How the Undergraduate Dream Team is Making Leadership Look Easy
From college campuses to cultural exchanges abroad, this generation of Kappa Alpha Psi’s undergraduate leadership pursued excellence in in ways and spaces that leveled up engagement.
In step with the bold vision of the 35th Administration, Junior Grand Vice Polemarch Jordan Q. Smith and his peers— Grand Board Members Justin Nave, Amari Venzor, and Brent White, along with Grand Strategus Trayln Ball and Grand Lieutenant Strategus Ryan Johnson—are proving that leadership at the collegiate level is not only powerful, but essential. It harkens back to the spirit of Kappa Alpha Psi’s founding. With authenticity, action, and alignment, these young men have ushered in a new era of engagement across the fraternity. Their mantra? “Informed. Involved. Invested.” For example, you could find the Broth- erly Finals Week Support Guide @kapsi1911 with not only six practical tips for studying but also playlists on Apple® Music. At the same time, the Brothers were promoting APOL1-Mediated Kidney Disease (AMKD) Awareness Day. “I want undergraduates to know that leadership is about proximity and presence,” said JGVP Smith in a recent interview with The Jour- nal . “You have to be visible. You have to be available. You have to be accountable.”
INFORMED: LEADING WITH AWARENESS AND INTENT Being informed is more than reading meeting minutes or citing bylaws. It’s about understanding the pulse of under- graduate brothers across the fraternity. Smith has made this a cornerstone of his term, traveling from province to province to meet brothers where they are—in dorms, classrooms, and service projects. “It is not enough to hold a title,” Smith emphasized in The Journal . “You have to know what’s happening in the trenches. You have to know how it feels to be a chap- ter polemarch navigating financial dues, campus relations, and community service on a Tuesday night after a midterm.” That mindset was evident in the leadership’s global outreach, most notably through the trip to Germany as part of Kappa’s ongoing cultural and civic diplo- macy. For many on the trip, including Smith and other undergraduate leaders, it was a transformative experience. “We walked through museums and historical
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