After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the sorority raised money for a disaster relief fund.
Other Alpha Kappa Alpha initiatives increased awareness of health-related issues, such as AIDS, sickle cell anemia, breast cancer, and the importance of staying in shape. The sorority supported the efforts of justice for the Jena Six. It also partnered with African Ancestry, allowing members to use DNA testing to find genealogical data for themselves and their families.
Centennial celebration: 2008
Alpha Kappa Alpha celebrated its centenary with a year-long commemoration in 2008. The celebration coincided with the sorority's biennial Boulé. The activities included sorority members donating $1 million in scholarship funds to Howard University, contributing libraries for Middle School for Mathematics and Science and Asbury Dwelling for Senior Citizens, and unveiling a digital version of the entire Ivy Leaf publication.
From July 11 to July 18, 2008, Alpha Kappa Alpha held their 63rd Boulé which included a town hall meeting with the public, a unity march in conjunction with other NPHC members, and a concert featuring honorary member Patti LaBelle. On July 17, 2008, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority set a Guinness World Record when 16,206 members participated in the largest-ever silver service sit-down dinner in a convention.
Alpha Kappa Alpha's accomplishments were heralded by the United States Congress, with U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and sorority member U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee introducing legislation in both houses of the United States Congress to commemorate the sorority's founding. In addition, the toy company Mattel designed a Barbie collectible doll fashioned with a pink and green evening gown.
140px|thumb|Ivy Leaf issue, 1934
Symbols
The sorority's motto is "By Culture and By Merit". Its colors are salmon pink and apple green.
The term soror, derived from the Latin for "sister", is used between members of the sorority. Deceased members are referred to as "Ivies Beyond the Wall". Honorary membership is Alpha Kappa Alpha's highest honor.
Membership interest is processed by an interest meeting called a "rush". After the candidate receives an official letter from the sorority, she can participate in the membership intake process. Prospective members must have a C+ or a 2.5 GPA average or better before their membership submission and a record of community service. If a prospective member has graduated, she could be invited to join the sorority at the discretion of the graduate chapter.200px|thumb|Ivy Leaf Pledge Club, [[Wilberforce University, 1922]]
Ivy Leaf Pledge Club
Historically, potential candidates for Alpha Kappa Alpha membership would join the Ivy Leaf Pledge Club before being inducted into the sorority. In Our Kind of People: Inside America's Upper Class, Lawrence Otis Graham tells of his aunt's experience in joining the Ivy Leaf Pledge Club:
According to Graham, the sorority would have "Pledge Week", a period where chapter members reviewed a candidate's grades and behavior. Candidates who withstood this period were initiated into the sorority. Twelve members have held the executive director position since the office's creation on October 9, 1949.
Original group of 1908:
Sophomores of 1910:
Incorporators of 1913:
International Presidents
Listed below are the thirty International Presidents since the 1913 institution of the office. "Supreme" is added to the title of an international officeholder, such as Supreme Basileus.]]
After establishing 32 graduate and undergraduate chapters in 1924, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority organized chapters according to their regions in the United States and abroad. The Boulé determines the boundaries of the regions. The ten regions are each led by a regional director, who serves a member of the sorority's board of directors. As of 2025, Alpha Kappa Alpha has 1,085 chapters in the United States and eleven other countries. For graduate chapters, "Omega" is added to distinguish those that consist of college graduates from undergraduate chapters.
Philanthropy
Ivy Acres
Senior Residences, Incorporated, a subsidiary of Alpha Kappa Alpha, is currently developing Ivy Acres, a retirement center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Ivy Acres will be one of the first retirement centers founded by African Americans and minorities in the United States. According to Business Wire, Ivy Acres will include 188 independent, 40 assisted-living apartments, 20 units for skilled nursing care."
Partnerships in Mathematics and Science
The sorority started Partnerships in Mathematics and Science (PIMS) in 1994 to encourage Black girls to pursue math, science, and technology careers. The National Science Foundation and historically black colleges nationwide sponsored campaigns to highlight the program's importance. The foundation awards academic scholarships (for undergraduate members of the sorority, as well as non-members), fellowships, and grants for community service.
200px|right|thumb|Centennial museum at the [[Walter E. Washington Convention Center]]The foundation was founded in 1978 by Constance Holland, the sister of former Alpha Kappa Alpha International president Barbara Phillips. It officially began in 1980, and the sorority donated US$10,000 for the project. Eight years later, the organization awarded $10,000 to fourteen students. In 1991, EAF awarded mini-grants to community organizations. In 1998, EAF provided the first Youth Partners Accessing Capital (PAC) award to an undergraduate member.
At the organization's twentieth anniversary in 2000, EAF published Perpetuating Our Posterity: A Blueprint for Excellence. The book served as a comprehensive history of the organization and a source of advice for other beginning philanthropies.
For the sorority's centennial, the foundation created the Alpha Kappa Alpha Exhibit to travel to several U.S. cities from 2006 to 2008. The foundation also celebrated the centennial by donating $2 million to Howard University. Half of the gift supported the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, which houses the historical artifacts, photographs, documents, and recordings of Alpha Kappa Alpha. The other half of the gift went to the Nellie M. Quander Scholarship Fund for partial or full scholarships junior and senior female students at Howard.
Notable members
As of 2025, Alpha Kappa Alpha has initiated more than 365,000 women and has 90,000 active members.
Member and chapter misconduct
Embezzlement
On June 20, 2009, eight Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority members filed a complaint in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia demanding that international president Barbara McKinzie be fired for improper use of sorority funds and the money be returned to the sorority. The lawsuit claimed that the sorority's executive board approved the spending of substantial amounts on McKinzie's costs of living, including the commissioning an expensive wax model of McKinzie that cost $900,000. McKinzie denied the allegations, describing them as "without merit". The sorority revoked the memberships of the eight members who filed the complaint in retaliation for the lawsuit, but a judge later required reinstatement. In February 2010, the Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit. On August 18, 2011, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed that decision.
On March 22, 2012, a forensic audit of Alpha Kappa Alpha's 2010 financial records revealed concerns with past president McKinzie's development and access to a "secret" bank account. The findings of the audit supported the claims in the previous lawsuit. The audit also found that two former officials continued using sorority credit cards after their service ended, failing to document charges appropriately. Another lawsuit against the organization, McKinzie, and other officials contained similar allegations. The audit found that McKinzie and the other officials secretly created a second set of financial books to get around the sorority's accounting policies. According to the audit, "(n)early $1.7 million in payments were made to the former president, Barbara McKinzie, without authorization. Approximately $282,000 in credit card charges on a second set of books appear to be fraudulent, including personal charges the sorority wasn't reimbursed for." The sorority later expelled McKinzie and won an arbitration award of $1.6 million against her. McKinzie challenged the award, but the appeals court affirmed the award in favor of the sorority.
Hazing
In 2018, the University of Pittsburgh suspended the Iota chapter because of hazing—a mother reported bruises on her daughter's arm. The daughter, along with eleven other students, admitted to having been involved in hazing practices at the sorority.
In a 2019 lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Illinois, the family of Jordan Hankins blamed Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. for her 2017 suicide. Hankins, a sophomore basketball player at Northwestern University, pledged to the sorority after receiving official membership. While backward pledging to gain respect from chapter members who went through a similar process, Hankins "was subjected to physical abuse including paddling, verbal abuse, mental abuse, financial exploitation, sleep deprivation, items being thrown and dumped on her, and other forms of hazing intended to humiliate and demean her," according to the lawsuit. An official statement from Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. says the sorority is "deeply saddened" by Hankins' death and declined to comment on the details of the complaint and her suicide due to the "sensitive nature" of the incident and "the ongoing grief her family is experiencing".
On September 9, 2002, Kristin High (age 22) and Kenitha Saafir (age 24) from California State University, Los Angeles died following a hazing activity. Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha instructed the women to perform a series of activities blindfolded on Dockweiler State Beach when a high tide came, and eventually drowned both of them. The next day, when the woman brought Kristin's car and cell phone to her mother, she noticed her pledge journal missing from the car and numbers deleted from her cell phone. Before Kristin's death, Kristin's mother encouraged her to fully disassociate herself from the sorority after Kristin discussed inappropriate behavior by members of the sorority. A year after the incident, the families of the deceased settled with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. after filing a $100 million civil wrongful death lawsuit. The sorority denied having an active chapter at CSULA, but the court rejected that assertion and found the sorority accountable for the deaths. No criminal charges were filed. The CSULA chapter had previously been sanctioned for hazing, and the sorority permanently expelled all members involved with the death.
Fort Valley Scandal
In May 2018, the Alpha Beta chapter at Fort Valley State University (FVSU) was placed under investigation by the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations due to allegations that the executive assistant to FVSU's president and graduate advisor of the chapter, Alecia Johnson, suggested low-income prospective members have sex with affluent men in Georgia to cover approximately $1,500 in required membership intake fees. Johnson resigned from her position at the university and hired legal representation to contest the allegations. In June 2019, Johnson pled guilty to prostituting herself and one FVSU student. Also, as part of her plea deal, she testified against the men charged in the prostitution ring. Her plea deal resulted in her getting five years of probation, 180 days of house arrest, and a $1,000 fine. GBI investigations led to indictments that included no members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha chapter. The sorority completed an internal investigation into the matter, and allowed the chapter to remain in good standing with the sorority's highest leadership.