Fifteen women came together in sisterhood to support the chartering of a Bennettsville chapter in 1997.   The organized interest group was named the “Pearls In Waiting” of Bennettsville, South Carolina.

On June 14, 1997, 89 years after Alpha Kappa Alpha’s inception, these determined and business minded women were chartered as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Upsilon Sigma Omega Chapter of Bennettsville, South Carolina.

The chartering officers were elected as follows: Gloria Dudley – President; Robyn Johnson – Vice-President; Barbara Abraham – Recording Secretary; LaShone Allen – Assistant Secretary; Diane Sparks (Grant) – Corresponding Secretary; Carrie Ash – Treasurer; Eva Johnson – Financial Secretary; Shirley McLeod – Hostess; Deborah Thompson – Sergeant at Arms; Patricia Henegan – Ivy Reporter; Rena Windham – Chaplain; Valerie McClain – Historian, and LaRhonda Henegan – Parliamentarian.