Seven years after its founding, SGRS incorporated in 1929 as a national college sorority. Based on the principles of sisterhood, service and scholarship, SGRS, as of 2011, has expanded to more than 500 chapters and 85,000 members throughout several countries, including the United States, Germany, Korea and the Virgin Islands. Since its early days, SGRS members have been awarded with scholarships from local alumni, but in 1984, the SGRS established its own fund that was intended to draw perpetual support for its members.
As of 2011, SGRS offers several programs to its members, including the National Youth Experience, the Mwanamugimu Essay Contest and the National Marrow Donor Program. SGRS lends its support through member participation to several causes, including community development activities, human rights legislation and grassroots community and individual development. Its programs are designed to offer support to national and international human welfare issues. The sorority dedicates its service, leadership and resources to doing away with obstacles and injustices in an effort to help all Americans reach their potential and to utilize all the benefits of U.S. citizenship.
Over the years, SGRS, in its effort to lend its support to other organizations, has partnered with many national organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the United Negro College Fund, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violent Social Change. As of 2011, SGRS is in a partnership with RE/MAX Supreme Properties to offer scholarships to its members and to promote home ownership.
College students interested in joining SGRS must complete the sorority's application process, which can take up to 21 days. Admission to the sorority is accomplished after completing several requirements, including a formal rush, an interview, chapter approval and completion of the national application. As of 2011, the membership fee is $375 and covers national, regional and foundation expenses.
Several SGRS alumni have gone on to successful careers in several industries, including arts and entertainment, government, law and business. Actresses Victoria Rowell and Tonya Lee Williams, vocalists Marilyn McCoo and Kelly Price and artists Brenda Joysmith and Annie Lee are among the sorority's accomplished alumni who are artists and entertainers. Successful alumni in the legal and governmental field include Lindy Boggs, the first female member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Joyce Williams Warren, the first African American to chair the Arkansas Law Examiners.