83 RD GRAND CHAPTER MEETING: GUIDE RIGHT PROGRAMS
begin to mentor; and finally, to begin to highlight the impact that Kappa Alpha Psi has, in terms of our mentoring pro- grams and its impact on young men. Due to the timing of the hashtag initia- tive, with the town hall and the National Mentoring Summit in Washington, DC, the #WhyKappasMentor was trending nationally, Viney recalled. “Just seeing so many brothers, whether they were in- volved in Guide Right, whether they had been impacted by mentoring themselves or others, just posting along WhyKap- pasMentor, the first time is always the special one, and I think it did what we had really set out to do. It showed that Black men are indeed involved; it helped inspire other Black men to get involved.” Viney credits that time as a period where more people (who were less aware), began to take Kappas working with Guide Right, more seriously. Following the success of #WhyKappas- Mentor, and the reception it received among the members of the fraternity, in 2015, #IamAcheivement was kicked off. “IamAcheivement is about once again, about that whole narrative—this one was really dedicated towards our Kappa Leaguers, and of course, our under- graduates…taking it to another level.” Viney describes the initiative as a way for young people to define themselves and what they deem as achievement. Admittedly, he says it has caught on, but it hasn’t blown up yet like WhyKap- pasMentor. He describes the initiative as a smoldering fire, but with the proper timing, and the proper strategy in place, IamAchievement could really blow up. That strategy could involve a handful of Kappa League members to formulate a way to engage other Kappa Leaguers where they are, in the various social media platforms that they use, like Snapchat, for example. With regards to the future, and the use of hashtags to convey messages from the fraternity, Viney said, “The key is, any brand is only as good as the substance
that’s behind it. So, where we go from here is not the hashtag, it’s how do we continue to take Guide Right to the next level? How do we continue to build Kappa League to where it becomes you know, the leading youth leadership development for young men of color in this country?” His number one objective, since work- ing within the National Guide Right Committee, he said, was to get us sitting at these national tables. So, it’s not so much where we go with hashtags, but more so how we continue to elevate. “As long as we are elevating what we’re doing, as long as we are elevating the brand, having the right strategy, that (success) will come.” The National Guide Right Committee will once again push #IamAchievment during the Fall, and follow it with an-
other campaign, #grcommunityservice, to bring awareness of community service initiatives led by Kappa League mem- bers during the holidays.
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
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