Environment and community -
two things l passionately believe in
protecting and enhancing. I strive to
impart to students a deeper
understanding of the people, cultures, j
and ecosystems that co-exist in the
work of the environmental design
profession.
Responsibility and ethics - two
qualities that are intrinsic in the work
that design professionals undertake. I
see in many of my students a desire to j
participate in the building of
community, to improve the world in
which we live, and to learn from each
other and the accomplishments that j
together we are capable of achieving, j
Celebration - should be about j
making contributions to our 1
community, cherishing our friendships, i
and having fun.
hhl
L OiLirliLUtG
students who are
building
community,
protecting the
environment, and
making responsible
choices about
alcohol.
Stan Jones, MLA, MCP
Department of Landscape Architecture, UO
UO studem
when they
Data tafcen from 1998 UO Health Center Survey
'A >
Sorority
continued from page 1
across the world who are mem
bers of the United State’s oldest
international Greek letter organi
zation focused on African-Ameri
can women.
“To me, Alpha Kappa Alpha is
like that great redwood tree,” said
Grace Strauther, an educator who
is also a member of the graduate
chapter of AKA, Upsilon Gamma
Omega. “More than 900 chapters
[are] branches. Sigma Delta today
is the newest of those branches.”
Undergraduate students from
both the University and Oregon
Sate University comprise the new
charter, and they gathered Sunday
in the Eugene Water and Electric
Board building to celebrate their
new membership in AKA. The
graduate chapter has been in
stalled on the University campus
since 1994.
AKA is unlike many other
sororities in that it doesn’t station
itself in a house.
“With our sorority, it’s not real
ly about a house,” said Kim
Hutchinson, a junior ethnic stud
ies major and president of the Sig
ma Delta chapter. “It’s basically
about community service and
having fun.”
AKA makes it a point to get out
side and provide service to those
around them.
“We pledge to help our com
munity and leave them better
than we found them,” Strauther
said.
Among their activities, AKA
members have a partnership with
the Red Cross, participate in men
torship programs with children
and put on a fashion show to ben
efit a homeless youth foundation
through Looking Glass.
“It’s an organization about help
ing the community, and that’s one
thing that I really, really love do
ing,” said Isa Burns, a freshman
marine biology major from OSU
and one of the newest members of
Sigma Delta.
AKA was founded in 1908 at
Howard University and has since
then claimed such members as
Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King,
Jada Pinkett and Eleanor Roo
sevelt.
Taryn Thompson, a graduate
student studying journalism, said
the sorority is not exclusive to just
African-American women; all
women are welcome to join, and
the charter at the University is
proof to that.
“This is more about relation
ships with one another, service to
all mankind, sharing African
American culture [and] serving
our community,” she said.
The women of AKA got their
due Sunday, as speakers at the re
ception expressed confidence that
they would each pave paths no
one could ever imagine.
“They’re beautiful, and they’re
smart, and they have this poise
and grace about them that enticed
me to join the sorority,” said
Brandy Alexander, a sophomore
public relations major.
Kelly Coleman Johnson, presi
dent of the graduate chapter of
AKA, marveled at how far the
women before her had come and
how much they had accom
plished. In the early 1900s, she
said, African-Americans were not
even allowed citizenship in Ore
gon. Now they were chartering a
sorority.
“I’m sure that the founders of
Oregon are rolling over in their
graves,” she said. These are
“women who are intelligent,
bright, vibrant, who are making
history in the state of Oregon.”