TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INC., FOR SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES WORLDWIDE, TO FURTHER RECOGNIZE AND CONGRATULATE THE GEORGETOWN ALUMNAE CHAPTER OF DELTA SIGMA THETA FOR ITS OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE AND PUBLIC OUTREACH ACTIVITIES FOR ALMOST FIFTY YEARS, AND TO CONGRATULATE THE MEMBERS UPON THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION'S CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY.

Whereas, founded by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University on January 13, 1913, Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., has used the collective strength of its members for a century to promote academic excellence and provide assistance to persons in need; and

Whereas, the first public act performed by the Delta founders involved their participation in the Women's Suffrage March in Washington, D. C., in March of 1913; and

Whereas, a sisterhood of more than two hundred thousand predominately Black college-educated women, the sorority was incorporated in 1930 and currently has over nine hundred chapters located in the United States, England, Japan, Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Republic of Korea that provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world; and

Whereas, Delta Sigma Theta has distinguished itself as a public service organization that boldly confronts the challenges of African Americans through a wide range of programs that address education, health, and international development, and that strengthen the African-American family; and

Whereas, numerous public service initiatives through the sorority's Five-Point Program Thrust emphasize economic development, educational development, international awareness and involvement, physical and mental health, and political awareness and involvement; and

Whereas, in 1968, twelve women in Georgetown who purposed to make a difference in the lives of other women and in their respective communities met under the guidance of Mrs. Thelma Gilliard to discuss the possibility of starting a chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, and in 1969 the chapter was incorporated as the Georgetown Alumnae Chapter under the direction of the South Atlantic Regional Director Barbara Jenkins Williams; and

Whereas, after a brief period of inactivity in the chapter, a group of recent graduates of Voorhees College contacted the chapter's president, Mary Ella W. Greene, with interest in helping to reactivate the Georgetown Chapter; and

Whereas, in 1980, the chapter reactivated with Nancy Hudson serving as president, and under the leadership of seven presidents in its forty-four-year history, the sorority has continued to provide public service to the community through such programs as Scholarship, May Week, Young Teens Conference, Delta Day at the School Board, the biennial Jabberwock Pageant, and Mary Help the Sick Hospital in Africa, and through partnerships with Mental Health of Georgetown, Relay for Life Georgetown, and Diabetes CORE of Georgetown County; and

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives appreciates the outstanding work of the eighty-nine members of Georgetown Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta in the Georgetown community and wish them continued success as they celebrate the sorority's centennial anniversary on May 4, 2013. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., for significant contributions to local communities worldwide, further recognize and congratulate the Georgetown Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta for its outstanding community service and public outreach activities for almost fifty years, and congratulate the members upon the national organization's centennial anniversary.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the Georgetown Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.