Alpha Kappa Alpha National History | Eta Beta Chapter History

Eta Beta Chapter began with a group of thirteen sophisticated young women who formed a local social club, AN-NADI AS-SALAM, “The Club of Peace,” with the hope of becoming a chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

In August of 1972 at the 45th Boule, the International Directorate of Alpha Kappa Alpha approved the chapter. Ernestine Holloway, Southeastern Regional Director, sent a letter to Dean Margaret Cunningham, Dean of Student Life, informing her of the approval and plan for the chartering. Alpha Delta Omega, a graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., officiated the chartering ceremony held on Saturday, November 11, 1972 in Branscomb Quadrangle, making Alpha Kappa Alpha the first black Greek letter sorority at Vanderbilt University.

The members of the charter group were thirteen dynamic young women from Vanderbilt University and George Peabody College for Teachers. From Vanderbilt were Bennye Forrester, Cheryl Guess, Pauline Harrow, Deborah Jimmerson, Joann McCoy, Deborah Nash, Eunice Rogers, Sylvia Taylor, and Carmencita Turner. The students from Peabody were Jean Anderson, Sharon Lee, Myron Oglesby, and Nancy Richardson. Alice Shannon, a general member at Peabody, affiliated with the chapter during this process. Deborah Jimmerson became the first Basileus (President) of Eta Beta, and Ida K. Martin, a former Basileus of Alpha Delta Omega Chapter, became the chapter's first graduate advisor.

For thirty years, the women of Eta Beta chapter have fulfilled the fundamental purpose of “service to all mankind.” Twice a week, the chapter works with children at the Andrew Jackson Boys and Girls Club to help improve the children’s reading skills. Through projects with various organizations such as the Edgehill Community Center, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity, the chapter has committed itself to making the world a better place.

The exemplary women of Alpha Kappa Alpha provide a dynamic force in the Vanderbilt community. Members are active in the Black Student Alliance, the National Society of Black Engineers, as Dormitory Resident Advisors, and in numerous honoraries, and other campus organizations. The chapter also boasts of the crowning of one of its members, Ashley Moore, as the 2002-2003 Vanderbilt Homecoming Queen.