A white substitute teacher went viral last week after one of her students posted a photograph of her wearing an Alpha Kappa Alpha jacket. Students in the class warned her not to put it on, but the teacher was captured buttoning up the AKA letterman jacket last Thursday. The jacket belongs to the teacher the substitute had replaced, according to one of the students present in the class.

“Y’all why I’m in class and we got a sub and she gon grab our teacher’s AKA jacket and put it on,” a student tweeted. “We tryna explain to her and tell her to take it off and she won’t do it lmfaoooo.”

The student also posted a photograph of herself reacting in disbelief at the situation. The post has since gone viral, garnering over 17 million views so far.

Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first intercollegiate African American sorority in the United States. It was founded in 1908 at Howard University and has been a helpful resource for Black women in academia and networking. AKA is one of the largest national Greek letter organizations and is included in the National Pan-Hellenic Council, also known as the Divine 9.

The varsity-style jacket features AKA’s salmon pink and apple green, and is a meaningful symbol of membership. Being selected as a member is the result of a carefully crafted process. Over the years, some of the nation’s most illustrious Black women were selected, including Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Mae Jemison, Cathy Hughes, sisters Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad, and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Wearing official AKA paraphernalia is a privilege exclusively awarded to members.

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