Resolution 080328

..Title Recognizing and acknowledging Delta Sigma Theta Sorority on the occasion of its first Philadelphia City Council Delta Day. ..Body WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated was founded at Howard University on January 13, 1913, by twenty-two collegiate women with the primary focuses of community service and academic excellence de-emphasizing the social side of sorority life. Within weeks after its inception, these founders participated in their first collective act of public service, marching in the Women's Suffrage March in Washington D.C.; and WHEREAS, The twenty-two founders envisioned a community service sorority that would use their membership collective efforts to promote academic excellence, provide scholarships, provide assistance to persons in need, educate and stimulate participation in the establishment of positive public policy, and to highlight issues and provide solutions for problems in their communities; and WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated has been incorporated since 1930 and now boasts a membership of more than 200,000 predominately African American college educated women in over 900 chapters located in the United States, England, Japan, Germany, the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Republic of Korea; and WHEREAS, The major programs of the sorority are based upon the organization's Five Point Programmatic Thrust of: Economic Development, Educational Development, International Awareness and Involvement, Physical and Mental Health, and Political Awareness and Involvement; and WHEREAS, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated is highly recognized for their commitment to sisterhood, scholarship, community service, and the creation and implementation of programs that support the mission of Delta; and WHEREAS, As a national and international body, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated has participated in 19 Delta Days in the Nation's Capital, and in March of 2003 became a Non-Governmental Organization at the United Nations, granting the organization special consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations; and WHEREAS, Chapters from across Pennsylvania participate annually in Delta Days in Harrisburg, and we are honored and pleased to be joined by the members of the local chapters, Philadelphia, Quaker City and Valley Forge Alumnae Chapters, who want to continue their civic involvement and to further pledge their commitment to this City; now, therefore be it RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we acknowledge and honor Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, on the occasion of its first Delta Day in Philadelphia City Council. FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to each of the local chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, represented here today as an expression of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body. ..End