SIU’s chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. hosted a watch party for the presidential election results on Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the Sharp Museum auditorium at Southern Illinois University. According to its website, AKA is the oldest Greek organization founded by African American college-educated women. It is a nonpartisan sorority that has chapters worldwide. 

Among its members is Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.  

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“We were the first that was founded – Jan. 15, 1908,” Faith Miller, co-chairman of the chapter’s connection and social action committee, said. “So as being the first, we embrace that as being first. Our support is for her as our sister, while the organization cannot endorse any political candidates.” 

One of AKA, Inc.’s initiatives is to advocate for social justice. Miller said that because of that, the chapter wanted to ensure that its members were staying involved in the voting process. Additionally, they wanted to provide a means of stress relief during election night.

Neophansya Robinson, who serves as the committee’s other co-chair, said, “We thought it would be a great opportunity for us to engage the community, to come together and to, as (Miller) stated, to just kind of de-stress, because emotions are high, stress levels are high. So this is an opportunity, as I stated, to come together over food, fun and games as we watch the election results come in.” 

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Robinson said the event was advertised locally. 

“We created a flier; we just posted it on all our social media platforms,” she said. “We also, you know, good old fashioned word of mouth, texting out text messages, and just invited the community at large to attend.”

The event’s turnout was small but lively. Around 20 members of the local community and AKA came together to enjoy refreshments, games and each other’s company. When the projector malfunctioned briefly, the group began a game of Heads Up!, which was accompanied by lots of laughter. 

“The game – again, just a stress reliever – because everybody, for like, what, 10-20 minutes forgot about that (the election), started yelling and screaming at each other,” Miller said. 

Jacari Henderson, director of Saluki Cares and undergraduate advisor of SIU’s AKA chapter, said the event was a group effort. 

“It was basically kind of like an all hands on deck,” she said. “We were asked to bring items, asked everyone to kind of come together to obviously witness, hopefully, a special moment in history.”

Although they did not endorse their sorority sister, the members uplifted Harris and the work she has done for the country. Both Miller and Henderson commended her for focusing on unity and inclusion. In campaign advertising, Harris has pledged to “be a president for all Americans.” 

“She’s running on, she wants to be, or intends to be, the president of all America,” Miller said. “It’s not just a specific subgroup of population.” 

Henderson described Harris as strong, resilient and brave. 

“I think that she’s overly qualified for this role,” she said. “I think she has all of the characteristics and traits that this country needs. She, in my opinion, is the epitome of democracies. 

“As a leader, you do what’s best for the betterment of the group, and not specifically your personal interest or value or what you think you’re able to get out of a certain position. So I think that she, like I said, number one, is overqualified for this job, and I’m happy…as a woman of color, that she has taken the initiative to bring more awareness, to be at the forefront, specifically in this battle as a leader. I think that it’s needed. I think that women, it’s our time to be in leadership positions. And I think again, she was the right one for the job.”  

Before the event concluded at 9 p.m., Stephen Robinson, Pastor of Zion Temple Church of God in Christ, guided attendees in a prayer for the nation. 

“I do believe too, God has the end, you know, the final say,” Henderson said. “And I just pray that whatever is the end result, that, you know, we can come together and move forward as a country, and not, you know, be against one another, and so I am hopeful…It’s not over until the last vote gets in and gets counted.” 

Miller said that it felt good to experience a historic moment with the group. 

“It’s a person, you know, potentially, that looks like a lot of Black and Brown people in America; first woman, first African American woman,” she said. “We’ve already had (the) first African American male as president. So this is a watershed moment for this country. Do we want a woman to lead? That’s basically it. Do we want a woman as a leader? When other countries have had women as leaders?” 

Despite her anxieties, Henderson said she was glad to be in attendance and to uplift her sister. 

“Anytime that any member of our organization is being highlighted or celebrated, we want to make sure we’re sharing awareness, we’re rallying behind them with their purpose and their mission,” she said. “Our sorority obviously can’t endorse any candidates specifically, however, we do make sure that we support and we show up in numbers in droves for members who not only believe in their missions and their values, but we want to see kind of, you know, a shift in a lot of the things that that are happening right now, currently, in our climate and in our country.

“So, you know, we’re happy to be here today, this evening, to again, like I said, hopefully witness a special, pivotal moment in American history. You know, even if it does not go the way that we want it to, we still commend her, we still support her. We’re so very proud of her and all the accomplishments that she has accomplished thus far. And so again, we (are) anxious, obviously, to see what the results are, but very happy and very proud of Kamala Harris. She’s done a magnificent job since she decided to go ahead and get in the race. She’s hit the ground running.” 

She said she believes this election is a time to reflect and come together as a nation. 

“I think it is time for us to unite as one, because we are stronger when we come together,” she said. 

Live election updates from the Associated Press can be found at https://apnews.com/live/trump-harris-election-updates-11-5-2024. 

News editor Carly Gist can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.

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