Enduring Bonds of Black Sororities and Fraternities Last a Lifetime

Black sororities and fraternities provide college activities and opportunities similar to those offered by white Greek organizations—friendships, parties, networking opportunities and community service. Black Greek members take great pride in identifying with their organization's colors, which are worn like calling cards. But the ties that bind are well-known for remaining intertwined beyond graduation, says Lawrence Ross Jr., author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities.

"One of the threads within our organizations is that we continue,” Ross says. “You don't just get your college degree and leave."

Ross, 54, joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity while a student at the University of California, Berkeley. He first noticed the fraternity during student protests targeting apartheid and aimed at getting corporations to divest from South Africa.

While the fraternity has some notable members, “I was less impressed by the famous names,” Ross says. “I was more interested in how I could see myself in the organization and what it could do for me and what I could do for it.”

A sense of belonging to an evolving extended family radiates through those who pledge.

Darlena Ricks, 52, joined the AKAs in 1989 when she pledged at James Madison University.

Every summer, Ricks travels with five or six of her line sisters (people who pledged with her in college) who live in the mid-Atlantic region. They go to beaches or casino resorts and always leave husbands, boyfriends and children behind.

"We've been with each other through marriages, divorces, remarriages, babies, high school graduations, college graduations,” says Ricks, who teaches marketing at a high school in Reston, Virginia. “I have sorority sisters that I'm closer to than members of my own family."

As a member of the AKAs, Ricks felt pride when Harris was elected vice president. Support for Harris transcended the AKAs, as Deltas, Zetas and Sigma Gamma Rhos all honored Harris by wearing pearls and the vice president's favorite Chuck Taylor sneakers on Inauguration Day. Rivalries between Black Greek organizations, like those depicted in Spike Lee's iconic 1988 film “School Daze,” are often left on campus.

"I have friends who are Zetas, Deltas,” said Ricks. “The colors might be different but at the end of the day, for the sisterhood and the betterment of the race we are all in sync."

Career advice and mentoring

Lasting bonds don't just apply when it comes to families and friendships. Black Greek organizations are known for the way they bring people together in business, provide mentorship and career advice to young professionals, and highlight opportunities.

Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers (from left to right) Gerald Rawles, Lawrence Ross Jr., Jimar Wilson, Lawrence Gilliam are opening a business together.

Courtesy Lawrence Ross, Jr.

Ross stays in touch with his line brothers and with other frat brothers recently opened a business, the Metaphor Club, a Los Angeles-based coworking space aimed at Black creatives. The coowners are all members of his Alpha alumni chapter, though they pledged and attended colleges ranging from Stanford University on the West Coast to Temple University on the East.

For Trent, who is the deputy director of the State of Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity in Detroit, her sorority gave her the opportunity to hold leadership positions at a young age, providing valuable experience. When she was in her 20s and just starting in her work, sorors in their 50s and 60s provided some of her most valuable mentorship.

"Because I was just beginning my career and my life as an alumnae chapter soror, they gave me wise counsel and took a very active interest in my success,” she says.

Trent considers her sorors part of an unbreakable chain, and she is a link. “Now I know that it's my turn to be someone's Delta mentor,” she says. “I hope that I can be a blessing to them the way Mrs. Webb and others have been to me."