Barbara McKinzie

Barbara A. McKinzie[1] was from 2006 to 2010 the twenty-seventh International President of Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΑΚΑ), the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African-American college women.

Barbara A. McKinzie
Born
Ada, Oklahoma, U.S.[1]

Born in Oklahoma, McKinzie has a B.S. degree from East Central University as well as an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.[2] Before becoming president, she had various other roles in the sorority.[3][4] She is a certified public accountant and former Comptroller at the Chicago Housing Authority.[3]

Lawsuit to remove McKinzie

In July 2009, eight members of ΑΚΑ sued the sorority to have McKinzie removed as president. They alleged that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of organization funds on personal items, including jewelry and clothing. Further, the suit alleged that the ΑΚΑ board approved a "pension stipend" of $4,000 a month for four years after McKinzie leaves office without the necessary approval of members, and that a $1 million life insurance policy was purchased for her. McKinzie was also accused of spending $900,000 on a life-sized wax statue of herself. McKinzie responded that $45,000 was actually spent on statues of herself and the sorority's first International President, the late Nellie Quander. McKinzie said the expenses were "consistent with furthering ΑΚΑ's mission," and that the lawsuit was "without merit." The plaintiffs additionally claimed that under McKinzie ΑΚΑ lost large sums in investments.[5] In October 2009, legal counsel for ΑΚΑ sent a letter to the plaintiffs' attorneys demanding that a web site supporting the lawsuit be removed from the Internet,[6] but the web site, Friends of the Weeping Ivy,[7] remained online.

After the lawsuit initially had been dismissed,[8][9] an appeals court found in favour of the plaintiffs and reinstated the lawsuit.[10][11] A subsequent audit led to findings which supported the assertions raised by the plaintiffs.[12][13][11]

According to ΑΚΑ's website, McKinzie has been expelled from the sorority since 2016.[14] The sorority also won an arbitration award of $1.6 million against her, which was challenged by McKinzie in court.[15] However, the appeals court affirmed the award in favor of the sorority.[16]

References
  1. McNealey, Earnestine G. (2006). Pearls of Service: The Legacy of America's First Black Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Chicago: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. p. 262.
  2. Parker, Marjorie H. (1999). Past is Prologue: The History of Alpha Kappa Alpha 1908-1999. Chicago: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. p. 137
  3. "Uncrowned Queens: Barbara McKinzie". University at Buffalo. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
  4. McNealey 2006, op cit., p. 256.
  5. Barbara McKinzie, Alpha Kappa Alpha President, Sued Over Personal Spending
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2017-02-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Friends of the Weeping Ivy". Archived from the original on 2017-09-12. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  8. Judge dismisses suit against oldest black sorority
  9. Alpha Kappa Alpha lawsuit dismissed
  10. Alpha Kappa Alpha Lawsuit Reinstated by D. C. Appeals Court Archived 2014-12-25 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Audit finds trouble at black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha
  12. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplemental Information, Year Ended December 31, 2010.
  13. Alpha Kappa Alpha Audit Finds Significant Accounting Problems In Nation's Oldest Black Sorority
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20171218212133/https://aka-web.s3.amazonaws.com/files/expelled_members_boule_2016.pdf Expelled and Revoked Members as of July 2016 - retrieved 2017-12-18
  15. Ex-sorority president seeks to overturn $1.6M arbitration award over embezzlement claims
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20230923154714/https://casetext.com/case/mckinzie-v-alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority-inc - retrieved 2023-09-23
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