“In service to all mankind” is the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority’s motto.

Although it was the first greek organization established by black college women, AKA aims to serve and include members of all races.

“It’s not just for African-Americans; we welcome people from all walks of life,” said Kalynda Webber, vice president of San Diego State University’s 20-year-old chapter.

Webber said the sorority does this by encouraging people from all races to rush.

The sorority was established in 1908 at Howard University by Ethel Hedgeman-Lyle and 15 other women. Hedgeman-Lyle’s plan was to improve college life for African-American women while giving back to the community.

AKA carries out that plan today through its many goals. One goal is to build senior residence centers for elderly African-American women.

“This is important because seniors are an essential part of the African-American family,” Webber said.

The graduate chapter of the sorority visits various senior-citizen residence homes and reads to the residents. Depending on the type of programs, they go twice a week. For the Martin Luther King Jr. parade, AKA members created a float exclusively for the seniors, honoring them for their service to the sorority.

Another goal is to establish a partnership with the American Red Cross to focus on AIDS-awareness education and other health issues that concern African-Americans.

“This will make diseases more visible in the community. We want to target students because this age group is most likely to get AIDS,” Webber said.

To achieve this goal, the chapter works with the Red Cross by holding blood drives each semester. The Spring blood drives are usually held in April.

Strengthening the African-American family is another goal toward which the sorority works.

“The family is the foundation for the community ? strengthening the family will strengthen the community,” Webber said.

In working toward this goal, AKA sponsors different events. On Feb. 19, the sorority will have an African cultural dinner with a speaker from Nigeria.

According to AKA’s historian, Jalilah Lewis, these goals are important for the sorority.

“We focus on these goals and try to give our time to helping those in need and touch every aspect of life,” she said.

To help achieve all these goals, AKA has scheduled a conference to be held July 6 through July 12, in Chicago, Ill. The conference includes every AKA chapter in the world.

The total number of AKA members worldwide currently is more than 500,000. The sorority has undergraduate and graduate chapters in the United States, West Africa, the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Korea and Germany.

A conference will be held specifically for the far-western region from April 8 through April 12. The far-western region comprises the chapters in California, Washington, Arizona, Oregon and Nevada.

At the international and regional conferences, the chapters are planning to discuss goals, have seminars on topics ranging from professionalism to sisterly relations and recognize different chapters for their achievements.

The sorority has been busy at SDSU this month through its celebration of Black History Month.

On Feb. 4, the sorority sponsored a presentation that focused on African-American inventors. On Feb. 12, there was “Just Kickin’ It,” which was an opportunity for students to get to know the members of AKA.

On Feb. 25, the sorority will sponsor a tribute to the African-American male, which will honor undergraduate and graduate students for their leadership skills. The tribute is scheduled to be held at 7:30 p.m. in Calmecac, located in lower Aztec Center.