NATIONAL FOUNDERS’ DAY THE BAHAMAS
The 72nd Laurel Wreath Laureate General (Ret.) Dennis L Via and The 84th Laurel Wreath Laureate Lieutenant General (Ret.) Leslie C. Smith delivered leqdership sessions grounded in experience, discipline, and service at the highest levels.
“AS YOU GET A LITTLE BIT OLDER, YOU NOTICE THAT TIME IS NOT MEASURED IN MINUTES, HOURS, DAYS, WEEKS, OR MONTHS; IT’S MEASURED IN MOMENTS ...” - Dennis L. Via, 72nd Laurel Wreath Laureate
spoke about time. “As you get a little bit older, you notice that time is not measured in minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months; it’s measured in moments,” Brother Via said, scanning the ball- room, his cadence equal parts general and elder. “I want to make sure broth- ers, you don’t miss the opportunity to meet your moment.” He drew a straight line from a century-old founding to the under- graduates in the audience. He asked them to picture Elder Watson Diggs in 1910, on the cusp of establishing a Black fraternity in the middle of Indiana cornfields—pawning his own watch to finance a vision centered on one deceptively simple word: achieve- ment. “Good leaders think their people work for them,” he told them. “Great leaders know they work for their people.”
THE GENERALS’ BOOT CAMP The first morning belonged to the Soldiers. In the history of the United States Army, only a handful of African American men have worn four stars; Dennis L. Via (Alpha Phi 1978) is the seventh—and only the second Kappa man—to reach that summit. The 72nd Laurel Wreath Laureate did not open with battlefield exploits. Instead, he
the best leader that you can be.” Over the next two days, The Baha- mas became less a backdrop and more a crucible: a place where hymns, hard truths, and high-level case studies col- lided. The long weekend saw generals and mayors trade playbooks, and a 115-year-old fraternity quietly field- tested an enhanced model of Black male leadership for the 21st century.
WINTER 2026-2026 ♦ THE JOURNAL 37
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