Wednesday, July 23, 2008

AKA Turns 100… I Remember When I Gave A Damn.





I can’t front on the AKA’s I attempted to join their organization many moons ago. Prior to going to college I was not exposed to Greeks or the significance of their existence. In my neighborhood the only thing close to this was the Bloods, Crips, Gansta Disciples and the Vice-Lords.

My first few weeks of college I noticed how fraternities and sororities dominated our college campus. I made note that all the popular people belong to Greek organizations. I was captivated by the stepping, calls, gear and appearance of black sororities. On my campus there was always some beef between the Deltas and the AKA’s but it was all taken in stride.

Most of friends wanted to pledge Zeta, some wanted Delta, but me I wanted AKA. At that time AKA’s represented what I thought of myself. They were girly girls (such as myself), very business focused (another attribute of myself), community minded (me too!) and hated on by other black sororities.

My sophomore year came around and I was ready to pledge the pink and green. I went to their informational and was greeted with very professional women. They made me feel welcomed and suggested I would be a great candidate. However, the cost to pledge was $ 350.00. I was a little put off by the price, but hey this was apart of the process.

After filling out some paper work the next week I was officially on line to become a skee-weeing AKA. I was so excited I did not know what to expect but I met my line sisters and they seemed to be nice people who were just as excited as me. We were told from this point forward not to wear pink or green until we crossed over.

My first assignment on line was to meet my line sisters at a soror house. Once we arrived, we were told to clean her house from top to bottom. All the sudden these nice sorority chicks had become our pledge master and were screaming at the top of their lungs. WASH THEM DAMN DIRTY CLOTHS, SRUB THAT FLOOR ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES, POLISH THE SILVER, CLEAN THE TOLIET WITH A TOOTH BRUSH, WIPE DOWN THE WALLS AND CLEAN ALL THE CEILING FANS!!!!!!!


Hell, I had never cleaned my own house that good. Finally after a 6 hour cleaning session we were told to do the soror’s homework. After a full 8 hours of being subjected to cleaning and homework we were told to meet at another soror’s home at 11:00pm. After doing my own homework and working a few hours I was dead beat tired but I was ready when my line sisters showed up at my dorm room at 10:30pm.


That night we were told to wear white shirts and jogging pants. We lined up in front of a wall in a dark basement. Immediately we were hosed down with cold water. We were yelled at and humiliated as much as possible. They kept us there until 4:30am doing silly songs, dances, eating horrible concoctions and reciting AKA history on demand.


In the coming weeks the sorors made us babysit every weekend, pay for blunts and marijuana, pick kids up from school, do their homework, make breakfast in bed and drink tequila til we could barely stand up . As the weeks went by the insults hurled at us while on line got worse. “Do ya’ll really think ya’ll AKA material cuz ya’ll look kinda ugly to me”. “ Lil sista so in so , you can stand to lose at least 20 pounds.”

Then finally the wood came. The sorors began to hit us with wooden paddles when we did not answer questions correctly. Towards the end every mistake required someone be given wood. At some point someone reported the hazing to the University and they closed down the entire induction process. The AKA’s charter was kicked off campus for two years and could not pledge anyone at the school. During my senior year I was asked if I wanted to pledge again. I answered a resounding HELL NO.

Sorry I just did not like the hazing part. I just did not find it amusing to be cursed at, talked down to, and made to feel undeserving the entire time I was on line. Plus I knew the process from hell would start all over again. Not, to mention during that time I had matured greatly and no longer needed the Greek letters to feel accepted or important. My friends told me if you join without hazing you will never get any respect from the other sorors. I believe they were right, it just was not a right fit for me anymore. I do believe there are some benefits to joining a sorority, but I don’t know if it’s worth your dignity.

27 comments:

Kwansema said...

happen to chance upon ur blog.
Interesting post about AKA (lyk i really know what that is.lol)

About what you went through, sorry........................

Guess we all learn from things that happen to us dun we?

Anonymous said...

Lovely blog, what was the year that you went through with membership ?

Anonymous said...

lets be honest... if they wouldnt have gotten reported and you wouldve crossed, you wouldnt be on here snitching huh? or was it you that reported it? so you didnt know hazing was part of the process?

im not even GREEK but i am also not a snitch. do some research the next time you want to join any kind of organization and if you cant stand the heat...

Anonymous said...

Wow, if YOU did your research, you would know that hazing is not supported by the organization nationally. You seem like the type of person that would do anything just to get some letters.

Anonymous said...

R u dEAD asss like really wow im goin to go through as an aka if u did wat u had to get ur grades up nd toook alll of the hazing u would have got ur letters nd not being here talking shit u do wat u have tooo letters dont make u u make ur letters kkk

Unknown said...

Girl, ignore the haters, what you went through was riduclous but unfortunately a part of the process sometimes.

I appreciate the oppurtunity to read your blog. It was informative and honest.

It makes me sick how prestigous these organizations are and yet still act as though they have no sense, this is no way to treat someone you are soon to call your "sister". I'd hate to think of how they treat their "elders".

Anonymous said...

WOW ever since i was 13 i've wanted to be and AKA. I always knew there was hazing but not to this extent...i think i've changed my mind a little...maybe i'll just stick to sports and forget about get my letters???!!!

AKA#11 said...

I am a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and I will say this is not reflective of my sorority a whole. This behavior is strictly spoken against in our constitution, though it does often happen. I apologize that your high hopes for future greekdom were brought to a halt but I want you to know. It is not always like this...and to be quite honest, many other Greek organizations haze A LOT WORSE THAN THIS!! This story shouldn't be used to deter others from joining Greek organization, but it should be a warning to do your research in advance and make sure you know what you may be getting yourself into. Sincerely,
A proud member of AKA <3

Anonymous said...

To you all talking like hazing is supposed to be normal and accepted it definitely is not I'm not sure who told you but I hope that you all were not naive enough to go through with it without saying anything to higher authority. This process is supposed to be something you can look back on and remember and not cause yourself pain. To the original post, thank you for sharing your story, I'm sure many people would not. Hazing is wrong, that's why chapters who take part in it are usually given some type of punishment as a whole if it happens.

Anonymous said...

And for anyone who is planning on going through the process don't be discouraged, please believe this doesn't happen everywhere

Anonymous said...

I am going to go Grad chapter. I am very excited and also I think that is the safetest way to go.

Anonymous said...

I am happy I got to read your blog because I am wanting to pledge aka also and that intake process is what im scared of!

Anonymous said...

As a prospective member, I will not allow this to deter me. Nor will I allow myself to be hazed upon either!!

Unknown said...

Hello I'm a young lady at an hbcu and wants to pledge aka . I read your blog and I am sorry it happend to you . It happens but I've done my research and I'm going to go ahead and go through with it . I've been wanting this for like forever . Is there anyone who will give me guidence and help me out . I would really appreciated (:

Unknown said...

Hello I'm a young lady at an hbcu and wants to pledge aka . I read your blog and I am sorry it happend to you . It happens but I've done my research and I'm going to go ahead and go through with it . I've been wanting this for like forever . Is there anyone who will give me guidence and help me out . I would really appreciated (:

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