SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
Williams Discovers Backlog Works to Ensure Respects are Properly Rendered in Journal
What do the following deceased brothers have in common?
Answer: These brothers passed away while their respective mem- bership records only until recently correctly reflected Chapter Invisible status. Per the Guide to Protocol & Etiquette Manual, “When a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity dies, the Keeper of Records of his chapter, or some representative should com- plete, minimally, a death notice that information… This (death notice) information should be forwarded to International Headquarters along with a copy of his death certificate (if available). It should be accom- plished in a timely fashion…”. When a brother passes, a local chapter contacts the deceased family to express its condolences, offers its support to the family, inquires if the family requests brothers perform the Burial Ceremony as part of the deceased’s homegoing service and notify International Headquarters (IHQ) of the recently deceased brother. While chapters and broth- ers across the fraternity forward obituary information of deceased brothers to IHQ, other chapters and brothers may not be aware of the requirement. The biggest challenge for the fraternity is obtaining death notice information when a brother, not currently affiliated nor active with a chapter, passes away. In many instances, a local chapter may have no idea a brother lived in the area when he passed. Brother Aaron Williams has coor- dinated with the IHQ staff to send obituaries of deceased brothers that require their respective membership status to correctly display Chapter Invisible. Since August of 2015, he has emailed to IHQ over 2000 de- ceased brothers’ death notices and/or obituaries. Of these 2000 deceased brothers, nearly 500 deceased broth-
ers were life members of the frater- nity. These obituaries sent to IHQ can be categorized into two groups: one where the deceased brother was inactive with fraternity nor affiliated with any chapter at the time of his passing or a smaller group of where the deceased was an active member of the chapter or associated with a chapter. The compilation of deceased broth- ers’ information was difficult and time consuming despite the advent of “obituary services” primarily from www.legacy.com, www.obtiuaries. com and www.tributes.com. Both web sites host millions of obituaries since the late 1990s from thousands of newspapers and funeral parlors across the country. These web sites contain search query functional- ity to locate obituaries of deceased brothers. Typically, families denote membership in Kappa Alpha Psi in their loved one’s obituary which, in turn, these web site search engines can pick up the fraternity’s name. Brother Williams utilized these web site search engines to locate obituaries for hundreds of deceased brothers then cross-referenced the deceased’s obituary with the frater- nity’s web site membership search to determine if the deceased’s member- ship profile displayed Chapter Invis- ible status or not and ensure the correct brother is requested Chapter Invisible designation. The idea for this initiative with IHQ originated from Brother Williams observing on social media, especially Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, where brothers and/or family mem- bers post announcements, remem- brances, photos and electronic flyers honoring a deceased brother. The information in this social media posting are rarely forwarded to IHQ.
• Past Grand Keeper of Re- cords and Exchequer and famed mathematician: J. Ernest Wilkins II (Iota 1938) died in 2011; • NFL Hall of Famer and Olympian Ollie Matson (Gamma Alpha 1950) died in 2011; • Basketball Hall of Famer and former Harlem Glo- betrotter Marques Haynes (Alpha Pi 1944) died in 2015; • Actor Whitman Mayo (Upsilon 1956) died in 2001; • Famed Civil Rights Attor- ney W. Robert Ming (Iota 1930) died in 1973; • Federal Judge James B. Parsons (Alpha Mu 1938) died in 1993; • Actor Lee Thompson Young (Beta Omega 2003) died in 2013; • Retired NBA Player Joe Merriweather (Gamma Upsilon 1973) died in 2013; • Former University of Memphis basketball coach Larry Finch (Mem- phis Alumni 1981) died in 2011;
• ESPN commentator;
award winning syndicated newspaper columnist Bryan Burwell (Alpha Phi 1975) died in 2014
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL SUMMER 2017 | 165
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