Governor Proclaims In Recognition of the 31st South Atlantic Regional Conference of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. 2024

IN RECOGNITION OF

THE 31st SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONAL CONFERENCE OF DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INC.

2024

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, a non-profit organization, was founded on January 13, 1913 at Howard University by 22 college-educated African American women whose public service initiatives focused on education, social action, and aiding the community; and

WHEREAS, today, more than 350,000 women have been initiated into the Sorority that has over 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters nationally and internationally; today’s members continue the work of the Sorority’s Founders through the development of programs that that focus on improving the lives of others; and

WHEREAS, the South Atlantic Region was established in August 1960 as the Sorority’s seventh and youngest region with the first Regional Conference held in Orangeburg, South Carolina, April 6-8, 1961, where Founder Jimmie Bugg Middleton greeted over 100 members in attendance; and

WHEREAS, today, the South Atlantic Region includes the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the island of Bermuda; and

WHEREAS, under the leadership of Dr. Patricia R. Johnson, Regional Director from 2020-2024, and Ms. Kamryn Dixon, Regional Representative from 2022-2024, more than 2,500 Sorority members and guests will convene in Raleigh, North Carolina for the 31st South Atlantic Regional Conference from June 20 – 23, 2024 to elect new officers and conduct community service in the Raleigh /Wake County community; and

WHEREAS, International President and Chair of the Board Mrs. Elsie Cooke-Holmes, Dr. Patricia R. Johnson, Ms. Kamryn Dixon, the Executive Committee, Past National Presidents, National Board Members, Headquarters Staff, Sorority members and guests will honor Founder Jimmie Bugg Middleton, who is interred in Mt. Hope Cemetery, with a public reveal of a new headstone so that members of the Sorority and community can know of her contributions to the Raleigh/Wake County community as an educator at Shaw University and Washington Elementary School, and charter member of the Raleigh Alumnae Chapter and the world; and

WHEREAS, sorority members across the region partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Wake County in May and June 2024 to build homes in Raleigh and Knightdale, performing more than 1,000 hours of community service in honor of the Sorority’s 20th National President, the late Dr. Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and a trailblazing educator at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and

WHEREAS, distinguished sorority members of North Carolina include: the late Carolyn Q. Coleman, who served as Special Assistant to Governor James B. Hunt and a National NAACP Board Member; Community Advocate and Founder of the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development, the late Andrea Harris, who tirelessly fought for historically underutilized businesses in North Carolina and for whom the undersigned named the Andrea Harris Task Equity Task Force; and Kristi Jones, named by the undersigned as the first African American female Chief of Staff to the Governor of North Carolina; and

WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina recognizes Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and its members’ continuous efforts to advocate for disenfranchised people and champion causes that secure the rights and welfare of people;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim June 20, 2024, as “IN RECOGNITION OF THE 31st SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONAL CONFERENCE OF DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INC” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

________________________________________

Roy Cooper

Governor

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this seventeenth day of June in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.