Alpha Kappa Alpha, Epsilon Xi Omega Chapter Records

Collection

Identifier: MS-0591

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Alpha Kappa Alpha, Epsilon Xi Omega Chapter Records date from 1972 to 2017 and consist of the chapter's publications, files documenting regional conferences and local events, an official history, and scrapbooks. The souvenir journals for the annual Debutante Ball comprise the bulk of the records and are filed chronologically. The journals feature short biographies of each of the debutantes and showcase their service to the community and educational activities through the year-long season prior to their formal introduction on the night of the ball. The advertisements in each journal were sold by the debutantes themselves to fund the event and the chapter's scholarship program. Some of the journals, including all produced prior to 1972, are not present. They are followed in order by files on a few conferences of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Far Western Region. These are followed by some files on chapter events honoring members of the local Black community, including Epsilon Xi Omega charter member Verna King. The chapter's official history, Through the Years: Reflections of Timeless Service, covers the chapter's founding, organizational structure, bylaws, membership, and past and current service programs. Two scrapbooks containing photographs and ephemera document the chapter's community service programs, political activism, and service to the national organization.

Dates

Creation: 1971 - 2017

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The copyright interests in some or all of these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creator(s) of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of archival collections is such that multiple creators are often applicable and copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. In any case, the user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, obtaining publication rights and copyright infringement. When requesting images from Special Collections & University Archives for publication, we require a signed agreement waiving San Diego State University of any liability in the event of a copyright violation.

Historical Note

Epsilon Xi Omega is the San Diego graduate chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the oldest historically Black Greek-letter sorority in the country. Unlike other sororities, Apha Kappa Alpha emphasizes a lifetime commitment to community engagement.

Originally founded in 1935 as Beta Kappa, a mixed chapter with undergraduate and graduate students, Epsilon Xi Omega was chartered in 1949 after the national organization dissolved mixed chapters. (A local undergraduate chapter, Mu Iota, was chartered in 1978). Epsilon Xi Omega belongs to the sorority's Far Western Region, comprising chapters in the western and coastal United States, and has hosted the regional conference several times. As a service organization, Epsilon Xi Omega directly sponsors or contributes to a wide range of programs in support of the education, health and economic well-being of underprivileged communities in San Diego county. The sorority's signature event since 1955 is the annual Debutante Ball, proceeds from which partially fund the sorority's scholarship programs. In the year leading up to the annual ball, debutantes chosen by Epsilon Xi Omega members receive instruction in college preparation, etiquette, and financial planning and are expected to maintain high standards of personal conduct, ethics, and scholastic achievement. The chapter also sponsors several programs for children and senior citizens. Since 1977 the chapter has sponsored several Head Start program centers in east San Diego (presently All Kids Academy Head Start). In addition the chapter has offered tutoring and educational programs in SAT preparation, reading, math and science. Since 1981, the sorority provided nutritional, entertainment and recreational services to senior citizens at the Euclid Terrace Apartments, and later at St. Stephens Retirement Center.

Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded at Howard University in 1908 (incorporated 1913) and today has more than three hundred thousand members in chapters in the United States and abroad.