Winter Park (FL) Alumni
A Conversation with
Earl T. Tildon, 96 th Elder Watson Diggs Awardee Upon Reflection on the Eve of the 83 rd Grand Chapter Meeting
ties. Instead, when I graduated from high school and enrolled at Central State College in Ohio, I saw many students wearing the red caps with KA Ψ emblazoned on the front of the crown. I got to meet, know and became friends to some of these students that I learned were members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. I became at- tached to many of them socially and learned more about Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and favored Kappa among the various frater- nities on campus. It wasn’t long before I was in- vited to a Kappa smoker, where I got to socialize more closely with Kappas, and learned more about the positive activities they partic- ipated in and how students who were not Kappas viewed Kappas with high esteem. I never forgot and later came to know and play
ball with that Kappa back home. I joined the Scroller Club and became immersed in the Scroller culture that made me know that Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity was the organization that I wanted to belong to. All of this early experi- ence fueled my motivation, and sixty-two years later I know that I made the right decision. Journal: What positions have you held in Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity? / In which capaci- ties do you currently serve the fraternity? ETT: When I look back over more than six decades in the fraternity, I prefer to chronicle service rather than “positions” I have held. While positions have purpose, simply holding them does not lend itself to measuring our service to our communities.
Journal: What motivated you to become a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity? ETT: I was a high school student when I observed an older col- lege student who lived in my Washington, DC neighborhood. Almost every time I saw him he had a red baseball-like cap on with the letters KA Ψ i n white letters on the front. I didn't know that they were Greek letters. I simply thought it was the word KA Ψ . The young man who wore the cap was friendly and encour- aging, and I learned that he was a great athlete at Howard Univer- sity. I learned that while I played baseball in my high school, he played at his university. I knew nothing about fraternities and never talked to the guy who wore the red cap about fraterni-
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