Sigma Gamma Rho Is Bringing Thousands of Sorority Sisters to Tampa for Its 61st Biennial Boule

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. is welcoming more than 5,000 members, affiliates, partners, and guests to Tampa, Florida for its 61st International Biennial Boule, running July 22 through 26 at the Tampa Convention Center.

Service anchors the week. On Wednesday, July 22, from 1 to 4 p.m., sorors and affiliates will fan out across the Tampa Bay area for Caravans of Hope Community Impact Day, partnering with local organizations on projects centered on maternal health, youth development, education, food security, and water safety. Volunteers will work toward distributing 3,000 backpacks through Operation Big Book Bag, providing 300 free swim lessons through Swim 1922, and assembling 300 newborn care packages through Project Cradle Care.

The day’s projects will be spread across the city. Healthy Beginnings, combining the Women’s Wellness Initiative and Project Cradle Care, is based at the Tampa Convention Center. Swim 1922 will teach water safety at the Martin Luther King Jr. Pool, Operation Big Book Bag and the Youth Symposium will be held at Sulphur Springs K-8 School, and the food security effort partners with Feeding Tampa Bay.

Beyond service, the Boule is where the sorority conducts its business. Delegates will elect leadership, strengthen governance, and develop future leaders over the course of the week. On Tuesday, July 21, Sigma Gamma Rho will unveil its commemorative Riverwalk Paver during a ceremony marking the sorority’s legacy of leadership, scholarship, sisterhood, and service, with District 3 County Commissioner Gwen Meyers set to attend.

The week will also feature the Welcome to Tampa Celebration, the Annie Neville Awards Luncheon, the She-E-O Business Pitch Competition, the Rhoyal Rumble Step Competition, and the Public Meeting. The public is invited to attend the Public Meeting on Thursday, July 23, at 7 p.m. at the Tampa Convention Center West/Central Hall.

“At Sigma Gamma Rho, we believe sisterhood is most meaningful when it is lived through service,” said International President Marica T. Harris. “Our Boule is where we celebrate our legacy, conduct the business that strengthens our future, invest in local communities, and create lasting change through our Five Essential Programs.”

Founded on November 12, 1922, at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. carries its motto of Greater Service, Greater Progress into every city it enters, and this week Tampa Bay will feel the difference.