Sorority Kicks Up Heels in Cause of Scholarship

Sensible shoes flung aside, members of the Orange County Alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta kicked up their heels at the Grand Hotel in Anaheim on Saturday night at “Krewe of Minerva,” the first masquerade benefit to hit the ballroom in the Mardi Gras season.

“It feels wonderful to play out this fantasy,” said Barbara Mitchell, a guidance counselor for the Santa Ana Unified School District, who came as a beauty contest winner. “As professional women, we have a certain reputation to uphold. We try to serve our sorority as role models. But tonight’s the one night we get to wear a costume and change our personalities!”

The event marked the ninth consecutive year the sorority has staged the ball to raise money for its scholarship fund. “We’re all college graduates who want to help others get educations,” said Margaret Davis, chapter vice president. “We also stage workshops to help students prepare for their SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) tests.”

Five scholarships, ranging from $500 to $2,000, are awarded annually based on the amount the benefit raises, said event chairman Carolyn Vallas. She estimated Saturday night’s proceeds at $5,000.

The chapter’s first decade has been a time to prove itself, Davis said. “Prove that it is not just a social club but a professional body of educated black women who are striving to provide public service. And during our next 10 years I expect people, when they hear Delta Sigma Theta, to stop and take notice.”

The national sorority counts singers Lena Horne and Nancy Wilson among its honorary members, said committee member Fannye Steele, dressed in brilliantly hued carnival garb. Steele joined the sorority as an undergraduate at Albany State College in Georgia. “I was a boarding student, and it provided family without family being there. After coming to Orange County, I joined the alumnae chapter because I loved its camaraderie and concern for others.” Member Jennie Green, wearing a flapper get-up, said she joined the chapter after coming here from Boulder, Colo., because she knew there would be “immediate receptivity. I knew I would be aligned with these women philosophically and spiritually, that there would be a bond. It greatly helps women when they move. You know you’re never going to be alone.”

Mitchell’s husband Horace, a psychologist and vice chancellor of student affairs at UC Irvine, said the sorority was “especially valuable for black women who live in Orange County because of the area’s low black population. There is no real black community to any large degree here. It provides a direct link immediately.”

Wrapped in a blue sari with matching gown, Cal State Fullerton President Jewel Plummer Cobb, a guest at the affair, said she belonged to Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. “This is my first time at this chapter’s Mardi Gras party, but I’ve been to others in other states. It’s one of this sorority’s biggest events.”

After exchanging admiring glances and howls of laughter--the biggest howl going to member Paula Fisher’s “lady in the shower” get-up complete with wraparound tub and spewing bubbles--guests settled down to a chicken dinner and dessert of vanilla ice cream with red fruit sauce--a nod to the sorority’s crimson and cream colors.

“Crimson represents the taper torch of wisdom,” said Barbara Mitchell. “And cream, the torch of fundamental principles.” Ruth Hicks is president of the chapter, which has 27 active members.