LOOK BACK KAPPA HISTORY
I am amazed at the growth and development of the Fraternity’s Grand Chapter Meetings, from its meager and humble beginnings with the weekend house parties, where our Founders and early members had to rent suits to wear at their affairs; to their resilience in the face of Jim Crow restrictions to travel, obtain lodging, meals, and securing venues for their meetings; to the continued evolution of the Conclave to accommodate larger numbers of delegates and expand events for their families; to a large, week-long professional production with events occurring from sunrise to past midnight each day. I remain in awe of the changes that have occurred. I am pleased to be the conduit to present these aspects of our history to you.
previous issues were as follows: Spring 2024: Part 1, The Early Years ; Summer 2024: Part 2, Conclaves on Campus ; Fall 2024: Part 3, Special Event Conclaves ; Winter 2024 : Part 4, Changes in the Conclave. “The History of the Grand Chapter Meeting” articles is the first time a single topic has been published across multiple succeeding issues in The Kappa Alpha Psi Journal . This landmark series served different purposes: • Present a commemorative lead-up to the 87th Grand Chapter Meet- ing; Highlighting how the Conclave has evolved over the last 114 years • Spotlight numerous Conclaves that were unique • Illustrate operational and logisti- cal challenges in organizing and executing Conclaves • Educate present-day members and future generations on the develop- ment of Grand Chapter Meetings • Describe how the Fraternity selects host cities for future Conclaves in contemporary times compared to previous decades ARTICLE ORIGIN In the Spring of 2024, Aaron Williams (Zeta Upsilon 1986) approached Grand Historian Kevin Scott (Chicago (IL) Alumni 1998) with the idea of author- ing a Kappa Alpha Psi Journal article focused on the history of the Conclave. While attending the July 2024 Grand Board of Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, Williams pitched the article idea to Kappa Alpha Psi Journal Editor
KEVIN P. SCOTT Grand Historian
I imagine host chapters spent the months preceding the start of Conclave planning, including securing venues, establishing the Schedule of Events, determining who would manage the delegate registration desk, organizing social events, ensuring activities planned for the visiting silhouettes and children, marketing Conclave events in the local community, and other tasks. While the GCMs were smaller in terms of number of delegates and visitors compared to today, I believe the chapters back then had significantly greater responsibilities in planning, supporting, and executing Conclaves than host chapters do today. Remember, in the 1910s through the mid-1950s the Grand Chapter voted on where the next year’s Conclave was held, so host chapters only had a set number of months to plan. Conclaves during this time period were an “all-hands-on-deck” operation for the host chapters.
AARON S. WILLIAMS 2019 William L. Crump National History Awardee
“... GRAND HISTORIAN SCOTT AND WILLIAMS COLLABORATIVELY WORKED ON DEVELOPING THE TOPICS AND SCOPE OF EACH ARTICLE IN THE SERIES ...”
Continued on page 62
60 THE JOURNAL ♦ SPRING 2025
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