SOUTH ATLANTIC REGI    N

During the 26th National Convention held in Chicago, Illinois, August 1960, the directive was given by then National President, Jeanne Noble, to proceed with the creation of a new region -- The South Atlantic Region. The creation of the South Atlantic region made it the seventh region of the sorority. The Southern Region, which then included South Carolina, and the Eastern Region, of which North Carolina and Virginia were a part, were much too large for effective relationships both in travel and programming. The geographical proximity, the common pressures of social issues, and the inherent feeling of state kinship which is shared by Virginia and the Carolinas made the union a more logical one. 

When created, the region consisted of 54 chapters --17 undergraduate and 37 graduate chapters with 1400 financial members making it the second largest of the seven regions. Soror Marietta Cephas of Petersburg, Virginia, accepted the appointment as Director of this new region in September 1960. The first South Atlantic Regional Conference was held at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, South Carolina, April 6-8, 1961. Our dearly beloved Founder Soror Jimmie Bugg Middleton graced this inaugural conference and extended greetings to the more than 100 Sorors in attendance. Soror Cephas presided. The second Regional Director, Edith Tweedy, was elected in 1964 at the second South Atlantic Regional Conference in Petersburg, Virginia. 

Today, the South Atlantic Region is under the leadership of the Regional Director, Trish R. Johnson of the Hickory Alumnae Chapter. The region consists of over 160 Collegiate and Alumnae chapters located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Bermuda.