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Sep/Oct 2024 | Vol. 81 No. 5

Moving Forward with Passion

and Purpose

By Dr. Beverly Hall-Maughan
2024-2026 International President

At installation ceremonies for newly-elected officers and other leaders at the 2024 DKG
International Convention in National Harbor, Maryland, 2024-2026 International President
Dr. Beverly Hall-Maughan offered the following comments.

am honored and
I thankful to have
been elected as
your 2024-2026 international president. I
appreciate your trust and eagerly anticipate
your continued support, encouragement,
and inspiration. To understand why DKG is

so important to me, it is necessary to know
a bit about my background. My father was
in the military, so we moved frequently
during my childhood. I was always the new The newly installed 2024-2026 DKG International Officers (above).
girl who yearned to belong, to fit in, to be
included, and to be connected. Moving from school to their beliefs, dress, culture, values, position, or status
school, there was always something different about in life. We warmly embrace all women educators.
me, such as my accent, my hair, my clothes, and my It’s important to remember that by not doing so, we
beliefs. It wasn’t until joining DKG that I found that would be essentially rejecting them. And who are we to

sense of belonging and acceptance that I craved for reject anyone? We need to emphasize the importance
so long. Wherever I go within DKG, I feel like I belong. I of the friendships and relationships we build within
feel included. I feel welcome. I feel anywhere is home. our society. Our organization thrives on the strong
In DKG, I am surrounded by a sense of connectivity bonds that members form with one another. As your
and my differences do not matter. Even if I am the new international president, I will lead this organization
girl in the room, I don’t stay that way for long. I take a from my heart with passion. I want to highlight the
breath and say to myself, “DKG has trained me to be a importance of diversifying our membership strategies

strong and confident woman” and I push myself out of to incorporate new voices and skills into our decision-
the corner to join my DKG family, whom I just haven’t making process. It’s necessary to welcome non-
met yet. traditional members and celebrate differences. We
As your president, my vision is to emphasize that we should embrace uniqueness as an advantage and
are an organization of acceptance, love, and belonging, believe that a membership consisting of individuals
regardless of our differences. We are an inclusive with varying perspectives can achieve more than a
organization, welcoming individuals regardless of membership comprised of those See PRES p. 3

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