A former Miss America beauty pageant winner will be the guest of honour at the Pearls of Distinction Pink Ice Centennial Ball given by the Bermuda chapter of the prestigious Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority.

Dr. Debbye Turner who was Miss America 1990 and is a doctor of veterinary science, motivational speaker and staff correspondent on the CBS Early Morning Show, will be speaking at the event thrown by Sigma Xi Omega, of AKA. The ball will be on January 19 at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel with a cocktail reception at 7 p.m. and dinner at 8 p.m.

"Dr. Turner will be coming to the Island to speak about excellence, and applying it to every aspect of your life," said Sigma Xi Omega, president Necheeka Trott. "This is a scholarship fundraising event to support the programmes that we do for the youth in Bermuda. This will also be funding our scholarships that we give to local high school students to attend post secondary school."

AKA was founded in 1908 at Howard University. Although there has been significant AKA activity in Bermuda since the 1950s, the Sigma Xi Omega chapter was officially started in 1990.

"It is primarily a women's organisation," said Miss Trott who is the new division chair of Liberal Arts at the Bermuda College.

"In order to be accepted into the organisation you have to be a college trained, educated woman. There is a criteria for acceptance including a certain GPA requirement, if you are an undergrad. If you have graduated then you have to have a degree from an accredited university."

AKA claims a number of illustrious members including Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou and Coretta Scott King. Local members include Grace Rawlins, Dr. Norma Hendrickson, former St. George's mayor Lois Perinchief and many others.

"Even Dr. Turner herself is a member of AKA," said Miss Trott. "There are a host of phenomenal women out there who are or were AKA members."

Miss Trott said AKA is mainly a service organisation that aims to help the community.

"We are all about helping out one another," she said. "I joined when I was at Stetson University, in DeLand, Florida, in 1994. So I have been part of it for many years.

"I joined because I saw a community oriented organisation that was concerned about the community."

She said she is impressed by the vision of current international AKA president Barbara McKinzie.

"She is concerned about the economic development of blacks in particular but the country as a whole," said Miss Trott.

"That was one of the reasons I joined."

In Bermuda, Sigma Xi Omega has undertaken a number of community projects including a young authors programme three years ago, the Hal Jackson Talented Teen Competition, scholarships, and breast cancer walks, among many other things.

"Not only is it good for me to give back to an organisation, but I also feel it is an opportunity for me to grow professionally and personally," said Miss Trott.

"At the national level they offer a host of workshops dealing with personal things, personal financing, how to buy a house, leadership. I thought that was important as a young, educated, career woman, coming back to Bermuda. I knew that would assist me in getting to where I needed to go."

She said women in Bermuda can only join if they have graduated from an accredited university.

"If they are in school and that school has a chapter of AKA, they would have to meet the requirements, in terms of having the GPA, and already doing some kind of community service. You have to fill out an application. Once you do that it is vetted by our corporate office, and then you are invited for membership. Membership is by invitation only."