History of Beta Delta Omega
Beta Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® was chartered on May 28, 1934 at Tougaloo College. The South Eastern Regional Director was Margaret Davis Bowen, and The Eighth International President was Ida M. Jackson. The charter members were Inez B. Prosser, Katie M. Wilson, Helen Griffin, Aquila Jones, Florence O. Alexander, and L. Zenobia Coleman. In November 1996, the chapter established the Coleman Alexander Prosser Foundation, Incorporated, a 501c3 entity. The Beta Delta Omega Center was purchased debt-free (2012). Additionally, two chapter history books have been published: Capturing A Vision The First Sixty-Six Years (2005) and Iridescent Pearls: Reflections of Service and Sisterhood (2016). Beta Delta Omega received legislative approval for the creation of the Mississippi state-wide Alpha Kappa Alpha vehicle license tag (1999).
Currently, the chapter is the largest in the state of Mississippi. The membership consists of three hundred sixty women ranging in age from the mid-twenties to the late eighties. Thirty-six members hold Life Membership, twenty-one are Golden Members, and forty-two have achieved Silver Stars status. Beta Delta Omega is the supervising chapter to Gamma Rho, Gamma Omicron and previously Lambda Iota undergraduate chapters. Several members have represented the sorority as international leaders. This includes Carey B. Preston as the first Executive Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority; Ernestine Holloway was the 14th South Eastern Regional Director; Esther Martin Rigsby served as the 17th South Eastern Regional Director; Juanita Sims Doty served as the International Program Chairman and the 23rd South Eastern Regional Director; Mitzi Dease Paige is the 26th South Eastern Regional Director; and Glenda Baskin Glover served as the 30th International President and CEO of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
The following is a listing of the chapter’s extensive community outreach programs:
* Adopted Bethlehem Center | * Smith Robertson Museum & Cultural Center |
* Jackson Public School Challenge Bowl | * The Kirkland Group |
* Florence Octavia Alexander Scholarships | * Endowed Scholarship at Jackson State University |
* A-TEEAM | * Jackson Branch of the NAACP |
* Endowed Scholarship at Tougaloo College | * Jackson State University Center for Service |
* Economic Smart Fairs | * Margaret Walker Alexander Center |
* Voter Registration/Get Out the Vote | * Spelling Bee Competition |
* Albermarle Nursing & Rehabilitation Center | * Adopted Families Program |
* National Pan-Hellenic Council | * Mississippi Sickle Cell Foundation |