100 YEARS
100 YEARS
COVER STORY
COVER STORY
The brothers marched in unison in front of Rock- efeller Chapel toward the Quad singing ‘Hail, Kappa Alpha Psi’. Once there, we would sing the Sweetheart Song then exit singing ‘Hail, Kappa Alpha Psi.’” According to Brother Phillips, Phi Gamma Delta frater- nity was “Iota’s greatest IFC Sing competitor. Like us, they won the IFC Sing three times but we retired the
1943), Robert S. Bates (Iota 1947), James Lash (Iota 1947), Benito H. Smith (Iota 1948), Dr. Lowell Zollar (Iota 1948), Eben Lightfoot (Iota 1949), Dr. Martin Dil- lard (Iota 1954), Lemeul Smith (Iota 1951), George L. Roberts, Esq. (Iota 1952), Hon. Curtis Heaston (Iota 1953), Raymond Wilkerson (Iota 1953), Mark Upchurch (Iota 1956), Maurice Smith (Iota 1956), Chauncey Ber- tha (Iota 1956), Earl Barnes (Iota 1956), Lawrence D.
“I don’t know what the population of African American undergrads at the UChicago were prior to the 1950s, but when I arrived in 1955 there were not more than 10-20 black under- graduate males on campus! Mark Upchurch, Larry Adkins, and myself were the only UChi- cago folks to pledge. Out of that few, only 3 of us pledged during my tenure. Another black undergrad pledged one of the “white” fraternity---Phi Sigma Delta. A couple pledged Alpha Phi Alpha, but they did not have a campus presence.” The chapter membership reports from the 1950s show as the decade progressed, decreasingly fewer Iota members were actually UChicago students. In its first 45 years of existence, the chapter only had two calendar years, 1924 and 1931, where they did not initiate new members. The chapter’s scroller lines would range in size from as little as two or three men to as many as 16 men. However, by the early 1960s, scroller lines had very few UChicago students culmi- nating with the 1963 “Lucky 13” line which had zero UChicago students. Troubling signs appeared as early as the fall of the 1953. Brother Marcellus Henderson Jr., the Chapter Historian at the time, wrote in the chapter history book, “As usual there was the problem of finding enough men to remain on campus.” A related factor was the chapter’s diminishing pres- ence on the UChicago campus. The “Kastle on Ellis” combined with very few or no current UChicago students in the chapter, created little reason for the chapter to conduct business and events on campus nor maintain good relations with the student commu- nity and the school. From a UChicago perspective, with no current students comprising the member- ship, the university categorized the fraternity as an inactive student organization.
many undergraduate chapters as feasible but also encourage dormant alumni chapters to become active again.” The late Brother L. Stanley Clark (Mu Rho 1987), a member of Chicago (IL) Alumni at the time, led the chapter reactivation effort. Those efforts including coor- dinating with the then UChicago Assistant Dean of Stu- dent Services and future First Lady Michelle Obama. By the end of the fall of 1997, the North Central Prov- ince initiated six UChicago students into the fraternity via the Iota Chapter. The chapter was off to good start in its return. They held campus events including sponsoring speaker semi- nars with radio host Michael Eric Dyson and political activist and professor Cornell West and participating in the IFC Sing for the first time in 35 years. The chapter appeared to have support from the student community. However, the return of Iota was unfortunately short-lived due to lack of UChicago students interested in joining the fraternity. Within two years of its reactivation, Iota reverted to its current inactive status. With an annual freshman acceptance rate of approxi- mately 6%, the University of Chicago is perennially one of the most selective universities in the country. The entire UChicago African American male undergraduate student population is approximately 50-100 students each year and, as a result, maintaining a sustainable undergraduate chapter is a challenge. Question: Does Kappa Alpha Psi ® ever intend to reactivate Iota again and return to the UChicago campus? Brother Byron C. Thornton (Zeta Mu 1983), the 24 th North Central Province Polemarch answers: “The North Central Province reviews the viabil- ity of all of its chapters periodically. In the case of Iota, the Province has been willing to explore unique alternatives. One such alternative is to explore changing Iota to an intermediate chap- ter and leverage the graduate student population at the University of Chicago. It is a model that works at Kappa and Theta Tau chapters respec- tively.” In closing, very few chapters possess a more distin- guished and accomplished collection of achievers than the Iota Chapter. What is more astounding about the statement is the chapter has only initiated six brothers since President John Fitzgerald Kennedy occupied the Future of Iota
Adkins (Iota 1957), Cornelius R. Collins (Iota 1957), Rufus Martin II (Iota 1957), Edward A. Williams, Esq. (Iota 1959), Carl Boyd (Iota 1961), Charles E. Taylor Jr. (Iota 1963), past Chicago (IL) Alumni Polemarchs Ronald S. Samuels (Iota 1961) and George Wilson Jr. (Iota 1963). Third Era of Iota Chapter 1964— Present day In the 1920s, over thirty Greek- letter social fraternities, including Kappa Alpha Psi ® , were registered that fraternities marginalize school spirit and lessens the attachment of the school to students and alumni and overall opposition by some stu- dents and faculty to the presence of fraternities on campus are some of the reasons for the decline of the Greek fraternal system at UChi- cago. For Kappa Alpha Psi ® specifically, from 1918 to 1963, the chapter was consistently an active campus organization, albeit small numbers in some years, and was consistently an equally active chapter within the fraternity. Conversely post 1964, the chapter has been consistently
IFC Sing cup. In fact, Iota and Phi Gamma Delta recorded an album of UChicago school songs in 1950.” From the 1953-54 Iota Chapter his- tory book:
“Rehearsals for the Univer- sity of Chicago Interfrater- nity Sing have commenced under Brother Andrew Mill- er (Iota 1943). With Iota Chapter as the moving spirit Kappa Alpha Psi® holds two legs on the I.F. Cup for
quality singing. A win in 1954 will give us per- manent possession. The Alumni Chapter has not co-operated fully with past efforts. We should turn en masse and ensure victory in the approaching Sing.”
as a UChicago student organization. By the mid-1960s the number dropped to seven and currently the campus has approximately a dozen fraternities. School policies impacting fraternities, the university’s cost and highly selective admissions rate, scarcity of suitable fraternity housing, the idea by some in the university community
In the December 1985 Jour- nal , Brother Ned Dunbar (Iota 1956) remembered about the IFC Sing. “It had to be original music and you had to have a march song, two other songs and your hymn. Winning that was a big deal because we were the only black frat in the group. That was our way of being part of the whole Greek scene. There was a lot of pride in it.”
Its Brief Return
Brothers
After an over thirty-year absence, the chapter returned to campus in 1997. Brother Michael C. Hughes Sr. (Kappa Phi 1985), who was North Cen- tral Province Polemarch in 1997 recalled,
During this era, 16 th Grand Polemarch C. Rodger Wil- son and Elder Watson Diggs Awardee Dr. E. Albert Dumas (Kappa 1923), among oth- ers, served as Iota’s chapter advisor. Members of the chapter from this era included: Dr. Mack Tanner (Iota 1942), Robert DeFrantz Sr. (Iota
inactive. Reasons for its inactive status are varied.
“When I became Province Polemarch a prepon- derance of undergraduate chapters throughout the North Central Province, and Illinois spe- cifically, were inactive. I made it an initiative of my administration to reactivate not only as
First, small number of African American males enrolled as undergraduate UChicago students is the primary factor. Brother Don Richards (Iota 1956), a past Iota Chapter Polemarch recalled,
50 | WINTER ISSUE THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL WINTER ISSUE | 51
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