Two thousand twenty-two marks the Centennial of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority incorporated. Rolling out had the privilege of speaking with the 25th Grand Basileus, Rasheeda S. Liberty, about her multi-career leadership, the 100 years of impact for women, service, scholarship, and plans for the next 100 years.
What do you guys have planned for your centennial?
We are taking over Indianapolis, but we’re also taking over the world. So, we will light up the city. At that event, we are coming to the table with one million service hours committed, $2.2 million in philanthropic gifts in the community, and unveiling the seven schools we have been quietly building over the last seven years. We’re excited to showcase that programmatic work. Still, we will have a homecoming celebration with an HBCU band. We’re going to have a traditional homecoming on the campus of Butler University, our public meeting, and of course, we’re going to have several concerts.
Talk to us about the mission for the next 100 years and what it encompasses?
We talked about our founders thinking about a flywheel. That means a community that keeps on giving. They knew that if women are empowered, they inspire, and if women are inspired, they become mothers, they become teachers, they work in courtrooms, boardrooms classrooms. Hence, they become powerful to younger people, which enables the youth. And so, when we enable the youth, the legacy keeps going. So, when we think of a greater world, a greater impact, greater women, and that word “greater,” we know that the communities will be more powerful if we build ourselves and become a sowing girl organization. That’s what Sigma Gamma Rho is about, and that’s what our 100 years are about and what our next hundred years will be.
What are your goals for the organization under your leadership?
I want to plant seeds in the ground, and when I say seed in the ground, that is an indication of what we’re doing with our schools. Our founders stood for education, and I know their life was a dash because they’re no longer here, but my life is also a dash, and my life as Grand Basileus is just a dash. I want to make sure I do as much as possible to fulfill our founders’ purpose, so schools are very important to me, and scholarship is very important to me. I want to make sure that young people can continue to go to school, be educated, and fund them, but … we have to give them the money to do that.
Standing up for a student loan debt will be a legacy to families for years to come. If we can eliminate that [student loan debt], that will be a game-changer for this economy and Black culture overall.
