THE HISTORY BEHI Grand Keeper of Records and
An account of the unification and separation of the positions S ince its inception, Kappa Alpha Psi established key leadership roles to facilitate effective organization man- agement and to create an ordered gamated office of Keeper of Records and Exchequer.
By Kevin Scott
dated and antiquated. Many months were spent getting the records assembled in an intelligible manner. The finances were also found to be in a disorganized state. Wilkins Sr. continued to hold the com- bined office of Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer for 24 years and eight months. This is the second longest tenure that anyone has retained a national office of the Fraternity. Wilkins Sr.’s duration in this role was only eclipsed by Grand Historian William L. Crump, who maintained his of- fice for 30 consecutive years. Wilkins Sr. stepped down from the office of Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer when he was elected Grand Polemarch at the 37 th Grand Chapter Meeting, August 14-18, 1947. At that same Conclave, his son, J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr. (Iota 1938), was elected to fill his father’s shoes as the new Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer. Wilkins Jr. remained in this office for five years and four months. As the Fraternity’s archives and business records were kept at both Wilkins’ residences during their stint as Grand Polemarch and Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer, their homes func- tioned as a de facto national headquarters.
Subsequent elections were held later that same year during the first Grand Chapter Meeting not held as a house party, December 29-31, 1913, in Indianapolis, Indiana. William J. Prince, Sr. (Beta 1913) was the second member elected to the combined office of Keeper of Records and Exchequer. Prince was a charter initiate of the Beta Chapter at the University of Il- linois. His service in this role lasted for two years, as he was reelected at the 4 th Grand Chapter Meeting, held December 30-31, 1914. Following his tenure, the combined offices were divided into the original indi- vidual positions at the 5 th Grand Chapter Meeting, December 29-31, 1915. At the 4 th Grand Chapter Meeting, the delegates voted to change the Fraternity’s name from Kappa Alpha Nu to Kappa Alpha Psi. A few months later, Grand Polemarch Elder W. Diggs issued a proclamation that formally enacted the name change legisla- tion. The delegates also voted to separate the merged Grand Chapter offices of Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer from their original individual offices. During the subsequent 5 th Grand Chapter Meet- ing, delegates elected W. H. Lowery and Irven Armstrong to fill the offices of Grand Keeper of Records and Grand Keeper of Exchequer, respectively.
structure natural to all collegiate social bod- ies and business associations. This process did not occur overnight. Ten young Black Indiana University male students gathered at Miss Mary “Mollie” Spaulding’s boarding house, the lodging place of Byron K. Arm- strong and Marcus P. Blakemore, to discuss and explore the possibility of establishing a fraternity. These preliminary discussions resulted in a temporary organization desig- nation, the “Alpha Omega Club.” The interim name was the first step to uniting and organizing these men as a group while the details of establishing a fraternity were solidified. Once the specif- ics were agreed upon, the group returned to formalize and effectuate their plans to form a permanent organization. Upon founding the fraternity, on January 5, 1911, the newly designated Founders: Elder W. Diggs, Byron K. Armstrong, John M. Lee, Ezra D. Alex- ander, Guy L. Grant, Marcus P. Blakemore, Henry T. Asher, Paul W. Caine, George W. Edmonds, and Edward G. Irvin instituted the principal offices of the embryonic frater- nity, Kappa Alpha Nu. Diggs was Chairman, Armstrong was Treasurer, and Lee was Secretary. These office titles would later be modified to Polemarch, Keeper of Exchequer, and Keeper of Records, respectively. Each of these offices would remain unchanged until two years later when the Keeper of Records office would be merged with the office of Keeper of Exchequer.
Back to Basics
Since its founding, the Fraternity and its needs have evolved. It was determined that greater efficiency and effectiveness could be achieved if the Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer office was restored to its original partitioned status. The change to revert to the original individual offices would allow for particular detail to be given to the principal responsibilities of each posi- tion. During the 85 th Grand Chapter Meet- ing, the delegates were brought together again to pass a resolution regarding these two offices. They voted to reinstate the separate offices of Grand Keeper of Records and Grand Keeper of Exchequer. At the 86 th Grand Chapter Meeting in Tampa, Florida,
Return to Merged Offices
These offices would remain split until the 12 th Grand Chapter Meeting, Decem- ber 27-29, 1922, when J. Ernest Wilkins, Sr. (Beta 1918) was elected to this con- joined position. The combination of the offices was performed to expedite business, and the primary duty was to have a uniform recording system. Also, the combination of the offices was done for efficiency and economy. The old methods practiced by the previous administrations had become out-
Historical Reflections
The office positions of Keeper of Records and Keeper of Exchequer were originally combined during the 3 rd House Party, May 23-25, 1913. Founder John M. Lee was the first to be elected to the amal-
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