Danielle Millberry always wanted to pursue membership in the sorority Sigma Gamma Rho during her time at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
That opportunity arrived on October 17, 1992, when the charter group of the Nu Delta chapter of the organization formed.
“Some other members of Greek life here I that was close to were the ones to enlighten me that the process had already started because they were actually sponsoring the chapter to come here,” Millberry said. “They put me in contact with our other charter members who had already started the process with headquarters and the rest is history.”
The Nu Delta chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho recently celebrated its 30th anniversary at UMES with a variety of events that took place during this year’s homecoming festivities on campus. The organization placed second in the sorority portion of the homecoming step show as well.
Also, among that charter group of 16 members in 1992 was Lisa Musgrove, who was a close friend of another member in the middle of the process. It was through that friend that she met fellow aspiring pledges.
“We were in the same major and she just told me to come to her house, and I met the other ladies that were interested, and what was so awesome was that they took the time to get to know me,” she said. “I took the time to get to know them and we actually prayed for the men and women who were in the (Persian) Gulf War at the time and that let me know that they were really rooted and based in Christian principles.
“That showed me that they just weren’t saying it, they were really about it. So, I was hooked after that.”
The 30th-anniversary celebration of the Nu Delta chapter also coincided with the 100th anniversary of the sorority’s founding on Nov. 12. Sigma Gamma Rho holds the distinction of being the only one of the four African-American sororities of the “Divine Nine” that was not founded at Howard University, as it was founded at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Dr. LaKeisha Harris, the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at UMES and one of the on-campus advisors for the Nu Delta chapter, has been involved with Sigma Gamma Rho since she crossed as a 19-year-old student at Bowie State University in 1995.
Harris had the opportunity to attend the Centennial Boule or council meeting, this summer in Indianapolis and at Butler where a new monument was unveiled honoring the founders of Sigma Gamma Rho.
“This summer, it was all about celebration,” she said. “Celebrating our founders, taking a trip, and literally walking in their footsteps.”
For the charter members of the Nu Delta chapter is something that has a special place in their hearts.
“I’m at loss for words and that’s not normal for me at all because I’m normally the one that has something to say,” Millberry said. “It’s the spirit that’s over us celebrating not only 100 years of sisterhood, scholarship, and service but knowing that we’ve been here on the campus of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for 30 years.
“And to know that we were all a part of that it just is a feeling that comes over me that I just can’t describe right now. I can’t even describe how good it feels to be home.”
