Senate Resolution 5

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE 98TH NATIONAL FOUNDERS DAY CELEBRATION FOR ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, INC., AND WELCOMING THE SPECIAL GUESTS FROM THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH TO THE CAPITAL CITY.

WHEREAS, Mississippi's Capital City will be a sea of pink and green as members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, visit during the organization's 98th National Founders Day Celebration. It is estimated that several hundred members of the nation's oldest African-American Sorority will come to Jackson, Mississippi, January 13-15, 2006, to participate in the observance. Chapters from across the entire State of Mississippi will host the event that commemorates the creation of the sorority and its founders. Linda M. White currently serves as the organization's 26th National President; and

WHEREAS, a major highlight of the three-day event will be the observance of the sorority's first major health initiative, the Mississippi Health Project, from 1935 to 1942. Members in the medical field and many others will journey to Mound Bayou, Mississippi, to relive this historic undertaking by providing medical services to residents. Physicians, nurses and other health care providers that belonged to the sorority came to Mississippi from 1935-1941 to provide health services to people in the small Delta town. These Alpha Kappa Alpha women served two- to eight-week terms for seven years during the summer months and provided care to over 15,000 people. The Mississippi Health Project received national attention in Readers Digest and many other national publications. The sorority received letters of commendation and recognition from the State Department of Health, the Surgeon General and many other local, regional and national entities; and

WHEREAS, other planned activities include the Community Health Expo at the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center, the National Institute(s) of Health Professional Development Forum with Dr. Yvonne Maddox of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and African-American Heritage Tours with visits to the homes of renowned author and Alpha Kappa Alpha member, the late Margaret Walker Alexander, and slain civil rights leader, Medgar W. Evers. The Mississippi Health Project and the Health Expo are service projects that members will perform as a part of Alpha Kappa Alpha's "Martin Luther King Day of Service" projects for that weekend; and

WHEREAS, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is America's first Greek-letter organization established by black college women in 1908 at Howard University in our nation's capital. The sorority is a sisterhood composed of women who have consciously chosen this affiliation as a means of self-fulfillment through volunteer service. In the past two years alone, Alpha Kappa Alpha women have provided 3 million hours of community service, benefiting 16 million people. Sorority members have also invested more than $20 Million in African-American communities. The sorority serves all mankind through a nucleus of more than 170,000 women in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa; and

WHEREAS, special guests from the National Founders Day Weekend will be: Rear Admiral Kenneth P. Moritsugu, MD, MPH, Deputy Surgeon General; Michele Kiely, DrPH, Visiting Scientist, Office of the Surgeon General; Yvonne T. Maddox, PhD, Deputy Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Patricia A. Grady, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director, National Institute of Nursing Research; Michael D. Oberdorfer, PhD, Director, Low Vision Program, Division of Extramural Research, National Eye Institute; Angelia Neal, Acting Deputy Executive Officer, National Eye Institute; L. Tony Beck, PhD, Program Officer, Division for Research Resources, National Center for Research Resources; and Elisa H. Gladstone, MPH, Associate Director, NKDEP, National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases; and

WHEREAS, Alpha Kappa Alpha's programs demonstrate the effectiveness of personal, direct service by African-Americans to their community, and it is with great pride that we recognize the civic contributions, scholarship and service brought by these citizens:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., on the occasion of its 98th National Founders Day Celebration on January 13-15, 2006, and welcome the special guests from the National Institute(s) of Health to our Capital City.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the committee representatives of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and to each of our special guests, and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.