Two Howard University seniors and their mothers have sued the university and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in U.S. District Court after the students were denied membership to the sorority.

By failing to accept plaintiffs Laurin Compton and Lauren Cofield, the sorority has discriminated against them because of their status as daughters of dues-paying AKA members, the lawsuit argues, and the sorority has broken its agreement with the students’ mothers that they would have the opportunity to “pin” their daughters as sorority sisters.