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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING THE 111th YEAR FOUNDERS DAY OF DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INC.
WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is a Black Greek-lettered sorority founded on January 13, 1913, by 22 collegiate women at Howard University, established to promote academic excellence, provide assistance to those in need, and address social issues; and,
WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was founded by educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community using three basic principles: Sisterhood, Scholarship, and Service; and,
WHEREAS, The Sorority currently has over 350,000 members and over 1,000 chapters located in the Bahamas, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bermuda, Canada, England, Germany, Jamaica, Japan, West Africa and South Africa, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States; and,
WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. as a whole displays an exemplary commitment to public service withstanding the test of time through its Five-Point Programmatic Thrusts: Economic Development, Educational Development, International Awareness and Involvement, Physical and Mental Health, and Political Awareness and Involvement (Social Action); and,
WHEREAS, the first public act of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was participation in the Women's Suffrage March in Washington, D.C., March 3, 1913 and has since expanded to programming to improve political, education, and social and economic conditions, particularly within black communities; and,
WHEREAS, of its ever-growing membership, some of the few notable members include: journalists April Ryan and Joy Reid, civil rights activists Dorothy I. Height and Mary McLeod Bethune, former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia Keisha Lance Bottoms, Secretary of HUD Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown, dancer, choreographer; and artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Judith Jamison, Soprano opera singer, awarded the United States Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon B. Johnson Leontyne Price, UCLA gymnast Nya Reed, locally, former Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown, State Representative Camille Y. Lilly, State Senator Kimberly Lightford, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, MRWD President Kari K. Steele, Emmy Award-winning news anchor at WLS-TV Cheryl Burton, the first African American woman Senator and former Ambassador of New Zealand and Samoa Carol Mosley Braun, and Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps; and,
WHEREAS, Cook County is home to nine total collegiate and alumnae chapters: Chicago Alumnae, Chicago Metropolitan Alumnae, Evanston-North Shore Alumnae, Glen Ellyn Area Alumnae, Joliet Area/South Suburban Alumnae, Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates Alumnae, Lambda, Theta Alpha, Upsilon Upsilon which are a part of the 125 chapters that make up the “Mighty” Midwest Region; and,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the residents of Cook County, offers congratulations to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. on its 111th Founders Day and celebrate its legacy of public service; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be tendered to the local alumnae chapters, as a token of the esteem in which the Sorority is held by the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
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