UPSILON CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCE
future of an African American presence on [UCLA] campus, as well as the insti- tutionalized sanction of bringing about a number of new leaders who will present themselves as accomplished achievers in the future.”
in fraternity history. The Upsilon Chapter was the fraternity’s first chapter es- tablished on the West Coast. The Fraternity in 1923 now expanded past its nucleus of chapters in the Middle West and extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Upsilon Chapter predates the Western Province which was established in 1925 and is the province’s first chapter. Many Upsilon initiates were
UCLA Background
Founded as the Los Angeles branch of the California State Normal School in 1881, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is one of the nation’s top public universities. An international- ly renowned research university, UCLA emphasizes interdisciplinary teaching among other disciplines.
Upsilon Chapter Centennial Committee General Chairman Kevin D. Kinsey speaking to the local media at the chapter marker unveiling.
responsible for the chartering of the Los Angeles (CA) Alumni in August 1938.
and a past Junior Grand Vice Polemarch:
Chapter Chartering
• 18 th Grand Polemarch and 22 nd Laurel Wreath Laureate Thomas Bradley (Upsilon 1938); • 25 th Grand Polemarch and 49 th Laurel Wreath Laureate Randal C. Bacon (Upsilon 1958);
Due to its geographic location, Upsilon was the Fraternity’s only un- dergraduate chapter west of the Rocky Mountains for nearly a quarter century, until the chartering of the Beta Omega at the University of Southern California and the Gamma Alpha at the University of California-Berkeley, both in 1947.
Kappa Alpha Psi, led by the 4 th Grand Polemarch W. Ellis Stewart, chartered the Upsilon Chapter on the campus of the Southern Branch of the University of California (now called the University of California, Los Angeles) on April 25, 1923. From the October 1923 issue of the Kappa Alpha Psi Journal: After a struggle for over six months to establish a chapter of the Noble Clan of KA Ψ , Upsilon Chapter, with the aid of Byron Kenner, formerly of Beta; Attor- ney C.T. Ross of Eta; [A. Moore] Shearin of Delta; and [Wendell P.] Gladden, formerly of Xi Chap- ters. On the night of May 12, 1923, thirteen gentlemen were initiated into the Fraternity becoming Upsilon Chapter charter initiates: Alonzo A. Adams, George D. Greene, Joseph N. Birch II, Lorenzo B. Graham, Jefferson M. Brown. Edgar K. Johnson, Leon C. Clark, C. Louis Rosser, William Rux Jr., Benjamin Colby, Walter Enton, Edward Thompson, and Leon Whitaker.
• 39 th Laurel Wreath Laureate Ar- thur R. Ashe, Jr. (Upsilon 1963);
Key Facts on Upsilon
• 45 th Laurel Wreath Laureate
Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. (Upsilon 1956);
Upsilon was the second Greek-letter fraternity and the first African American fraternity established on the UCLA campus. As early as the 1920s, students from other west coast schools as far away as the University of California-Berkeley in the Bay Area were initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi via Upsilon. Numer- ous schools such as Cal State- Los Angeles, Cal State-Santa Barbara, Cal State-Irvine, Cal State-Northridge, Loyola-Marymount, Whitter College and Chapman College were a part of the chapter at various times during Upsilon’s 100 years.
• 33 rd Elder Watson Diggs Award- ee Edgar H. Bishop (Upsilon 1946)
• 28 th Junior Grand Vice
Polemarch Willie Williams (Up- silon 1956)
Other notable Upsilon initiates in- clude former U.S. Congressman Mervyn Dymally (Upsilon 1950); professional football player Brett Hundley (Upsi- lon 2013); renowned actor Whitman Mayo (Upsilon 1956); trailblazing major league umpire Emmett Ashford (Upsi- lon 1941); retired Circuit Court Judge Bernard S. Jefferson; Olympian, past UCLA head mens basketball coach Walt Hazzard Upsilon 1961); Olympic track
Among its distinguished roster
of initiates include two past Grand Polemarchs, four Laurel Wreath Laure- ates, one Elder Watson Diggs Awardee,
The chartering of the Upsilon Chap- ter signified a momentous milestone
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