On Sept. 25, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA) and Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Incorporated (ΣΛY) hosted a feminine drive inside the Student Union, running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The feminine drive accepted donations of products related to feminine hygiene care, such as tampons and pain relief medication, as well as monetary donations. All proceeds are going to a local women’s shelter.
AKA was founded in 1908 at Howard University, in Washington D.C., according to the organization’s website. Notably, Democratic presidential nominee and current vice president Kamala Harris attended Howard University—where she was a member of AKA herself. In fact, AKA is historically an African American-oriented society and was founded by entirely African American women. The UConn chapter of AKA is known as Upsilon Mu, and the group is represented by green and pink colors.
ΣΛY, which was founded in 1987 at Binghampton University, according to their website, is historically based around Latina women. As opposed to the standard of calling their members sisters, the sorority instead opts to call them hermanas, as a nod to their heritage. While they are Latina-based, ΣΛY is not Latina-exclusive, and their primary ideals are sincerity, loyalty, and unity. The ΣΛY chapter located at UConn is the Alpha Omicron chapter, and their colors are black, gold and red.
The feminine drive is a perfect intersection between these two groups. The primary mission of AKA is to “help alleviate problems concerning girls and women,” whereas the ΣΛY website states that “we devote ourselves to serving our campuses and communities by giving, serving and volunteering.” Feminine products related to menstruation are essential for most women around the world, although many living in poverty struggle to secure them. Charitable efforts like AKA’s and ΣΛY’s joint feminine drive can help alleviate that stress for many women.
“We decided to do a feminine drive because we wanted to support women, and we wanted to give women a space to support other women,” said current vice president of the Alpha Omicron chapter of ΣΛY, Andrea Quiñones, when asked about the group’s choice to host the drive. Quiñones is in her fifth semester at UConn, majoring in biological sciences and in the pre-dental program. “I think it’s very empowering when we help one another.”
We decided to do a feminine drive because we wanted to support women, and we wanted to give women a space to support other women
Andrea Quiñones, Vice President of the Alpha Omicron chapter of ΣΛY
Sia Gbondo-Tugbawa also helped run the drive, as a member of AKA. Gbondo-Tugbawa noted that “Alpha Kappa Alpha has initiatives that we try to base our programs off of,” and the drive fulfilled her organization’s goals to “empower our families and uplift our local community.” Gbondo-Tugbawa is also in her fifth semester at UConn and is studying statistics.
When asked about the success of the drive, Quiñones noted that it was performing well and that the Greek community had helped through both monetary and physical donations. In addition to this boost, students who are not members of Greek life “have come by and asked questions and have donated, which is very awesome.”
Both sororities put a strong emphasis on service and community, and their actions reflect that. They have committed their time and effort to various charitable events over the years, and on Instagram, AKA and ΣΛY celebrate the birthdays and graduations of one another. Overall, the feminine drive represents a breath of fresh air for the women who will receive the donations and showcases the power of two groups working together.