After almost two years of fundraising, seven alumni of the Upsilon Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. launched a “first of its kind scholarship endowment” supporting the USC Black Alumni Association’s scholarship program, which is dedicated to helping students cover the cost of their education. 

Delta Sigma Theta is one of the eight “Divine Nine” Black sororities and fraternities at USC, which are a part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. In 1924, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was chartered at USC and was only the third Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. chapter on the West Coast at the time.

This year, the alumni announced they would be establishing a scholarship endowment at USC to commemorate the chapter’s 100th anniversary this year.. 

Lisha Bell was one of the seven women who served on the endowment committee and worked to fundraise for the endowment. Like Bell, who became a Delta in Spring 2000, all of the women who served on the endowment committee were USC alumni who were initiated into the Upsilon Chapter. 

“As alumni of Delta Sigma Theta, the USC chapter, we started giving out scholarships many years ago, facilitated by Black alumni to really just try to support Black women on campus,” Bell said. “As the centennial was coming up, we decided we wanted to do something bigger.” 

At the ceremony the sorority organized to celebrate its centennial March 2, the endowment committee announced it had finally reached its fundraising goal of $100,000 after receiving a $50,000 check from one of its donors. 

Once the committee sends its $100,000 gift to the University, it will become USC’s first endowment by a members of a Divine Nine organization “committed to ensuring access to the University” — something Bell said she felt was more important than ever in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in June 2023.

“We lost affirmative action. We are in a place where marginalized people are losing access to important things such as education,” Bell said. “Education is the pathway to success, and so that’s why it’s so critical that in this time where we’re losing funds that we invest [in] these women on campus.” 

Reflecting on the sorority’s milestone endowment, Delta Sigma Theta alum Mykaila Williams said she was moved by the endowment committee’s commitment to “the constructive development of the Black community.” 

“I just feel so proud to be a part of a group of women who were able to create that legacy,” Williams said.

Williams, who was one of the members of the Upsilon Chapter’s centennial committee, said she felt the endowment was a reflection of the sorority’s broader dedication to community service. 

“Service and sisterhood and scholarship are equally three parts that the chapter takes so seriously,” Williams said. “The roots of this endowment and the concept of raising money for a scholarship — it’s not the first time that we’ve done that, this is just the biggest scale that we’ve done it on.”

Rachel.Amir Chatman, a senior majoring in biomedical engineering and the current president of the University’s National Pan-Hellenic Council, said she was drawn to join Delta Sigma Theta specifically because of the sorority’s strong emphasis on community service. 

“Growing up, I knew a lot of Deltas, and I saw the service that they were doing for the community was exactly the type of service that I wanted to do,” Chatman said. 

Chatman, who also serves as Delta Sigma Theta’s treasurer, said she’s excited to see the impact the scholarship will have on campus.

“I think [the endowment] will serve to really empower young students and make sure that those who may be overlooked or unrecognized are awarded for their passions,” Chatman said. 

Correction: A previous version of this article misrepresented that the Upsilon chapter of Delta Sigma Theta spent three years to create and eventually administer a $100,000 scholarship for Black women USC students. The article also misstated, that the endowment was the first by a “Black organization” committed to ensuring access to the University, that the endowment committee was composed of eight members and that committee members announced that they reached their fundraising goal at the sorority’s centennial March 2. This article was updated May 21 at 4:32 p.m. to reflect that seven alumni of Upsilon spent almost two years raising the $100,000 endowment independent of the sorority to support the USC Black Alumni Association’s scholarship program, which is not exclusive to Black women USC students. Committee members announced that they reached their fundraising goal at the sorority’s centennial gala March 2. Alumni from Upsilon said the endowment is USC’s first from alumni of a Divine Nine organization. The Daily Trojan regrets these errors.