During the entire year of 1989, eight Alpha Kappa Alpha members met to form an interest group to plan the establishment of a chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® in Harrisonburg, Virginia. For many years, several AKA women teaching at James Madison University had dreamed of establishing a graduate chapter to assist the undergraduate members in the Lambda Chi Chapter. However, the number of members living in the area was never large enough to establish a graduate chapter. When Dr. Joanne Veal Gabbin realized that several AKA women had moved into the area, she took steps to bring together members Connie Coles, Brenda Grissom, Mary Ann Murphy, Marlena Stevenson, Daphyne Saunders Thomas, Felicia Banks Thomas, and Jacqueline Walker to begin the work of forming a new chapter.
They called themselves the “Harrisonburg Pearls” and organized several activities to accomplish the goal of establishing a chapter. First they came together on several occasions to get to know each other. They often discussed the problems facing the Black community in Harrisonburg and how they would intervene to assist groups and individuals with such problems as low self-concept among high school girls, few scholarships for Black students, and limited educational and cultural activities for young people of color.
After viewing the video presentation prepared by the National Headquarters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® , they conducted several workshops with Mrs. Marye Jeffries, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director, to begin the chartering process. Several professional women who had recently moved in the area were invited to become members of Alpha Kappa Alpha. With the assistance of the Charlottesville Chapter, seven Women — Antoinette Bullock, Wanda Coley, Debra Fields, Ramona Houston Rogers, Diane Parker, Wanda Slayton, and Diane Strawbridge — were inducted into the Eta Phi Omega Chapter.
With the fifteen women ready to form the new chapter, Mrs. Jeffries set July 8, 1989 as the date of her official visit to Harrisonburg. After all of the necessary documentation was forwarded to the Directorate and approved, the Sigma Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc® was chartered on December 16, 1989. The Chartering Ceremony was officiated by Mrs. Marye Jeffries. The charter certificate was signed by Mrs. Janet Jones Ballard, International President, Mrs. Freddie L. Groomes, International Secretary, and Dr. Joanne Gabbin, Chapter President.