GRAND POLEMARCH’S MESSAGE
Brothers for Brothers, A Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Nine Organizations. Those partner- ships led to collaborations never seen before within the National Pan Hellenic Council. Our activities led to several initiatives that resulted in local and national socio-political progress and promoted justice for all, especially for black and brown people. Our vast social justice reach was ex- tended even more as we marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to commemorate “Bloody Sunday” and recommit to the ideals and promises of Dr. Martin Luther King. We pledged ourselves to Representative John Lewis’ concept of “good trouble” as we marched across that bridge and re- membered those who made the ultimate sacrifice on that fateful day when dogs were used as instruments of political oppression. The Kappa brand was greatly enhanced when we made the trek to Las Vegas to roll out our new literacy initiative, “Room to Read,” before third graders at Kermit R. Booker, Sr. Elementary school, named for a good Kappa man. One month later, we nationally exposed Room to Read at a special appearance on the “Today Show” in New York and demonstrated to the world our values and commitment to community service. Little did we know that our celebra- tion and badinage after the Today Show would abruptly end soon after we left Manhattan.
Today Show presentation, the co- rona virus, COVID-19, was rearing its ugly pandemic head and reached epic proportions soon after we left the Big Apple. The vicissitudes of nature unleashed unwelcomed circumstances for which no one was prepared. In the period of a couple of months we were completely shut down as an ongoing not for profit concern. But nature’s solatium for the Fraternity was an opportunity for our brothers to demonstrate how we can come together in time of crisis, in true spirit of brotherhood and devotion to Phi Nu Pi. In the wake of the onslaught of CO- VID-19, the brotherhood fully em- braced a variant of the mantra of the 34 th administration, “Brother to Brother, Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges” and took it a step farther. The brotherhood demonstrated that by serving, Brother to Brother, we could all serve for each other as a bridge over trouble waters. The brothers immediately created a COVID 19 Undergraduate Relief Fund to financially assist our collegiate stu- dents when they had to leave their col- leges and universities and find lodging away from campus. Our senior brothers were often compelled to stay at home by COVID rules or mere fear of contract- ing the dreaded disease. Chapter broth- ers sprang into action to ensure those seniors had life sustaining provisions and access to their medical supplies. Community Service continued as chap- ters and provinces participated in area
Reuben A. Shelton III, Esq. Grand Polemarch I t is hard to believe how quickly two years have passed, culminating in the Fraternity’s first ever, and I hope the last, virtual Grand Chapter Meeting. In August 2019, when the 34 th Administration was sworn in, no one could have imagined how the next two years would unfold. We got off to an amazing start by strengthening our fraternal consanguine- ous relationships with the other Divine
Unknown to the participants in the
8 | SUMMER 2021 ♦ THE JOURNAL
VIRTUAL 85 TH GRAND CHAPTER MEETING
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