Washington, DC — The Northeast Region of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc will meet for its 70th Regional Conference Thursday, April 26 through Sunday, April 29, 2012 at the Omni Shoreham, located at 2500 Calvert Street, Washington, DC 20009. The Washington, DC community is invited to attend the region’s Public Meeting on Friday, April 27, 2012, 7:00pm-8:30pm in Blue Room of the Omni Hotel. The Region will host an Awards and Achievement Banquet on Saturday, April 28, 2012 from 7:30pm-10:00pm located in Blue Room of the Omni.

Attendees will learn how the sorority is making a difference globally as well as in the Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland communities by supporting the following:

• Military Families at Fisher House by donating gaming systems for their Family room.
• Phyllis Wheatley Young Women’s Christian Association by donating toiletry items for the residents and providing a monetary donation to the organization.
• Ronald McDonald House Charities with a donation of board games for the Family room. This is the second year that the Northeast Region of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc has supported Ronald McDonald.
• “Sigma on the Hill”, at Capitol Hill, in support of initiatives that important to the Sorority.

The Northeast Region Syntaktes (Director), Vanetta Cheeks Reeder, shares her excitement about this year’s conference in the Nation’s Capital. She welcomes the affiliates of Sigma, the Philos and Rhoers of the Northeast Region who “strengthen our foundation and keep us standing strong”. She believes “we are a team of women of all ages who are committed to making a difference in the world”. This event is being hosted by Phi Sigma Alumnae Chapter of Washington, DC and their undergraduates from Alpha Phi, Beta, and Omicron Phi chapters. The conference co-chairs are Mae Frances Frazier and Aida Dunn of Phi Sigma Alumnae Chapter.

Sigma Gamma Rho’s aim is to enhance the quality of life within the community. Public service, leadership development and education of youth are the hallmark of the organization’s programs and activities. Sigma Gamma Rho addresses concerns that impact society educationally, civically, and economically. Please visit www.sgrho1922.org for more information on the international organization and www.sgrhoneregion.com for more information about the Northeast Region. For media inquiries please contact Zaria Davis-Humphries at 704-380-1313 or by email at zdhumphries@salisburysgrho.com.

Actor Hill Harper is supporting a new national partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC),  Call to Service for St. Jude initiative, which launched earlier this month.

“NPHC organizations have deep roots in education and making a difference in the lives of our youth. Engaging this richly diverse membership through the Call to Service for St. Jude initiative will help raise awareness about St. Jude in the African-American community, while sharing the hospital’s mission of treating the world’s sickest children with the best care.”  Key messages: There’s still time for NPHC members, family and friends to support help St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital provide the best care to the world’s sickest children at no cost to their family by visiting stjude.org/nphc.

One reason this partnership is of such significance is because it is critical that we continue to educate communities about the importance of resources and treatment for pediatric cancer, sickle cell screening and treatment for the disease as well as research aimed at improving the quality of life for those living with sickle cell disease.  The NPHC is composed of historically African-American international Greek letter Sororities and Fraternities. Participating organizations include: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

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Actress Tonya Lee Williams will receive the Martin Luther King, Jr. Achievement Award at the Black Theatre Workshop (BTW)’s 26th Annual Vision Celebration Gala a week from Saturday in Montreal for her contribution in the Black performing arts.

Williams remains best known as fan favorite Dr. Olivia Williams on the top-rated daytime soap, The Young and the Restless. Her other notable roles includes Octovia Jones on the CBC drama The Border, and most recently as Maxine Williams on the VisionTV sitcom She’s The Mayor.

Tonya made her debut as the host of the children show Polka Dot Door, which led to guest spots on What’s Happening Now!, Gimme a Break!, Hill Street Blues, Falcon Crest, and Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.

Her role as Linda Dukes on the groundbreaking African-American NBC soap Generations led Tonya to her highest-profiling role to date: Dr. Olivia Winters as Y&R, earning her two Daytime Emmy nominations and two NAACP Awards.

In 2001, Tonya created and founded Reelworld (www.reelworld.ca), a film festival celebrating cultural diversity with the screening of films, documentaries, music videos, and shorts to both Canadian and international audiences.

The Vision Celebration begins with cocktails at 5:30pm, followed by dinner, dancing and entertainment an hour later at 6:30pm.

For tickets, call the Box Office at 514-932-1104 (ext. 226); more information on the Black Theatre Workshop can be found at www.blacktheatreworkshop.ca

In the wake of a college drum major’s death in Florida, a lawmaker from the state plans to introduce anti-hazing legislation when Congress returns in mid-January.

The bill would strip financial aid from anyone sanctioned by a university for hazing or witnessing hazing and failing to report it – including the victim, said Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson.

“Hazing is demeaning, dangerous and, sadly, deadly,” Wilson, a former school principal, told the Los Angeles Times, adding that the death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion warrants a federal response.

Florida has toughened the penalties against hazing, but Wilson said in an interview that, under her proposal, if anyone witnesses hazing – “including the victim, they will tell because they don’t want to lose their federal aid.”

Florida officials have ruled Champion’s death in November a homicide. The incident has drawn national attention and generated soul-searching on college campuses throughout the country.

Wilson, who has yet to draft the legislation, said she also wants the U.S. attorney general to set up a commission to examine ways to stamp out hazing.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005 signed legislation making hazing that results in serious injury or death a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, even if the victim consents. The bill, the Chad Meredith Act, was named after a University of Miami freshman who drowned in a campus lake while trying to join a fraternity in 2001.

Wilson said that, notwithstanding the new law, “we have had a plethora of hazing incidents,” but prosecutions have been difficult because “you can’t find any victims to talk.”

“We’ve got to take a tougher stance,” added Wilson, who said that she became known as the “haze buster” while serving as South Atlantic regional director for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. “It’s time to stop it.”

Congress has been considering legislation aimed at bullying, including requiring states to report bulling incidents and expanding programs for teachers, administrators and counselors on strategies to prevent bullying and harassment.

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. will launch its new program, Project CRADLE Care, on Jan. 21. To address the current needs of the community, there is a partnership with the March of Dimes under the Project Reassurance, Healthy Generations program.

“Project CRADLE Care” seeks to:

• Improve pregnancy outcomes in the community among women of childbearing age through assisting with prenatal education and care.

• Increase awareness and understanding among women of childbearing age regarding infant care and child development.

• Collaborate with hospitals, managed care organizations, community-based prenatal care providers, churches and other organizations.

According to the March of Dimes, one in eight babies is born too soon in America. Since the early 1990s, the rate of premature birth has increased by 20 percent. Premature birth is the number one cause of death during the first month of life.

Teenage pregnancy and parenthood are also a growing problem in America. About 13 percent of all birth defects affect babies born to very young women. Adolescent childbearing presents health risks to both mother and baby and has serious long-term consequences for teenagers, their babies and society.

In addition, the local chapter, Lambda Epsilon Sigma, participates in the March for Babies each fall, observes Annual Prematurity Awareness Month in November and Birth Defects Awareness Month in January, and hosts a Project Reassurance Community Baby Shower each April.

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s aim is to enhance the quality of life within the community. Public service, leadership development and education of youth are the hallmark of the organization’s programs and activities..

For more details about participating or volunteering, 704-904-1194, visiting the website: http://salisburysgrho.com or via email at info@salisburysgrho.com.

In November 2010, I watched “HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and saw a piece on the hazing antics at several historically black colleges and fraternities. I took to Twitter to share my thoughts on the issue.

Much of the report focused on Southern University, and man, did the floodgates open as a number of students from the university angrily tweeted me back, cussing, yelling and screaming, with some defending hazing, while others were angry at the national attention focused on their university.

For hours we went round and round, and were joined in the discussion by members of several black fraternities, including my own Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. A number of these individuals actually supported hazing, or “pledging hard” and not becoming a “paper” member who “skated” into the fraternity.

Despite the anger and vitriol, I refused to back down, making it clear that getting beaten for being in a band or fraternity was absolutely dumb.

Here was a young man who went off to college, planning to earn a college degree while leading one of the nation’s most colorful and exciting bands, only to be returned home to his parents in Georgia in a coffin.

While hazing immediately was suspected, we could only speculate about the cause of the 26-year-old’s death. That is, until Friday, when the medical examiner released details of his autopsy, concluding that Champion “collapsed and died within an hour of a hazing incident during which he suffered multiple blunt trauma blows to his body.”

News of the death has rocked the Florida A&M campus, angering its students and alumni, triggering multiple state investigations and leading Gov. Rick Scott to call for the suspension of school President James Ammons. That prompted FAMU students to march to the governor’s mansion on Friday and camp out on his lawn, demanding he rescind the resignation call.

Champion’s death isn’t the first time we have seen individuals in a band or fraternity die. It is incredible that some folks have given their lives — literally — for just being a part of a student group.

State laws have been passed, organizations have been kicked off campuses and national fraternal and sorority groups have paid millions in settlements because of hazing, but we continue to see these stories.

“Why?” is a consistent question that is asked, and at the end of the day, it boils down to power and a desire to demand others kowtow to someone else’s demands in order for them to be accepted.

A decision not to follow through means you can be ostracized, ignored and marginalized. That’s the last thing any young person wants to experience when in an organization.

Every one of these organizations is overseen by adult leaders or advisers. But in truth, fellow students run the show. Normally in a band, a drum major sits at the top of the food chain, but Champion clearly had to bend to the band’s culture to be fully accepted as a member of FAMU’s “Marching 100.”

So what you have is a bunch of students between the ages of 18 and 22 calling the shots and making it clear who is accepted and who isn’t, who gets in and who doesn’t. You aim to please them and no one else. Oftentimes they are leading based on how they were led, and it has been indoctrinated into them that this is the way of life, take it or leave it.

These are powerful forces that can only be changed by peers. Hazing will only be brought to a close when members of organizations make it clear the vile hazing traditions will not go forward. No one today can be hazed if the student leaders make it clear that it’s unacceptable. Yet because of the natural turnover in student organizations, that mindset has to be created and passed on for it to succeed.

When I was about to pledge Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. in spring 1989, I met with my four other pledge brothers and made it clear: I’m not getting hit, I will never use alcohol and I will not agree to be hazed.

Even though my older brother pledged the same fraternity at Texas A&M two years earlier without any nonsense, I was making it clear that such shenanigans were idiotic. All five of us agreed and in the four weeks, two days, 16 hours, 38 minutes and 39 seconds I was on line (yea, having to recite such specifics was a part of our process), the behavior that we often heard was associated with pledging didn’t exist.

Yet because of that, we weren’t always as accepted by other fraternity members at other campuses. Our chapter was called soft; we were criticized as not “pledging the right way” and had to constantly defend our manhood.

Me, I didn’t give a damn. I would look others in the eye and say, “In the history of our chapter, only one brother has failed to graduate, and we do nothing with him. Are you guys on the six- or seven-year plan, and can you match our graduate rate?”

From my perspective, we were supposed to be in college to graduate, not to pledge. And if my fraternity was founded as a study group at Cornell University on December 4, 1906, why would we eschew academics?

Even though we pledged the right way at Texas A&M, that peer pressure was still unbearable for some. That summer at our national convention in San Antonio, hazing was on the agenda, and I made it clear I was going to speak. Some other brothers in my chapter pulled my coattails and said, “Don’t tell the brothers you didn’t take any wood (that’s being paddled).”

I yelled, “If we pledged brothers the right way, why in the hell are we afraid to say it?”

Since those days, I’ve never wavered from my anti-hazing position. It is deplorable and shameful to think that someone would beat another person for them to prove something. Prove what? They can take a punch? No. I prefer to challenge his mind, his intellect.

Our goal as fraternity men is to take young men and mold and shape them to be better men. It is not our aim to take young men and train them to be collegiate mercenaries, hellbent on inflicting as much pain as they got onto the first person they have control over.

Is there tremendous value in fraternities, sororities, bands and student organizations? Absolutely. The leadership opportunities are tremendous, and the lifelong relationships are vital.

But what has to be preached and preached and preached to every student, whether they are white, black, Asian, Latino, male or female, is that if they love that frat, sorority, drill team or band, they shouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it for the next person.

Do we need tougher hazing laws? Yes. Do we need universities to take punitive action, including kicking students out who break the rules? Yes. Do we need national organizations to ban chapters for years for egregious behavior? Absolutely. Should fellow student leaders turn in others who break the rules and haze? Of course. There must be a zero tolerance attitude from every state official, administrator, student leader and organization member. To hell with tradition, rituals and “the way we do things.” All that must end. Now.

But we also must raise a generation of young people who have enough confidence in themselves to say, “I will not take a beating just to be accepted by you. I’d rather not have your affection or support if it means putting my life on the line.”

And if that means other students calling you out or teasing you, fine. I’d rather you talk about me like a dog today than be hazed and have my friends search to figure out what to say at my funeral.

It is time to remit dues for fiscal year (FY) 2012!  NPHC, Inc. operates on a fiscal calendar of January 1 to December 31. Annual dues are to be remitted by January 31 of a given fiscal year.

Undergraduate councils are responsible for dues in the amount of $150, Graduate councils with 1-9 Chapters in the amount of $250,  Graduate Councils with 10-19 Chapters in the amount of $300, Graduate Councils with 20-29 Chapters in the amount of  $350.00, and  Graduate Councils  with 30+ Chapters in the amount of $450.

Members remitting dues after February 15 must include a $25 late fee with annual dues. (1) If a council has not been financial in the previous fiscal year that council is responsible for remitting dues for the previous and current year, as well as a $50 reactivation fee (Ex. Undergrad councils = $350.00; Graduate Councils with 1-9 Chapters = $550.00; Graduate Councils with 10-19 Chapters = $650.00;Graduate Councils with 20-29 Chapters = $750.00;Graduate Councils  with 30+ Chapters = $850.00); and (2) if a council has not been financially active within a five year time period, that council must be re-chartered.

Again, you are advised not to wait until the last minute to remit your dues.  Should you have questions or concerns as to your council’s financial status and/or account balance, please contact NPHC National Treasurer at  treasurer@nphchq.org.

Attached is the link to the remittance form http://www.nphchq.org/docs/2012Remittanceonline.doc

Also use this link if you would like to remit payment online  http://nphccouncildues.eventbrite.com

Name: Cherrie Lemon
Major: Chemistry
Year: Senior
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri

After four years of marching band in high school, Cherrie Lemon was done. She decided not to join the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band her freshman year, but that all changed when she heard the tapping of drums after class. Since her sophomore year, Cherrie has been a dedicated member of the marching band and is currently serving as the first African-American drum major.

Bold beginnings

“I was in the eighth grade band and out of nowhere I asked my teacher, ‘Can I conduct the next song?’ I didn’t know anything about conducting and she let me. I figured out the pattern: down, in, out, up and I thought, ‘I could do this in my sleep!’ She told me I should be a drum major in high school and I went from there.”

Humbled by success

“I’m a really grounded person because I know I worked hard to be a drum major, and I know a lot of other people did, too. I know as easy as you get things they can be taken away, so I wasn’t going to get a big head about it.”

Adrenaline rush

“Marching is one of those mental things that comes from within. When we walk out on the field, everyone is looking at us. However long it is that we walk onto the field, you just have to be on it and in the zone. You can’t think about anything else.”

Mutual admiration

“I like it when women come up to me feeling inspired. It’s always interesting to see how they get inspiration from me, and how they inspire me, as well.”

Fearless leader

“I think people are afraid to succeed because expectations change once you’re successful. People expect greater things from you from that point on because they know your potential. I hate wondering, ‘What if?’ The worst thing you can do is not try.”