Cheryl A. Hickmon, National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Dies at 61

WASHINGTON, DC -- January 20, 2022 -- It is with great sorrow that I share the news of the passing of our beloved National President and Chair of the National Board of Directors, Soror Cheryl A. Hickmon. Soror Hickmon transitioned this morning (Thursday, Jan. 20th) after a recent illness. Please keep Soror Hickmon’s family and loved ones in your prayers. Soror Hickmon was not only our soror and leader, but a dear friend to so many of us.

Elsie Cooke-Holmes

National First Vice President

Cheryl A. Hickmon a native of Hartford, Connecticut was elected as the 27th National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated at the 55th National Convention held in Atlanta, Georgia this past November, 2021. Hickmon is the daughter of the late Dr. Ned Hickmon and the late Consuella Anderson Hickmon of Hartford. She has two older brothers, Ned and David Hickmon, both of Hartford. Hickmon was 61 years old.

Cheryl came to the position of National President with more than 39 years of committed service to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She is a Golden Life Member initiated in 1984 into the Alpha Xi Chapter at South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, South Carolina, and is currently a member of the Hartford Alumnae Chapter.

Her service to the sorority has encompassed various elected and appointed positions at the national, regional, and local levels of leadership. Some of the positions in which she has served Delta are: National First Vice President, National Secretary, Eastern Regional Director, South Atlantic Regional Representative, Co-Chair of the National Documents Review and Revision Task Force, Co-Chair of the National Leadership Academy, and Chapter President of the Hartford Alumnae and Alpha Xi Chapter.

Professionally Cheryl supervised the In Vitro Fertilization Laboratories for Andrology and Endocrinology at Montefiore’s Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Health a division of the Montefiore Medical Center and a teaching hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She was a licensed clinical laboratory technologist and worked in the reproductive medical laboratory for more than 30 years.

Outside of her leadership in Delta, Cheryl has served with the Children’s Defense Fund movement – The Daughters of Tubman Sisters of Truth under the leadership of Children’s Defense Fund Founder, Marian Wright Edelman. Additionally, she is an avid skier and a founding member of the Thrillseekers, Inc. Ski and Adventure Club of New York, and a member of the National Council of Negro Woman, and the NAACP.

Cheryl has received several awards including the “100 Most Influential African Americans in the State of Connecticut” by the Connecticut Chapters of the NAACP, Outstanding Accomplishments and Achievement Award from her Alma Mater South Carolina State University, and the Citizen of the Year Award from Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. (Tau Iota Chapter).

Cheryl lives her life by the motto … “Don’t measure life by the number of breaths you take but by the number of moments that take your breath away.”