University of Kentucky to Host First Muslim Sorority in America

November 27, 2005

Source: Lexington Herald-Leader

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/13266185.htm

On November 27, 2005 the Lexington Herald-Leader reported, "Take away the sorority house and alcohol-drenched co-ed parties. Keep elements of sisterhood and community service. Now add the tenets of Islam. The University of Kentucky is slated to become the site of the first campus chapter of Gamma Gamma Chi -- the only Muslim sorority in America... [Boushra Aghil, 20, a junior majoring in secondary education and Amira Shalash, 18, a freshman majoring in communications] became interested in the idea of a Muslim sorority on UK's campus after a friend told them of Gamma Gamma Chi, which was established last April by Althia Collins and Imani Abdul-Haqq, a mother-daughter team from Virginia and North Carolina... Collins said she became involved in establishing the sorority after her daughter Abdul-Haqq, at college in North Carolina at the time, approached her with the idea... Armed with a background in higher education management and business, Collins and her daughter set out to form their own sorority. Collins quit her day job running an educational consulting firm and now works full time to spur interest in the sorority. Along with those at UK, students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have expressed interest. Collins said there have been inquiries from 17 states and international requests from the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan."

See also: Islam, Women, Campus