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BACKGROUNDER

Blooming into the Community


The Yellow Rose Society is a community service organization for women of the University of Miami. The organization’s
mission is as follows:

The members of Yellow Rose Society recognize a need for cohesion amongst women at the University of
Miami. By focusing on peer education, community outreach, academic achievement and leadership, our
organization intends to bring about this unity through the efforts of our members and the entire student
population.

Origins: The Blossoming of our Rose


Since the inception of the Yellow Rose Society, the organization has operated under the umbrella of the Butler Service
and Leadership Center at the University of Miami. As of 2009, the society has been in existence for 19 years. Its six
founders included Sheena Benjamin, Dawn Mannings, Antionette Walker, Kay White, Diahann White and Annejeanette
Washington. In 1990, the founders saw the need for an organization to be formed to unite college women of culture and
class. The official colors of the Yellow Rose Society are yellow, white and black. The incorporation of yellow in the name
of the organization and the logo represents culture and refinement. The rose represents growth, similar to how an actual
rose buds.

Over the years, Yellow Rose has worked closely with its brother organization, Brothers Overcoming Negativity and De-
struction (B.O.N.D.). The society also developed working relationships with another student organization, United Black
Students, and the office of Multicultural Student Affairs, which are both at the University of Miami. The society’s reputa-
tion stands respected among student organization on the University campus.

Signature Events
Every year the Yellow Rose Society puts on several programs to achieve its mission. These programs include a play pro-
duced by students, weekly community service visits to McLamore Children’s Center, and the Mr. Yellow Rose Scholarship
Pageant. Perhaps the largest contribution goes toward Women’s History Month, which is in March. Some of the month’s
events include the Roses In Full Bloom Banquet, in which the proceeds are donated to charity, and the Legends Celebra-
tion, where influential women in the community are honored. Yellow Rose has always been the leader in hosting events
for Women’s History Month, which it began to recognize at the University of Miami in 2007. It was twenty years before
that, in 1987, when Women’s History Month began to be celebrated nationally.

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In Every Bunch There’s Always One That Stands Out….Be That One
Yellow Rose Society has always strived to promote feminine pride through self-enrichment and social education. This
was an aim set by the founders of the organization and one that continues to be sought after today. The leaders of the
society established the motto, “In every bunch, there’s always one that stands out…be that one,” to reinforce that idea.
The Yellow Rose Society seeks to make a difference within the community at the University of Miami and locally. Service
and scholarship are ways that members make that difference and every activity done by the society supports its aims and
purposes.

As mentioned previously, members visit McLamore Children’s Center regularly. The volunteers here complete work to
benefit the residents, who are children that have been removed from abusive homes. McLamore is the organization’s
primary philanthropy. The society hosts the Mr. Yellow Rose Scholarship Pageant every spring, in which the winner is
recognized for his efforts in community service and awarded a cash prize. It also hosts Genesis, a play produced and per-
formed by students, which targets a specific issue in the community.

The Yellow Rose Society also holds events that promote fellowship among its members. Every fall, an ice cream social is
usually hosted with another student organization that is comprised of an all-male membership, such as a fraternity. In
addition, the society holds a sleepover event, which serves as the spring retreat for its members.

Along with the efforts Yellow Rose makes to achieve its mission, accolades have come along with them. The University of
Miami’s Committee on Student Organizations (C.O.S.O.) recognizes student organizations every year for their accomplish-
ments at the University. These awards are titled the Student Organization Achievement and Recognition (SOAR) Awards.
In 2009 the Yellow Rose Society received the SOAR Award for Excellence in Programming for its Public Health Education
Contest. The Excellence in Programming Award goes to a student organization that excels in coordinating a specific event
or program in one of the following areas: Awareness/Educational, Community Service, Cultural, Innovative, Performance,
or COSO’s Choice.  Yellow Rose was recognized for the Awareness/Educational category and received a $100 bonus
towards the next year’s school funding along with the award. In 2009 the society was also nominated for award for the
Most Improved Organization.

Membership
The membership of the society is predominantly composed of minority women, but Yellow Rose Society does not limit
membership on the basis of race, sex, color, handicap, age, sexual orientation, or political and religious affiliation. Gen-
eral body meetings are held bi-weekly on Thursday evenings at the University of Miami campus. Those wishing to reach
representatives of the Yellow Rose Society may visit the Butler Service and Leadership Center, located at the Whitten
University Center of the University of Miami or refer to the contact information listed below. Membership dues are $20
per year and guarantee a membership t-shirt and free entrance to the majority of events, such as the spring sleepover.

Contact Us
President: Aleia Walker
Phone Number: (754) 246-0897
E-mail Address: yellowrosesociety@miami.edu
Address: Whitten University Center, Room 240
1306 Stanford Drive
Miami, Fl 33124

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