2025 SESSION

INTRODUCED

25107060D

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 798

Offered February 18, 2025

Commending the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

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Patron—Scott, D.

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WHEREAS, the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., has promoted unity and friendship among college women and enriched community life in Portsmouth for 85 years; and

WHEREAS, prior to the formation of the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter, members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in Portsmouth typically took a ferry to Norfolk to participate in the Iota Omega Chapter, then the only chapter in the immediate area; and

WHEREAS, to better serve the growing community, 11 local residents—Olivia Anderson, Ruth P. Chapman, Rufae J. Holmes, Carolyn W. Jackson, Margaret Moultrie, Dorothy B. Muckle, Bernice Plummer, Hazel W. Reid, Carrie O. Russell, Mamie S. Vick, and Ruth R. Waters—formed the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter, which received its charter on October 6, 1939; and

WHEREAS, the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter quickly began supporting local students by awarding scholarships and presented a baby grand piano to I.C. Norcom High School to further music education; and

WHEREAS, in its early years, the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter's main fundraiser was the Fashionetta show, and as the chapter grew, it also hosted afternoon teas, theatre productions, a debutante cotillion, and other engaging events; and

WHEREAS, in the 1960s, the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter organized the first Pan-Hellenic Council in Portsmouth and hosted the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference; and

WHEREAS, the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter established the Mamie S. Vick Undergraduate Achievement Award to honor a college chapter with the most improved grade point average and coordinated a domestic travel grant program to help young women attend conferences or other leadership development opportunities; and

WHEREAS, members of the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter have provided their wise insights to numerous local and regional committees, and the chapter's outreach programs have touched the lives of countless women, children, and elderly residents of Portsmouth; and

WHEREAS, in 2006, the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter developed Twenty Pearls, Incorporated, a foundation that works in partnership with the chapter to support program initiatives and awards $15,000 in scholarships every year; and

WHEREAS, the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter was an early adopter of technology and adapted well to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by hosting virtual meetings, celebrations, and workshops to stay engaged with the community in difficult times; and

WHEREAS, among many awards and accolades over the course of the chapter's history, the 2022–2026 administration of the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter received Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority's International Soar Award for its significant impact in community service; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., hereby be commended on the occasion of its 85th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Gamma Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for the chapter's legacy of service to the Portsmouth community.