“This empowerment allows our founder’s legacy to flourish through us.” “ push me to continue to be successful,” McClimon said. Laila McClimon, sophomore youth and community development major and president of Butler’s ALMIGHTY Alpha Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho, speaks on how this resilience even during pushback inspires her now.
The founders of Sigma Gamma Rho proved to be resilient as they faced prejudice and hatred walking to and from school. African American students faced discrimination daily.Īt the time of the founding of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., the Grand Dragon of the KKK lived right across the street from the new sorority’s headquarters. In 1927, Butler established a quota of only admitting 10 Black students annually. At least one member of the Butler University Board of Regents was known to support the KKK. While Butler accepted Black students beginning in their inaugural year of 1855, in the first decades of the 20th century, white supremacist ideologies strengthened. In addition, the Tolerance newspaper, which was published by the Chicago American Unity League, exposed over 12,000 Marion County Klan members. In 1928, the paper won a Pulitzer Prize for its investigative work against the Klan.
They revealed key city and state government officials that were Klan members. The Indianapolis Times began an initiative to expose the Klan to the public.
#SIGMA GAMMA RHO SORORITY APSU FULL#
Right here on campus, organizational legacies have left imprints on Butler’s history - or as the Sigma Gamma Rho women say, her-story.Ī century ago, in a time full of conflicting ideologies on race with the emergence of harsh legislation limiting the mobility of African Americans, seven powerful women took a step forward to make their mark on Butler forever.ĭuring the 1920s, the Klu Klux Klan expanded throughout Indiana - an estimated more than 250,000 or one third of native-born white men in Indiana became members of the KKK. Photo courtesy of Khalilah Shabazz.ĮVA HALLMAN | STAFF REPORTER | History Month gives people around the country the opportunity to highlight the impact Black communities have had on society. Sigma Gamma Rho was established at Butler in 1922.
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