The Mu Beta chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., hosted a series of events this week emphasizing the chapter’s mission of public service in honor of its 50th charter anniversary at GW.

The chapter, chartered this week in 1975, held programming that included a talk with Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, the former under secretary of state for arms control and international security, as well as a race to raise awareness for sexual violence. Members of the chapter’s executive board said the events were centered around the theme of “monumental brilliance” because it connects back to the sorority’s mission of public service and advocacy for the Black community.

Stephanie Animdee, the chapter’s president, said she wanted to “shout out” the work of the sorority’s members that came before her throughout the week’s programming. She said the work the chapter does now, like community history lessons and bystander awareness events, could not be done without past members’ efforts to work with the GW community through service events.

“I just want to give a very heartfelt thank you to them for always being there for us,” Animdee said. “We are a small chapter, and so it definitely does take a lot to do the work that we are doing, and it couldn’t have been possible without their help.”

Animdee said the nine women who chartered the chapter in April 1975 were “amazing” and added that a majority of them will be present during celebrations this weekend.

“I already know we’re all going to tear up when we see them,” Animdee said. “To see Black women my age in the 70s do something at the height of racism and so much inequality occurring.”

The chapter was the first Black Greek letter organization on GW’s campus. Since then, seven more Black Greek letter organizations have been chartered at the University as a part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which unites the organizations through group events and community service.

The chapter hosted a talk with Jenkins in the Elliott School of International Affairs on Tuesday, where she discussed her three years of experience in the State Department under former President Joe Biden’s administration from 2021 to 2024 and gave advice to students in the audience about entering public service. Jenkins is an honorary member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the current Shapiro Visiting Professor of International Affairs.

In her opening remarks, Jenkins called out the Trump administration’s removal of Black historical figures on federal websites, like the now-reversed removal of Jackie Robinson’s U.S. Army career from the Department of Justice’s website. She said the federal government’s actions are “unfortunate,” but to “truly eliminate” the history of Black Americans is a “challenge” because people continue to share Black Americans’ history in person.

“Taking names off lists is a superficial effort at most, and in the end, will not succeed,” Jenkins said. “Maybe because we won’t allow it. We can all continue to share stories of Black Americans.”

In response to a question about what legacy means to her, Jenkins said she must recognize the people who came before her in the Black community because of their role in shaping the world she lives in today. She said generations before her had to go through different struggles and those after her will go through trials different from hers, which is something she said she keeps in mind.

“People who have come before us, recognizing them and not letting those stories and that history get lost, because that is our legacy,” Jenkins said.

Sanai Pope, DST’s programming chair, said the chapter chose Jenkins for the talk because she had a wide breadth of experience in international affairs and public policy.

“Bringing someone in that is well versed and has a lot of experience in international affairs and just public policy in general, I feel like, was a good way to talk to the general student population but also just to talk about issues that we see happening in the world now, from a different perspective,” Pope said.

During the week, the chapter also hosted a pop-up shop, a cookout and a “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event to promote awareness to end men’s sexualized violence.

DST hosted the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event in Square 80 Wednesday, calling people to stand together against sexual violence. The event featured a race amongst members from Delta Tau Delta, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Psi and Phi Beta Sigma fraternities, and the attendees recited a pledge that vowed to help end sexual violence.

The race pitted runners from the different fraternities against each other in a tournament. While the event was titled “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes,” only one fraternity member brought heels, which quickly broke after one race.

Another student who saw the races taking place went to his dorm and brought his own heels to participate in the event. Myles Wasserman, a member of Delta Tau Delta, won the “tournament.”

“Our main interest was about a lot of different events on different topics, so sexual and domestic violence, and then also international affairs, just touching on a lot of different topics to get a well-rounded set of events,” Pope said.