Three days each year, love, unity, and service are foundational threads that bring members of Divine Nine Organizations together. This summer, the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Central Jersey hosted the 16th Annual We Are One Weekend of activities.
The conclusion on August 9 marked Liz Nolley’s first “We Are One Weekend” as president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Central Jersey. According to Nolley, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA), the council covers Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties in the Garden State.
Last Friday, members of Divine Nine Organizations gathered at a restaurant in Piscataway for the Greek Night Mixer. The next day, they held We Are One Cookout in Plainfield’s Cedar Brook Park. On Sunday, there was an outdoor worship service and block party at Shiloh Baptist Church of Plainfield.
Nolley said the We Are One Weekend is about “love for our community through the service we provide. It’s love for each other as members of the Divine Nine and it’s a celebration of that. I think too often, you can go down a lot of negative rabbit holes on social media and other places when the topic [of the] Divine Nine comes up. This [weekend] is just a great representation of the power that we have as a collective when we move as one to support each other, to make an impact on the community, and just make a difference. We’re going to have some fun. Yes, we like to step and stroll. Yes, we do our calls. Yes, there are friendly rivalries. But it’s about our collective impact. What I want us to leave behind is a feeling of love for each other and for our community.”
Nolley, an immediate past president of the Phi Eta Omega chapter of the AKA, remembers when the council was founded in Central Jersey. Her Soror Patricia Arroyo became the council’s first president in 2010. Arroyo, a member of the Nu Xi Omega Chapter for AKA, marvels at how the event continues to grow and how “no matter how many presidents we’ve had in the council and how many different committees we’ve had, it’s understood that NPHC We Are One Weekend is here forever.” They plan to serve the surrounding community every year.
Currently, they are supporting a community-service initiative coordinated by the Beta Alpha Rho Zeta chapter of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Beyond the weekend, diapers, baby care items, and books will continue to be collected for expectant and new parents in Central Jersey. Donations are being accepted at cutt.ly/BAPZCBSamazonlist and cutt.ly/BAPZCBSDonations.
One donation to the Zeta’s Baby Supplies Drive came from Todd Dowdy Sloan, a high school teacher. Sloan, chaplain for the National Pan-Hellenic Council of New Jersey, has been the We Are One Weekend chair for six years. Rhonda J. Ransom, a member of the AKA, Inc. and former treasurer of the council in Central Jersey, was the event co-chair.
Sloan, a member of the Chi Sigma Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., said, normally 300 to 400 people attend. This year, “the rain caused a lower turnout, but everyone enjoyed themselves as they usually do. We are different organizations, but there is a lot of love and respect that we have for each other. Many years ago, the Mecca of ‘Greekdom’ amongst Black Greeks [in this area] was the Philly Greek picnic. There were thousands of people back then.”
Now there are functions all over and, in Central Jersey, “because we govern ourselves accordingly, we’ve never had any altercations or difficulties,” Sloan said. “It’s always good. It’s always safe. It’s always love. Because we are one.”
