Clarice Redding Louis says she’ll never forget the day she was first introduced to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. It was 2008 and she was 18 years old—a fresh high-school graduate visiting Washington, D.C. as part of an exclusive Bank of America student leadership program. Louis was one of 200 people hand-picked from across the globe for a paid summer internship, which culminated in a week-long trip to D.C. to learn about the importance of government, private sector, and nonprofit organizations working together to improve communities.
But what most surprised her at the outset of her trip was seeing so many people decked out in salmon pink and apple green, Louis told Fortune. Thousands of Alpha Kappa Alpha members from all over the world had congregated at the nation’s capital for the organization’s centennial celebration. Even the White House donned pink and green banners, the official colors of the first Black college Greek-letter sorority for educated women.
Louis remembers stopping at a Starbucks and running into some AKA ladies who gave her the spiel about the organization, which has now recently entered the spotlight thanks to one of its most high-profile members, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who said being an AKA changed her life.
“They told me what each of their careers were and what drew them to the organization,” said Louis, a doctor of education and director of advancement for Community Partners of South Florida. “I was in love from that moment. That was July 12, 2008. I’ll never forget the date.”
Getty Images—The Washington Post
Like Louis, AKA sorority members take pride in the moment they first learned about the organization—and when they knew they were meant to join. Many of the whopping 360,000 initiated members across the world are legacy, meaning a relative had also been a member of the organization before them.
Lori Sloan has been an AKA member for 37 years, inspired by the membership of her late aunt. Her aunt “was a very active member” until she died in her 90s, “so I knew that it was something that was a lifelong commitment,” Sloan told Fortune. Sloan joined AKA as a member of Purdue University’s chapter.
Now, the 116-year-old organization has more than 1,000 chapters in 11 countries and all 50 U.S. states. But it all started at Howard University with its alpha chapter, back in 1908.
At the time of its origination, the organization’s founders…
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