Nine young women who are headed off to a historically Black college or university (HBCU) this fall recently got a warm welcome from the one-and-only Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Alpha Kappa Alphas (AKAs), based in Springfield, Massachusetts, put on the event to celebrate and support nine local teens who have decided to complete their college studies at an HBCU.

“It’s hugely important,” Janet Lopez, an AKA who was involved in the event, told WWLP. “I think students who have never been away from home, those leaving the state altogether, there’s a sense of anxiety. And it’s nice to know they not only have support from their family but support from us as well.”

To help support these students, local sorority sisters came together to provide them with various items to help them out during their time away at college — including tablets, bedding, toiletries and exercise equipment.

“In spring of ’22, we brought in nine new initiates into our chapter in Springfield, and those nine initiates wanted to do a community service honoring nine freshmen, rising freshman at HBCUs,” AKA member Lisa Johnson shared, according to Western Mass News. “So, what they did was put together these packets of necessities that young ladies would need for entering college, so that’s what we’re doing today.”

There are no HBCUs in New England; the closest one to the Springfield area is Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.

Other northeastern United States HBCUs include Lincoln University, Morgan State University, Coppin State University and Delaware State University.

Alpha Kappa Alpha, part of the illustrious Divine Nine, was founded at Howard University in 1908, making it the “oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American college-educated women,” according to the sorority’s website.

With over 1,000 chapters across all 50 states and 11 different countries, the AKAs are a force to be reckoned with, and we love to see the sorority’s Springfield chapter giving back to the next generation of HBCU scholars.

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