Leadership DELTA graduates are often offered internships and positions at GE, but not all choose this path. “We never envisioned that people could join Leadership DELTA only if they planned on coming to GE. Of course we’d like to hire more than our ‘fair share’ of program graduates, but we recognize that some go on to graduate school or other businesses,” says Elam. “In my role I have to look at the big picture, which is that 98 percent of participants will be GE customers of some sort, so clearly we want them to have a good view of our company whether or not they join us after college.”

Elam would like to see this type of program expand to other African American sororities as well as African American fraternities.

Program grows as mentors return

The number of Leadership DELTA participants has doubled since Boyd started the program. Forty students were accepted last year and even more growth is expected in the future.

Having enough of the right mentors is key to determining how many students can be accommodated, but that hasn’t been a problem so far. Moses says there are nearly 100 Deltas at GE alone who are “ready, willing and able” to mentor. They too are inspired by the program.

“The mentors have such great experiences that they often want to come back and mentor the next class,” Moses says.

“Some of our mentors have been featured in popular women’s magazines,” Dyson adds. Last year, for instance, the program was mentioned in an Essence feature about the twenty-five best places for African American women to work. GE was number eight on the list and among its touted pluses was its sponsorship of Leadership DELTA.

The program year starts with an annual leadership conference, where participants meet each other, attend workshops and network with a wide range of GE and other corporate leaders. Each year’s class ends with a graduation ceremony at the sorority’s national convention or one of its regional conferences, where participants reconnect with each other and
GE officials.

“It’s very emotional because we’re so grateful for the experience,” says Dyson. “The participants never expected to be in a room with so many women who are trailblazers in their careers and in the sorority, and are willing to spend three or four days talking with them about important things like networking and, of course, the realities of corporate America for African American women.”

http://www.diversitycareers.com/arti...s_GE_Delta.htm

[deltadiva0613]

This is what true dedication can do ladies. It brings me joy to see members of DST doing well and bringing something more to the organization to make it even greater than what it always is. Congratulations To Us For achieving NGO status! yay Sorors!

[Lady4Fortitude]

BREAKING NEWS!
Marcia L. Fudge, Esq., Past National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

[jitterbug13]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081229/...o5bDYzbkSs0NUE

[CertifiedDiva]

Deputy Chief Val Demings first black female chief of Orlando http://www.policeone.com/chiefs-sher...-police-chief/ her husband is Jerry Demings and he is currently the first black Sheriff of Orange County and he's a member of Omega Psi Phi! So they are superior officers in the two largest counties in Florida. I am impressed lol talk about a power couple!!

Chief Demings' Bio including DST info at the bottom http://www.foxreno.com/station/10889868/detail.html

[divainred]

Johnnetta Cole will start on March 2. (Smithsonian Institution)

African Art Museum Gets New Chief


By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 10, 2009; C03


The Smithsonian Institution yesterday named Johnnetta Cole, an anthropologist and former college president, as the new director of the National Museum of African Art.

Cole, 72, made national headlines in 1987 when she became the first African American woman to lead Atlanta's Spelman College, the country's oldest historically black women's university. During her tenure, attendance soared and the school's ranking on lists of the best liberal arts schools went up. Cole also spearheaded a $113 million capital campaign, $20 million of which came from Bill and Camille Cosby.
After a decade at Spelman, Cole taught at Emory University, also in Atlanta, and then served as president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C. At Bennett, she led another successful capital campaign and founded an art gallery.

Cole said yesterday that her new position merges many of her interests, especially art and education. "I would say for my adult life I have had a passion for African art -- where it comes from, what it says and what it can do. I just couldn't resist this opportunity to combine that passion with my field of knowledge of anthropology and knowledge of the [African] diaspora," she said in a phone interview.

In making the announcement, Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, formerly president of Georgia Tech, noted his previous work with Cole. "We are delighted that a scholar, author, educator and leader of such international stature will lead the National Museum of African Art at this opportune time," Clough said in a statement. "I have known Johnnetta for many years, and I look forward to working with her in her new role and in finding opportunities to use her talents to help with pan-institutional activities."

Most recently, Cole has been the chairman of the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute, which is housed at Bennett. She has also worked closely with Richard Kurin, a cultural anthropologist who is the Smithsonian undersecretary for history, art and culture.

The National Museum of African Art is part of a cluster of art galleries at the Smithsonian. The largest facility is the joint operation of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, which share a building.

The African art museum has struggled over the years because of low attendance, a modest budget of $6 million, its location underground behind the Smithsonian Castle and turnovers in leadership. The last director, Sharon F. Patton, announced last May that she was leaving at the end of 2008. Cole is expected to start March 2.

The museum has a collection of 9,000 objects, including 500 items obtained from the Walt Disney Co. in 2005. The acquisition, which other institutions also had sought, was seen as a validation of the museum's status.

Attendance increased to 322,000 last year, up from 310,000 in 2007; at one point the museum was drawing more children than adults because of its strong education programs.

"My task is to provide leadership for continuity and change. There is impressive work to build on," Cole said. She says she is worried about critics who want to cut funding for the arts: "There are too many people who make the fallacious statement that this art stuff is not fundamental, not essential to our lives. I think it is." She favors having a high-level person in the administration to oversee arts and humanities programs.

Cole is no stranger to the details or demands of a job in Washington. She served on President Bill Clinton's transition team that included education and the arts, and she worked with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Advisory Committee on Transformational Diplomacy. She also is a member of the scholarly advisory board of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is expected to open on the Mall in 2015.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020902446.html

[divainred]

President Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Washington (February 5, 2009 The Washington Post) - President Barack Obama today signed an executive order establishing the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs.

"Over the past few days and weeks, there has been much talk about what our government's role should be during this period of economic emergency. That is as it should be - because there is much that government can and must do to help people in need," said President Obama. "But no matter how much money we invest or how sensibly we design our policies, the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone. There is a force for good greater than government. It is an expression of faith, this yearning to give back, this hungering for a purpose larger than our own, that reveals itself not simply in places of worship, but in senior centers and shelters, schools and hospitals, and any place an American decides."

The White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be a resource for non-profits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer.

President Obama appointed Joshua DuBois, a former associate pastor and advisor to the President in his U.S. Senate office and campaign Director of Religious Affairs, to lead this office. "Joshua understands the issues at stake, knows the people involved, and will be able to bring everyone together - from both the secular and faith-based communities, from academia and politics - around our common goals," said President Obama.

The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will focus on four key priorities, to be carried out by working closely with the President's Cabinet Secretaries and each of the eleven agency offices for faith-based and neighborhood partnerships:

* The Office's top priority will be making community groups an integral part of our economic recovery and poverty a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete.
* It will be one voice among several in the administration that will look at how we support women and children, address teenage pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion.
* The Office will strive to support fathers who stand by their families, which involves working to get young men off the streets and into well-paying jobs, and encouraging responsible fatherhood.
* Finally, beyond American shores this Office will work with the National Security Council to foster interfaith dialogue with leaders and scholars around the world.

As the priorities of this Office are carried out, it will be done in a way that upholds the Constitution - by ensuring that both existing programs and new proposals are consistent with American laws and values. The separation of church and state is a principle President Obama supports firmly - not only because it protects our democracy, but also because it protects the plurality of America's religious and civic life. The Executive Order President Obama will sign today strengthens this by adding a new mechanism for the Executive Director of the Office to work through the White House Counsel to seek the advice of the Attorney General on difficult legal and constitutional issues.

The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will include a new President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds. There will be 25 members of the Council, appointed to 1-year terms.

Members of the Council include:

Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and noted church/state expert
Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention
Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA
Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church
Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Corps
Fred Davie, President, Public / Private Ventures, a secular non-profit intermediary
Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention
Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs and expert on church/state issues
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed
Dr. Arturo Chavez, Ph.D., President & CEO, Mexican American Cultural Center
Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, Sojourners
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church
Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco, a secular national operating intermediary
Richard Stearns, President, World Vision

[Minerva's Girl]

ON A ‘STORMY’ PATH: “This is really all about Lena,” Leslie Uggams says. “I’m not doing a copy of Lena. There is only one Lena Horne. But I’m bringing the essence of Lena.” Both entertainers overcame racism and broke barriers for African Americans. Uggams is portraying Horne at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Leslie Uggams and Lena Horne have crossed paths only a few times. But Uggams feels that the force and power of the iconic singer have always been a part of her.

Lena was a goddess in my house -- my mother played her records all the time, and I was always moved by how beautiful and classy she was. When I was doing my nightclub act at the Coconut Grove in 1965, she pinned me as a Delta -- we both belong to Delta Sigma Theta. I've always felt like she's been so close to me.

The two are more than sorority sisters-in-arms. With separate successful careers spanning at least five decades, Horne and Uggams have been celebrated for their striking beauty and silky smooth voices. Their popularity grew as they broke through barriers for African American performers. Horne was one of Hollywood's first black female beauty icons while Uggams became the first black woman to host a network musical variety show ( CBS' “The Leslie Uggams Show" in 1969).

Both also ran headlong into racist forces that threatened to derail their careers, and both sparked furors when they married white men.

In recent years, Horne, 91, has withdrawn from public view while Uggams, 65, has kept busy -- she starred opposite James Earl Jones in 2005 on Broadway in “On Golden Pond" and just completed a revival of “The First Breeze of Summer" at New York's Signature Theatre Company. Now, more than four decades after she was pinned by Horne, Uggams is putting her own distinctive stamp on her idol.

Uggams portrays Horne in “Stormy Weather," a new musical biography at the Pasadena Playhouse that producers hope will find its way to Broadway. The play chronicles Horne commenting on her life while observing a younger version of herself, played by Nikki Crawford.

The show has the same title as the classic Harold Arlen torch song that became Horne's signature (she sang it in the 1943 film of the same name). Suggested by Leslie Palmer's biography “Lena Horne, Entertainer," the title also reflects Horne's celebrated but tumultuous life and career.

Though Horne appeared in such '40s musicals as “Ziegfeld Follies," “ Till the Clouds Roll By" and “Thousands Cheer," she encountered race-related obstacles in Hollywood. In fact, she often had to film stand-alone scenes that could be easily deleted for screenings in the then-Jim Crow South. Her most prominent roles were in all-black musicals such as “Stormy Weather" and “Cabin in the Sky."

That darker side of history is the backdrop for several nostalgic musical numbers in the new “Stormy Weather," which includes songs by Arlen and Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and Jerome Kern.

“We're dealing with a woman facing a crossroads when doing the one thing she lives for -- to entertain -- becomes too painful," said Michael Bush, the former director of artistic production for New York's Manhattan Theatre Club, who is helming “Stormy Weather." “She proceeds to shut down. How much can she sing if she shuts down?"

The forces behind the production feel that the inauguration of President Obama offers a prime opportunity to present Horne's legacy to a younger, more politically aware generation.

“This is a true story for our times," said producer Stewart Lane. “We're honoring a light- skinned woman making it during the racially charged '40s, '50s and '60s. People like her laid the groundwork for Barack Obama."

Added Sheldon Epps, artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse: “Lena's story is specifically from the viewpoint of a black woman trying to balance career, family and relationships as well as dealing with the pressures that came from both white and black America."

Continue...

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=28968