Howard University Student Laura Cofield Talks Alpha Kappa Alpha Lawsuit In Fox Interview
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- (Repost) KollegeKidd.com/ The Black Greek Letter community was rocked by recent news that the nation's oldest African American sorority was being sued for violation of human rights and allegations of hazing.
In a lawsuit filed on Feb. 28 in federal court, Howard students Laurin Compton and Lauren Cofield allege the sorority's Alpha chapter barred them from entry due to their familial status. The young women happen to be "legacies," meaning their mothers are members of the sorority.
Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon, Laura Cofield and mother Lessie Cofield appeared in a Fox television interview to explain their reasoning behind the lawsuit.
Gordon called the lawsuit a "breach of contract case," saying Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority's "by-laws and constitution has a legacy clause."
"What that clause says is that 'If you do certain things as a member; if you remain active, remain financial in the organization, then you have the right to bestow the legacy status upon your daughter,' so Miss Cofield did everything she was supposed to do to be able to benefit from that right," he said.
The Sorority, founded Jan. 15, 1908, issued the following statement:
Despite the plaintiff's disappointments and complaints, AKA did not violate the legacy clause in its constitution and by-laws because that is not a guarantee of membership to a particular chapter, but simply provides for priority process.
Gordon refuted that statement, saying, "It is a guarantee of membership provided that the candidate does everything they're supposed to do. It does allow a priority. Legacies go first and then everybody else afterwards. These are not our rules. This is in the AKA constitution."
Lessie Cofield, a 30-year member of AKA, called the rejection of her daughter's entry into her beloved sorority "personal" given the fact she has done her service, "supported fund-raisers," and "attended chapter meetings."
"This is where most of my friends are," said Cofield, who is an Alpha chapter initiate. "Most of my friends either pledged me or I pledge them. My husband also graduated from Howard. We have a big circle of friends. My friends have known my daughter her whole life and watched her grow up to become a remarkable young woman. They are actually saddened by the fact she is not on the line."
Laura Cofield says the biggest misconception is that she feels she is entitled to wear the letters of Pink and Green. But she does feel she did everything she was "supposed to do as a student."
"I've always kept my grades up, I've been very, very active on my campus, I've really honestly been a model student," she said.
The young women alleged they were subjected to hazing rituals, which included being called "weak bitches" and being forbidden from wearing pink and green colors and white pearls.
The young women are reportedly seeking monetary damages and want the court to halt the sorority's pledge process.
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_lol she’s a member now. Crossed during Covid when they were letting everyone in. I admire her persistence._
Wow
Y’all, this wasn’t nor will it ever be the last time. The legacy Claus come up about ever 15 years, especially at Howard, the Apha; Ask your grandmas-we were there and, and ours before us.
This is crazy! I tried for Omega Psi Phi 5 times at my school and never got close. I sat and talked to the president and he told me "Because of my demeanor and how I carry myself, he felt like I wouldn't enjoy the undergrad experience and recommended I go Grad chapter. At that point, I realized I didn't want to be apart of that chapter anyway. Like her, I was a model student and had the highest GPA each time I went to the interest meeting, but I didn't get in. I didn't cry or go running to the local grad chapter, even though a friend of mine who is with a grad chapter told me I should have spoke with them and they would have gotten me online. I didn't want to go about it that way. If they didn't pick me because they wanted me or saw my value then that wasn't the chapter for me. She should move around and count her blessing. It may have been the best thing for her to not get accepted.
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU...SOMETIMES (I THINK), I WISHED THEY HAD DENIED ME ACCESS!! LOUIS (MINISTER), FARAKHAN TOLD ME, THEY ACCEPTED HIM, HAZED THE SHIT OUT OF HIM (FOUR- FIVE WEEKS), WHICH MEANS THERE WAS PRE-HAZING; THEN ULTIMATELY BLACK-BALLED HIM. HOW WOULD IT LOOK NOW, WITH MIN. LOUIS FARRAKHAN BEING A MEMBER OF OMEGA PSI PHI...? SOMETIMES THERE IS SOMETHING BIGGER...LIKE YOU YOURSELF!!
Great way to handle the situation.forcing someome to accept you creates a hostile situation.
@@rogers5622 it will always backfire one way or another. That's life. Besides, we weren't put on this Earth to please others, the only approval we need is God's.
This is goofy
Why would you WANT to be a part of an organization that doesn't want you though?
I am a legacy of AKA but if they hadn't accepted me, I wouldn't be trying to get in. That's nuts. That's like suing a man because you want him and he doesn't want you! If she wasn't chosen it was a reason. Move forward sweetheart.
But the fact is you were accepted so you really can’t speak about.
Blessing in disguise, honey. God has something bigger and better for you #laurencofield
At first i thought this was a sour grapes issue. However, if this is written in their by laws and constitution, she has the right to membership regardless of how the membership feels today. She must be allowed membership and if this is an issue in the future, bring this up for a vote and amend the constitution. If this were going on in my frat, i would welcome him with open arms and call him brother. if this were apart of our by laws, the bruhs would just have to deal with it. Their founders set this in place long ago for this very reason. Embrace your new sister and if you do not, then your not beholding the true meaning of sisterhood as defined by your founders.
prskyguy I agree with you. What bother me is the lady say legacy is only afford that "her paperwork would be put ahead of everybody else's", what dose that mean? If that's the case then that's not preferential treatment because she's Legacy.
@@BabyGurlnJP she probably had a very nasty entitled attitude. Howard probably has 40 legacies that made it.
@@rogers5622 yeah! Exactly what it sounds like! Who wants someone with a stank attitude tainting what their organization stands for? If they would've accepted her, the founders would probably be turning in their graves.
What I have a problem with is how her mother has all these friends in the Alpha chapter and can't get her daughter in. This is like how Black people are members of a church for 30yrs and cannot acquire help. The mother should stop paying her dues to an organization that does not support her interests. Stop investing in organozation that don't support your best intrest
...but everybody just cant go that way 🤦🏾♀️
WHAT WAY? SORRY IDU..
As a meme er of Alpha Kappa Alpha I approve this message.
Savage
She could have tried again at undergrad or tried at the graduate level
I had a friend that went to 3 different chapters after being rejected. She finally found someone to let her in. Like move on gurllll.
I don't think she will have any chance of getting into AKA at all now that the lawsuit is out in the open. She might've opened another can of worms.
Update (7/16/21): I read online that her Mom was stripped of her membership with AKA, so she has no chance at all 🤣🤣🤣
@@the1lique182 your friend had a lot of guts not giving up on something that meant a lot to her 🤣🤣🤣
This girl in the video is now a member. She got in Spring 2021 🥰 God bless you Sistergreek. She stayed persistent and done graduate chapter
@@jessicajamesspeaks that’s not true she’s still an active member
so because her mom “did her part” she thinks she should get in ? what an entitled family
Sour grapes 🍇 is right. You didn’t get in deal with it.
No one wants a "Negative Nelly" tainting their org 😂
She was my teacher. Honestly no one liked her and now I see why
Wow... It had to be something! LOL! She thought she could wear their colors too during Ivy Day I heard... they was like ..Oh no bitch! LMAO!
@@GoldenLarkVoice an example of perping! There's nothing wrong with wanting something as good as that but don't force others to give you approval or beg for it. It makes you look pitiful.
@@jessicajamesspeaks I so agree with you.
@@GoldenLarkVoice she is an AKA now
this is an issue of entitlement she feels like she is suppose to be in because of her mom no sweetie life doesnt work like that move on and try to pledge a different level you cant do a lawsuit because they wont let you in get over it she is truly entitled
This is ridiculous. Just your mom and all her friends are AKA's doesn't mean you're automatically in? The mom and all her friends... Is no guarantee you're getting In! I'm not even in any sorority and know that!
Legacy laws do mean they automatically get my mom is a AKA and she wanted me to pledge legacy but I didn't want to because you're not respected if you come in that way but her mother is right if she pays her dues and remains active then her daughter is automatically accept in.. or should be but they call that skating
@@sheamarcelle and if she is entitled , she probably wouldnt want to go thru the same process as her line sisters .
I went to a PWI during a time when the whole D9 was on the yard on my campus and people wanted to join this or that organization because their friends were in it 🤦🏽♀. It took me until my 30s to realize that what may work for one person won't always work for everyone.
@@sheamarcelle _Some legacies don’t apply legacy at all for a number of reasons. They join as regular members._
She can say it anyway she wanna say it. She feels like she deserves to be an AKA because she’s a legacy and that’s the first thing we were told to let go lol
Sincerely NeNe but why? I don't agree with them suing, but why would you let go of legacies. Hopefully, you don't have daughters. You will be salty if your daughter didn't make. I'm a Delta legacy. Legacies learn from birth about the organizations. Why reject them?
Sincerely NeNe sorority members shouldn't be jealous of legacies. Makes no sense.
@@yourstruly_777 Noone likes someone with an entitled attitude. I met a legacy 2 weeks ago who is delightful and not at all entitled. A great candidate.
@@rogers5622 most legavies aren't entitled one bit. That's just a jealousy non legacies put on us. All my legacy friends knew they had to earn their letters. I definitely knew. I just have a problem with anyone who feels they should eliminate a candidate simply because they are legacies. As legacies we are so busy trying to hide our legacy status because we don't want automatic rejection. I just wrote a letter for a legacy for Spring 19, and she was sooooo super impressive with her service. She automatically knew the only place she should mention her lagacy status was on her application. Most legacies are great candidates and y'all know it.
@@yourstruly_777 it seems that we are actually on the same page. In my comment I made comparison between this young lady(well mostly her Momma) vs the delightful legacy that I recently met. Apologies if your experience has been with those who always dislike legacies .
I know I'm late, and I'm not a member of a BGLO, but from this GDI stand point, I thought just because your legacy doesn't mean you are a shoe in?
This is straight up ridiculous. Being a person who have been rejected from some things, I’ll just keep on going and try again. Reason why is because doing that will let people know that you are serious and that they see the fight in you
I've been rejected from countless opportunities, jobs, etc in my life but it's not the end of the world. It's God's way of saying that either it's not your time or something better awaits you.
In the lawsuit it alleged that during their Freshman year the two students were accused of wearing pink and green and refusing to follow protocol from the very beginning. Then they reported the protocol as hazing, which led to the Sorority being suspended for two years.
If they were wearing colors during Probation, that breaks the rules of every sorority I know of. I pledged in 1985 so I'm sure it's changed, but at my college, pledges wore a ribbon bow in the sorority's colors pinned to their chest over their heart every day during pledging. Those were the only colors or insignia we could have during that time. They should have known that if it's still the same today.
They did her a favor. Hopefully, she came to understand.
I'm sick of entitlement and people who feel they are entitled to get what they want. Why would you want to join a sorority if they don't want you?
Same.
Same.
Unfortunately, there are extenuating circumstances that people cannot always overcome. Sometimes people express that they want to be in an organization to people around them and because they did keep their grades up, they were active in the community Jealousy occurs. She wants to pledge Alpha Chapter because of the historical importance as it relates to her mother pledging that chapter and the fact it’s where the Sorority started. I hope she can overcome this disappointment because there will be other roadblocks in her life and GOD has something better for you. This too shall pass.
Throwing a hissy fit is not going get you anywhere Lauren. You can't always get what you want. So you weren't chosen? Too bad.
Well y’all She’s a member now. 😄 I think she joined grad. Bless her heart. 🤣😂 she got her pearls!!!
@@sweatpea2 she must've got lucky hmm 🤔
@@jessicajamesspeaks _during Covid it was easy to get in._
Seems more like the moms issue then hers. She wanted her daughter to get into her undergrad chapter . More then 30 years in aka is extremely commendable and I know she put in work but they just ain’t see it for your daughter.
So she gets rejected or wasn't invited? It's not the end of the world. Just because your Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, whatever does not mean automatic invitation to the sorority. A sorority such as AKA is looking for young women who will uphold and exemplify the ideals and aims of the organization. Being a member of a sorority such as AKA requires so much more. (PSA: I'm not affiliated with any NPHC sorority.) I'm just speaking on what I learned. I want to join an NPHC sorority, eventually, one day. But right now it's not my time. Your time will come. You just have to be patient.
It’s all ways AKA
What the hell do they do?
Oh my, the K's are at it again more infighting.
Smh should just went grad now you have a target
And noone will want her 😏
Something doesn't add up 😂 There are two sides to every story. Yeah I think she might be very well blackballed from joining AKA at all.
@@jessicajamesspeaks _Shes an AKA now. Crosses during Covid on zoom. She pledged grad chapter._
thats not her name
The girl on that yard don't want her wearin' those letters. Her hair ain't straightened which is a unwritten prerequisite to be in that. She wanna be down bad.
Her picture should be under the adjective "pitiful" and "thirsty" in the dictionary 😂
She's not the only one who wants it bad. I've received many rejections in my life (i.e. employment, colleges, etc.) but I didn't take anyone to court over something that can taken care of eventually.
_I joined with locs in my hair so that’s false._