Delta Week kicks off with panel on black achievement gaps

“What’s holding us back?” asked sisters from Multicultural Greek Council African-American interest sorority Delta Sigma Theta.

Delta Sigma Theta discussed gaps in African-American performance in the fields of science, technology, math and engineering on March 14. The panel discussion, held in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, touched on reasons for apparent performance gaps among black students as well as how to promote education in the sciences.

The panel discussion was part of the sorority’s annual Delta Week, a weeklong series of events that highlights social, economic and cultural issues. This year’s Delta Week began with the event “Lite Gospel” at Philadelphia Christ Community Church on March 12 and ends with on March 16 with “Sister Talk,” an event discussing sisterhood within Delta Sigma Theta.

“It’s a tradition that goes way back,” Engineering senior and DST’s historian Magalie Lilavois said.

Lilavois, who moderated the March 14 panel discussion, is also president of Penn’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

“The annual event allows the sorority to showcase relevant issues, “ she said. “I think the statistics we show about performance gaps in SATs and the number of Ph.D.’s that African Americans receive are really powerful and impactful.”

Lilavois added that although several of the sorority’s events focus on African-American interests and issues, the discussions benefit everyone in the Penn community.

Panelists, like math lecturer Idris Stovall, emphasized the need to rekindle interest in math and the sciences in the West Philadelphia community.

“I think of myself as a Robin Hood,” Stovall said. “I want to make sure that our resources are fulfilling the needs of the West Philadelphia community.”

Villanova University’s Associate Dean of Engineering Stephen Jones, who also participated in the panel, urged the audience to go into public policy to solve these issues.

“Public policy makers are the ones who decide what kind of testing happens, and what kind of resources schools get,” he said.

However, the last panelist, Engineering graduate student Kendrick Davis, said the problem lies within.

“A major problem is that a lot of us in this community are looking for quick gratification,” Davis said. “I am not saying that there aren’t contributing factors, but one way to solve this problem is for African Americans to just work harder.”

The Delta Sigma Theta national sorority mandates that each of its sorority chapter events fall under one of the “Five Point Programmatic Thrust,” which range from economic development to political awareness and involvement. However, this year, Penn’s Delta Sigma Theta decided to “hit” three of the five thrusts with its Delta Week, College senior and sorority president Yaadira Brown said.

“Our event today, is hitting upon the education development thrust,” Brown said of the March 14 event. “Our week has been going well. We see around 25 to 30 students at every event.”

“The response is largely from the African-American community,” she added, “but we are glad that people have come out to show their support.”

College senior Ijeamaka Obasi, a DST sister, believes that Delta Week represents what the sorority is all about.

“Delta Sigma Theta is all about change,” she said. “Everyone at Penn is a future leader, so getting this information out there and making people more aware may result in affecting actual change.”

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