MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2007 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representative Cockerham, Clarke, Coleman (65th), Thomas, Flaggs, Holloway, Perkins
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND RECOGNIZING MISSISSIPPI'S NEWLY ELECTED MEMBERS TO THE ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA SORORITY, INC., NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS, NATIONAL CONNECTION COMMITTEES AND FOR THEIR NEW NATIONAL PROGRAM INITIATIVES.
WHEREAS, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1908, grew from one undergraduate group of nine members to a national organization with more than 180,000 members in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa; and
WHEREAS, for almost a century, "the percept of service has been Alpha Kappa Alpha's mark of distinction"; and
WHEREAS, the Centennial International President, Barbara A. McKinzie, implemented the 2006-2010 Centennial Program, an Extraordinary Service Program of Economics, Service and Partnership, the ESP vision that embraces a five-pronged program designed to excite, mobilize and ignite members worldwide; and
WHEREAS, the new platform features are fivefold: (1) placing emphasis on the nontraditional woman entrepreneur; (2) encouraging partnerships to educate local communities about the economic keys to success; (3) recognizing and utilizing strategies for assisting young African-American males to overcome the formidable challenges to their educational development and well-being through activities that enable, support and provide access for the economic growth of the Black Family; (4) initiating an undergraduate signature program--Economic Education Advancement through Technology; and (5) using health resource management and economics to address the many health issues and crises that face the Black community in the United States and globally; and
WHEREAS, Alpha Kappa Alpha is divided into ten regions with Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama falling into the Southeastern Region, where members of this region are encouraged to promote the sorority’s legacy of sisterhood and service; and
WHEREAS, the Southeastern Region consists of 103 chapters and is the fourth largest region in Alpha Kappa Alpha consisting of 13 percent of its total membership with 31 chapters in Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, new leadership for the Southeastern Region is the Centennial Regional Director, Juanita Sims Doty, Ed.D., resident of Jackson, Mississippi, a Fellow of the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Senior Advisor for Outreach National Institutes of Health, who was elected on March 24, 2006, at the Regional Conference in Memphis, Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, Glenda Glover, J.D., C.P.A. and Ph.D., Dean of the College of Business at Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, was elected as the National Treasurer at the National Conference in July 2006 and installed as a board member along with the Centennial Regional Director, Dr. Juanita Sims Doty, to represent the Southeastern Region on the Board of Directors; and
WHEREAS, the Centennial International President, Barbara A. McKinzie, utilizes the Connection Committee, the public policy arm of the sorority, to advocate issues of importance to the community; encourage members of the sorority to serve in elected and appointed offices and mobilize members to participate in the electoral process; and
WHEREAS, the National Chairman of the Connection Committee, Vanessa Rogers Long, a resident of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and the Southeastern Representative to the National Connection Committee, Zelmarine Murphy, a resident of Vicksburg, Mississippi, were appointed by the Centennial International President and charged with promoting Alpha Kappa Alpha Day at the Capitol; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to recognize and commend an organization such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., for its civic contributions, public policy service, scholarship, and partnerships forged to implement program activities:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend the members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., for its civic contributions through the implementation of the Extraordinary Service Program, Economics, Service and Partnership and congratulate the newly elected officers and committee appointees coming from Mississippi on this the occasion of Alpha Kappa Alpha Day at the Capitol held March 13, 2007.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented to the Centennial Regional Director, Dr. Juanita Sims Doty; Centennial President, Barbara A. McKinzie; all Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Chapters in Mississippi; and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.