Divine 9 Members Appear At Indiana’s Statehouse Meeting To Advocate For Medicaid And Education Funding

March 28, 2025
Members of the Divine Nine in Indiana are “speaking truth to power” regarding funding for healthcare and education.
Divine Nine members in Indiana took to the Statehouse on March 25 to advocate for funding across healthcare and education.
WTHR reports that black fraternities and sororities spoke out on key issues, advocating for Medicaid funding, school board policies, and the repeal of a Senate bill requiring public schools to share property tax dollars with charter schools.
“We are speaking truth to power, and we are working on those pieces of legislation that are bad to make sure that it doesn’t see the light of day,” said Rep. Vanessa Summers (D-District 99), who is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Valerie Harvey, also an AKA, is actively opposing Senate Bill 2, which seeks to cap the number of Hoosiers receiving Medicaid through the state’s Healthy Indiana Plan. For her, the proposed cuts would directly impact her daughter’s access to essential medication.
“There is a difference between spending money and saving money and cutting resources that are reckless, and I think you have to be able to prioritize,” Harvey said.
“I have a daughter that suffers from schizophrenia. She has to have Medicaid in order to provide the services that she needs and to get her medicine.”
Stephon Jones, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and chair of mentorship at Ball State University, expressed concerns that education is under threat due to ongoing attacks on DEI efforts in both government and the business sector.
“DEI is impacting institutions. Designated scholarships for minorities fall under DEI. Are those going to be eliminated if we don’t speak up? And how are those funds going to be appropriated?” said Jones.
The legislative session will conclude by the end of April. Harvey is hopeful that lawmakers will consider their concerns.
“And be able to understand that even though they don’t understand and maybe haven’t had that issue in their personal life there are a lot of us who are dealing with that,” she said.
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