First ever African American sorority president elected at University of Alabama
Hannah Patterson made history at the University of Alabama with her election as president of the campus’ Sigma Delta Tau sorority. Astoundingly, the University’s 17 panhellenic sororities have never had an African American president. As reported by WBRC Fox 6, the 22-year-old engineering major has been a Sigma Delta Tau sister for a year and said, “I’m extremely honored that my sorority voted me as president.” Hannah hopes to help with the growth saying, “I wanted to use my leadership skills to better the sorority and just take our chapter further places.”
Recently, there were reports of discrimination within the University of Alabama sorority system, which the school administration responded to stating, “We are committed to ensuring that all students have access to and can choose from multiple opportunities that match their personal interests and goals.”
Sigma Delta Tau sorority, which has 3 African American members, said that their decision to choose Hannah as their president had nothing to do with the recent controversy. Member Kristen Feyt told WBRC, "She was just the best for us and she’s so pro-active in our sorority.” The historically Jewish sorority has a past overcoming discrimination with their founding members, who started Sigma Delta Tau nearly 100 years ago when they were discriminated against by other Greek organizations.
Our congratulations to Hannah on her history making election!
