TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
William T. Haston 1934–2021 Nashville (TN) Educator
By Aaron Williams
L ongtime Nashville (TN) Alumni Chapter member William (Bill) Thomas Haston (Alpha Lambda 1954) entered the Chapter Invisible on June 11, 2021. Born in Fayetteville, TN, to Ernest R. Haston and Mattie Ruth Haston on December 26, 1934, Haston attended elementary and high school in Fayetteville, graduat- ing in 1953 from West End High School in Lincoln County, TN. Haston attended South Carolina State University (SCSU) in Orange- burg, SC, on a football scholarship and majored in industrial arts education. As a member of the Alpha Lambda Chapter at SCSU, Haston served as polemarch, vice polemarch, and dean of pledges. He was vice president of the SCSU Pan- Hellenic Council and president of the Senior Class. He was also a member of the Young Men's Christian Association. After earning his B.A. degree for SCSU in 1957, Haston moved to Mem- phis, TN, and taught for one year before moving to Nashville. Haston worked in the metropolitan Nashville City Schools for more than forty years. He began working as an Industrial Arts teacher at Wharton Junior High School and later transferred to North High School as an Industrial Arts teacher. He received sev- eral teaching awards, including Industri- al Arts Teacher of the Year. In 1968, he became the first Black teacher to receive the Industrial Arts Teacher of the Year honor in the United States. While teaching, Haston attended Tennesse State University, earning a master's
degree in education in 1969.
Lifetime Achievement Award "for many years of service, dedication, and com- mitment rendered to the Chapter." Brother William T. Haston is sur- vived by his beloved wife, Ruth Jean (née Johnson) Haston; his daughter, Andrea (Rodney) Jones; his granddaugh- ter, Brittany (Vernon) Williams; great- granddaughter Zyla and great-grandson Vernon, III; and a host of other cousins, nieces and nephews; fraternity brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity; and many, many friends. In honor of Brother Haston, the Nashville (TN) Alumni Chapter named the room in the Fraternity House in which chapter meetings are convened as "The William Haston Meeting Hall."
Haston later would gain appoint-
ments to Assistant Principal and Principal positions at several schools. He served as Assistant Principal at W.A. Bass Junior High School and Bellevue High School, and later Principal in the North Office at McGavock High School, where he retired in 1994. Also, dur- ing his tenure at the schools, he often worked with extracurricular activities such as assistant football coach and adviser to student groups. Haston was an active member of the Tennessee Congress of Black Teachers, and he assisted in the formation of the Metro Nashville Education Associa- tion (MNEA). He was a member and trustee of the Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church. A Life Member of the Fraternity, Haston served numerous leadership po- sitions with the Nashville (TN) Alumni Chapter, including leading the chapter as its 20th polemarch from 1996-1998. He help create the Kappa Kat Basket- ball Team, established the Guide Right Foundation, initiated several other programs and scholarships, and worked with other Nashville service organiza- tions to encourage voter registration. Brother Haston was the recipient of many awards and commendations over his many years in Kappa Alpha Psi. Most recently, he was honored by the Nash- ville (TN) Alumni Chapter with the
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