Disciplines

African American Studies

Abstract

Interviewee: Monica Whiting Hogans

Interviewer(s): Mark Naison, Donna Joseph, April Fowler, Saudah Muhammad

Date: June 6, 2022

Summarized by Sophia Maier

Monica Whiting Hogans is from Mount Vernon, New York. Besides leaving to attend the Historically Black College/ University (HBCU) Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, she has lived there her entire life and become an important member of the community, including in the nearby Bronx. She has been connected with the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority since elementary school, as her teacher and mentor Anne Myers was a member and family friend. She joined the sorority at Morgan State, drawn to their commitment to service, and has since been a member of the Eta Omega Omega chapter. Myers sponsored her and she joined June 5, 1994, a year after graduating college.

Since then she has served as Chairman and Co-Chairman of events like Rites of Passage, Basileus (winning basileus of the year twice), and President of Eta Omega Omega. While Whiting Hogans considers them two distinct places, she is very connected with the chapter’s roots in the Bronx. Her degree and work experience in finance and accounting has been beneficial to her work in the sorority. She points towards connections with other sorors and the concepts of their group as a “sisterhood” as essential towards her and the greater organization’s success. She lists numerous other sorors who have had a great influence on her, especially through their positive encouragement, and also those who are in high levels of government, like Vice President Kamala Harris, as lending her strength and hope that change is taking place. Being in Alpha Kappa Alpha is what makes her feel optimistic and take action, as opposed to sitting around and waiting to see how things turn out.

Whiting Hogans is proud of community service like a Bronx health fair where they provided free mammograms for those without insurance, fixing up playgrounds, providing hospitalized sexual assault victims with new clothes and undergarments, and visiting seniors at St. Luke’s Hospital. She speaks to moments when members of the sorority have even come together to help her personally. Today, she wishes younger members would remember the ideals of manners and respect more, following in the decorum of a “sisterhood.” Whiting Hogans acknowledges the setbacks of the pandemic but encourages young people to get engaged.

Keywords:

HBCU, finance, Eta Omega Omega, Alpha Kappa Alpha, leadership, Mount Vernon, organizing, service, optimism, Barack Obama, Kamala Harris

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