When Alexis Archer ’22 discovered that the College of William and Mary had a chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA), she knew right away that she wanted to join. Archer has known since she was a child that she wanted to be an AKA; her mother joined AKA after college and, like many others, has been an active member since. Now, years later, Archer is ending her time at the College as the president of the Nu Chi chapter of AKA.
“My mom was always very involved with AKA,” Archer said. “Even though she joined before I was born, she was involved with AKA my whole childhood. She still is. She’s still an active member. My whole family is AKAs — my support system. They’re just a group of women that I’ve always really looked up to, and I’ve known since I was young that I wanted to do the same and be a member in the same organization.”
“My mom was always very involved with AKA,” Archer said. “Even though she joined before I was born, she was involved with AKA my whole childhood. She still is. She’s still an active member. My whole family is AKAs — my support system. They’re just a group of women that I’ve always really looked up to, and I’ve known since I was young that I wanted to do the same and be a member in the same organization.”
AKA is a Black Greek letter organization and a member of the Divine Nine, which is a group of historically Black sororities and fraternities. The College’s Nu Chi chapter was established in 1981. The sorority is devoted to service work in their community and currently has 18 members.
Archer joined during the spring of her freshman year.
“When I first joined, it was great; I made a lot of connections with Black women on campus that were older than I was,” Archer said. “I was definitely really shy. A lot of people joined, maybe because they knew someone in the organization that they looked up to and that they wanted to be a part of. But I didn’t know anyone in the chapter. I knew from my family that this is something I’ve wanted to do. So I didn’t know anyone going in, and I made a lot of long-lasting relationships with those women over time.”
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic which hit during Archer’s sophomore year, AKA was no longer able to take in any new members. The sorority was forced to change to a remote style, like many other on-campus organizations, which provided them with a whole new set of challenges.
“Those connections only got stronger with COVID, because we weren’t able to take new members in,” Archer said. “And so my relationship with the women I had already met and fostered relationships with just became stronger as we put on events for the campus and did other service projects and tried to navigate how AKA would still make an impact on the William and Mary community and the Williamsburg community virtually.”
“Those connections only got stronger with COVID, because we weren’t able to take new members in,” Archer said. “And so my relationship with the women I had already met and fostered relationships with just became stronger as we put on events for the campus and did other service projects and tried to navigate how AKA would still make an impact on the William and Mary community and the Williamsburg community virtually.”
It was not until last spring semester that the sorority was finally able to initiate new members, with whom Archer has been able to make new relationships.
“I made new connections with them, and then again, we took new members in this fall,” Archer said. “And so my relationship with them has only grown stronger as I’ve been able to teach them how to be a quote-unquote AKA, how they can make a connection and leave their legacy on this campus and in the Black community. And, you know, keep AKA — the Nu Chi chapter — alive when I do leave.”
Archer says being an AKA means being a standup woman — someone who is willing to give to others more than they do for themselves.
“Being an AKA to me means being, we have this saying, being an alpha woman,” Archer said. “Making an impact on your community, doing good. Part of our purpose at AKA is to provide service to all mankind. That just means being of service to everyone, no matter what they look like, no matter what they stand for.”
AKA’s prominent service can be seen all around campus. Every semester during finals, they hand out goodie bags filled with snacks and affirmations. They also have put encouraging sticky notes around campus and academic buildings. Just last week, they were handing out COVID care packages at the Sadler Center.
AKA also works within the larger Williamsburg community. They have visited nursing homes where they play bingo with the residents and bring food and lunch for the nurses. Nu Chi has also organized an “angel tree,” in which they bought a little girl the presents off her Christmas list.
Archer, who has been trying to increase the organization’s visibility around campus, says not many students know about AKA and that should be the opposite.
“Making sure that we’re reaching further than just the Black community, and that everyone feels welcomed by us and feels like they can come to our stuff and celebrate holidays with us,” Archer said. “We just want to make sure we reach everyone.”
“Making sure that we’re reaching further than just the Black community, and that everyone feels welcomed by us and feels like they can come to our stuff and celebrate holidays with us,” Archer said. “We just want to make sure we reach everyone.”
Becoming president in the fall of 2021, Archer says the position has been stressful as she attempts to accomplish her personal goals for the sorority as well as the goals set by the national level. She has attempted to make the sorority members closer through sisterly activities and increase AKA’s social media presence.
Archer is also hoping to bring back some programs the organization had to stop during the pandemic, such as the mentorship program they used to have with Berkley Middle School.
“It can be a lot, but definitely my favorite part is being able to take my skills and my ability to see the best in people and bring out the best in people and apply that to an organization that stands for so much,” Archer said. “It has the ability and the means to make such a huge difference to a lot of people’s lives.”
Outside of AKA, Archer is a biology major and an environmental science and policy minor. After she graduates, Archer is heading to Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Pharmacy, where she hopes to pursue pediatric pharmacy. Archer is also a lover of plants and possesses over 30 in her bedroom.
Even though she is graduating, Archer plans to be a lifelong member of AKA.
“That’s stressed from the beginning when you joined one of our D9 organizations.… It’s expected that you continue your membership like for a lifetime,” Archer said. “That’s definitely something that I want to be involved with for as long as I’m able to.”
Archer emphasized just how important service is to her, and how impactful it could be to someone else if you are able to provide a service for them. To the student body, she encourages students to reach out and try to understand other cultural organizations on campus.
“Not everyone, like I said, knows about AKA, and we do a lot that might be of interest to other students that don’t know about our events, simply because they haven’t tried to explore other organizations or tried to be aware of the Black organizations on campus or other multicultural organizations on campus,” Archer said. “We make a huge impact, and we deserve more of a voice, more of a platform.”