They entered the ballroom as girls.
Their walk across the floor at the John S. Knight Center, and the bestowing of pearl necklaces by their mothers, marked transitions to womanhood.
Fifteen debutantes from Akron’s many neighborhoods strode across the room during a Saturday evening in March, wearing flowing white formal dresses and matching, long silk gloves at the 41st annual Les Belles Perles Debutante Cotillion. The night continued with deep curtsies, pomp and circumstance, and dancing.
Lots and lots of dancing.
The teenagers and their escorts — teens chosen by the debutants — moved with precision, the product of more than a half dozen practices. After the formalities, a DJ spun hits from the early 2000s and adult attendees joined the teens on the dance floor.
LaMyria Trammell almost missed out.
Trammell was initially hesitant to take on additional commitments. After all, she’s about as busy a student as you’ll find in Akron Public Schools. Beyond her track and field pursuits, she spent this school year as a corps commander in Buchtel Community Learning Center’s Air Force Junior Officer Training Corps, a member of the school’s color guard, the vice president of the school’s National Honor Society and president of the student council. After graduation, she plans to attend a local university this fall and pursue her dream of becoming a registered nurse.
“It was kind of hard for me to adapt to all these times and consistent Saturdays, waking up early, going here late,” said Trammell, a senior at Buchtel. “But honestly, I don’t regret it, because I take everything as a lesson, and I’ve definitely learned some communicable lessons.”
Trammell was nominated for a $600 scholarship, on top of financial blessings she’s earned outside of the cotillion.
Traditionally in Akron, debutantes hailed mostly from well-to-do Black families who could afford the public presentation of their daughter, niece or granddaughter into womanhood. Yet more than four decades after the Akron alumnae chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. began this local tradition in 1982, it’s working to make it more accessible across socioeconomic groups.
Sometimes this means the families of debutantes paying their own registration costs ($575). Other times, it’s members of the local sorority or its community partners.
“We try not to put it all on the backs of the girls,” said Lori Alamin, a local member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. since 1996.
“The entry fee is substantial, but if there are girls that cannot afford it, we step in to fill that gap.”
Cotillion goals: ‘Nurture, mentor, uplift and support’
Alamin said there are three overarching themes that debutantes remember as they move into womanhood: service, sisterhood and scholarship.
Prospective debutantes must meet eligibility standards:
- Maintain a high enough grade point average
- Stay out of trouble
- Be consistent with attending rehearsals and mentorship
- Afford the costs that come with being a debutante
Those first few requirements will not change; the Deltas are looking for a certain type of young woman to accept into the months-long program. The last area, though, is where the event progressed in recent years.
Alamin said costs for the debutants can easily swell to more than $1,000.
One of the ways the cotillion sets young women up for success is through scholarship. Since 1982, the Akron Alumnae Chapter of the sorority has given debutantes more than $430,000 in awards.
Prior to the cotillion, the teens participate in six months of projects and training. There are leadership events, service projects, cultural enrichment opportunities, financial aid and scholarship workshops, and, of course, dance practice.
“The goal behind is to nurture, mentor, uplift and support our future leaders,” Alamin said. “These are the people who we hope are going to take us into different areas, different things, different ideas. They bring a wealth of different experiences, but our goal is to support them so that they are happy, healthy citizens.”
Former debutante: ‘Confidence and that knowledge of going into adulthood’
Porsche Cherry, a 2005 debutante who attended the 2025 event to support her niece, Kennede’ Mitchell, said things have changed with the Les Belles Perles cotillion, but the heart of the program remains.
“It was that confidence and that knowledge of going into adulthood — womanhood — with the etiquette class,” Cherry said. “And also being able to connect with other young ladies with the same goal [mindset] as myself, and to build those relationships and those bonds that are lasting will last a lifetime.”
Cherry wants her daughter to be a debutante when she comes of age. It’ll be a way to further establish a family tradition and help set her up for success later in life.
The connections to the sisterhood of debutantes that Cherry mentioned are often lifelong bonds. Once a debutante, always a debutante. For Trammell, once she got over her initial shyness, she found deep wells of love and support.
“It took me a minute to actually socialize with everyone, but as soon as I got warmed up, everyone was so loving, caring, patient,” Trammell said. “It was a really good experience for meeting other girls from other high schools.”
‘I just feel so filled with so much love and joy and support’
The emphasis on scholarship isn’t just to help these girls with the costs of college, but to encourage them to be lifelong learners in whatever pursuit they follow after high school.
Many of the debutantes are already high academic achievers — after all, the Deltas select in part based on grades. But the cotillion helps reinforce the value of education, lessons that stick with them long after the event.
Shaiana Jones, a 2009 debutante in Akron, graduated from Buchtel CLC and Kent State University. She’s held various roles in information technology departments since graduating from college.
“I’ve always gone above and beyond,” Jones said. “So I feel like the cotillion added to that. It was always that added piece of the education narrative.”
Alamin said that “scholarship is what we do.” It’s a value that underpins the entire event – one the Deltas underline and emphasize at every opportunity.
“We want them to understand that that’s most important,” she said. “So we hope we support them. Hope that their grades carry them on to whatever college they want to go to, whatever grad school they want to go, to take it above and beyond.”
Akron Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is committed to sisterhood, scholarship, service and social action. The organization is hosting its 65th anniversary event on Saturday, May 17 at the John S. Knight Center. More than 500 individuals are registered for our event.
Trammell, despite her initial hesitations and jam-packed schedule, said she loved being a part of the event. She grew throughout the process and found sisters in the other debutants.
Now, with graduation and the next phase of her life fast approaching, she’s glad she took the opportunity to join the storied ranks of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc cotillion debutantes.
“I’m very proud of myself,” she said. “… I just feel so filled with so much love and joy and support from everyone.”