On March 15, 1997, a small group of Alpha Kappa Alpha women met to form the beginnings of an interest group to develop a chapter in the Edwardsville, Illinois community. The hostess for that meeting and those that followed, the woman whose vision and persistence led to the development of this chapter, was Soror Nola Jones. Under the presidency of Soror Davina Pulliam, these sorors named their club Sisters with Pearls. It was the genesis of the first graduate chapter of a Greek letter organization of primarily African American membership in Madison County, Illinois. On Saturday, January 31, 1998, at Mount Joy Baptist Church, Edwardsville, Illinois, Upsilon Phi Omega Chapter was chartered under the leadership of Central Regional Director Soror Peggy Lewis-LeCompte, during the tenure of our Supreme Basileus Soror Eva Evans. Following the charter ceremony the following officers were installed: Patricia Penelton, Basileus; Gail Mosley, Anti-Basileus; Adele Carpenter, Grammateus; Yvonne Jordan, Pecunious Grammateus; Sheila Hamilton, Tamiouchos; LaTongia Hayes, Epistoleus; and Davina Pulliam, Ivy Leaf Reporter. At the gala that followed, the seventeen charter members greeted Madison County and the Greater St. Louis metropolitan community. History was made that day.
At the chartering program, greetings came from many dignitaries, including 17th Central Regional Director Soror Johnetta Randolph Haley, Edwardsville’s mayor, our district’s state representatives, the governor, the local NAACP president, and representatives of the cluster’s alumnae chapters (Gamma Omega, Delta Delta Omega, Omicron Eta Omega and Omicron Theta Omega), and representatives of other Pan-Hellenic alumni chapters in the St. Louis area. The new chapter made certain its presence was known by presenting thousands of dollars of gifts to the Edwardsville NAACP, Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Educational Advancement Fund, Lincoln School Alumni Association (the historically black elementary school in the city), undergraduate chapter Epsilon Iota, and a newly established fund for human service awards, named after Soror Marla Rene Dickerson, Ivy Beyond the Wall. The program was followed by an elegant reception where charter members joined family, friends and other VIPs. On this occasion, the first Basileus of Upsilon Phi Omega Chapter, Soror Patricia Penelton, launched an energetic local program to meet the national sorority’s initiatives.