COVER STORY
and William L. Crump, a wealth of information, from which The Story of Kappa Alpha Psi, 1 st ed., was written.
Subsequent editions were published (2 nd ed.-1972, 3 rd ed.-1983, 4 th ed.-1991, 5 th ed.-2003) using the original publi- cation as the foundation for those books. The most signifi- cant hurdle had been cleared to acquire source information from the Fraternity’s earliest years. Following editions of The Story continued the chronicle from where the previous pub- lication left off. Grand Historian Emeritus Ralph J. Bryson authored the 5 th ed. Its account ended in 1999, following the election of Howard L. Tutman as Grand Polemarch. It became the basis on which the 6 th ed. would be written. The average time between printing the five editions is nine years. The interval between the 5 th and 6 th editions was 20 years. Since the information included in the 5 th ed. concluded in 1999, 22 years of history would need to be compiled for the 6 th ed. Due to the extensive length of time the previous edition of The Story was published and to adhere to a constitu- tional requirement for an updated adaptation to be written, Grand Polemarch Thomas L. Battles, Jr. authorized Grand Historian Kevin P. Scott to compose the 6 th ed. of The Story of Kappa Alpha Psi. Correspondingly, Scott (Chicago (IL) Alumni 1998) invited Aaron S. Williams (Zeta Upsilon 1986) of the Chicago (IL) Alumni Chapter to work alongside him as co-author. Previous editions of The Story concluded with the elec- tion of the newly elected Grand Polemarch. Scott initially planned to end the next edition following the Centennial Anniversary in 2011. Since so much time had passed since that event, Scott decided to conclude the book’s history with the 84 th Grand Chapter Meeting, in Philadelphia, PA, in 2019. However, due to the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Scott and Williams decided to incorporate the extraordinary circumstances the pandemic caused the Fraternity during the first term of Grand Polemarch Reuben A. Shelton's tenure into the 6 th ed. The 6 th ed. now ends with the conclusion of the 85 th Grand Chapter Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, in July 2021.
Grand Historian Kevin Scott
listed that he felt needed to be told. He also noticed that a broader narrative of who the Founders were on a personal level was absent. Another missing aspect he believed needed to be addressed was the details of what led to the Fraternity’s founding, including the facts about several other Fraterni- ties that preceded Kappa Alpha Psi. Some of the popular Fraternity urban legends, largely popularized and spread through social media, were addressed. The facts about those subjects were included in the 6 th ed. to formally counter the unsubstantiated folklore. Aside from enhancing the existing written history with the aforementioned particulars, Scott envisioned the 6 th ed. being a conduit to showcasing a broader aspect of the Fra- ternity’s history through pictures that haven’t been seen by any living member. Scott felt these images would succinctly help tell the story that words could only attempt to. Scott planned to use pictures from each decade of the Fraternity’s existence. Williams augmented Scott’s idea by suggesting that the 6th ed. photos should show how the Fraternity’s undergraduate members have changed throughout the years. From this suggestion, a directed emphasis was placed on selecting photos of undergraduate and alumni members to accurately depict the entire membership. Scott’s initial plan for the 6 th ed., was to change orienta- tion from a portrait to a landscape layout. This feature pro- vided additional space to display panoramic images across
Initial Concepts to Create a Unique Version of The Story
Before one word was written, Grand Historian Scott outlined his vision for how the 6 th ed. would undergo sig- nificant changes and raise the bar from its previous versions and among the other Divine 9 organizations. Scott respected the previous authors and the work they put in to create the previous editions. However, when he read The Story, he observed several instances of Fraternity history that were not
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