---
title: The Sweetest Connection
date: 2023-09-14T09:50:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/the-sweetest-connection"
section: Articles
---
# The Sweetest Connection

*September 14, 2023* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/authors/karen-shih-09)


- *Photos courtesy of The Sugar Hill Sisterhood*

> From College Park to the Caribbean, Sugar Hill Sisterhood Celebrates 50th Gathering

*members of the Sugar Hill Sisterhood — Joyce Dawkins and Everene Johnson-Turner (left) in the Cambridge Community in 1973; their first post-graduation reunion at D.C.’s The Flagship Restaurant in 1974*

When Sheila Hawkes ’74 returned from her Poconos honeymoon in 2003, she dropped her suitcase off—and promptly picked up another one to head to Amsterdam the next morning with her oldest friends from UMD.

The bonds of the Sugar Hill Sisterhood (a nod to the affluent Harlem neighborhood) are just that sticky. For 50 years, these women have gathered every December—without husbands or children—to explore the sand dunes of Dubai or conquer their fear of heights at Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue, skipping only the 2020 pandemic year. Now, they’re planning a golden anniversary trip to tropical Grenada—a long way from when they had to “put pennies together” for a nice dinner at Hogate’s Restaurant as college students.


*Sugar Hill Sisterhood at a wedding — Sugar Hill sisters attend a friend’s wedding in 1973*


*Sugar Hill Sisterhood on a White House tour — Posing before a White House tour in 1995*


*Sugar Hill Sisterhood on Caribbean cruise — Cruising in the Caribbean in 2016*




**Issue:** [Fall 2023](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/fall-2023)


**Types:** [Post-Grad](https://terp.umd.edu/category/post-grad)