THE DALLAS (TX) ALUMNI CHAPTER CELEBRATES 85 YEARS
The Dallas (TX) Alumni Chapter Celebrates 85 Years
By Maurice West and Aaron Williams
D uring the week of February 28-March 8, 2020, Dallas (TX) Alumni Chapter (DAC) celebrated its 85 th anniversary of its chartering. DAC, partnering with Friendship-West Baptist Church, hosted one of the Fraternity's signature service projects – The St. Jude Sunday of Hope with Friendship-West Baptist Church on Sunday, March 1, 2020. Other celebra- tory events for the week included two community service projects at the Mar- garet H. Cone Head Start Center and Trinity Heights Elementary School, and a Nupe Jazz event at Sandaga 813. The week's activities culminated with a semi- formal event entitled "85 Years of Service in North Texas: The Unmistakable Impact of the Dallas Alumni Chapter" .at the Love Field Aloft Hotel. DAC uti- lized the week to recognize the chapter's charter members, its Grand Chapter and Provincial Awardees, its past and current Grand Chapter and Provincial leaders, past DAC Polemarchs, and local DAC
communities expanded to support the importance of equal access. Today, DAC, the Mecca of the Southwestern Province,
Chartering
The 8 th Grand Polemarch Dr. J. Jerome Peters and the Grand Board of Directors authorized the Dallas (TX) Alumni Chapter's chartering on March 9, 1935. The fourth alumni chartered in Texas and the first in the Dallas- Ft. Worth area, DAC is currently the second-largest chapter in the state. Led by legends from around the nation who made Dallas their home in 1935 - L.C. Anderson, Charles H. Bynum, William Henry Fort, J. S. Jacques, Samuel E. Lassiter, Bert V. Wadkins, Richard S. Watson, Floyd F. Wilkerson, and L. Vir- gil Williams. Williams (Pi 1922) served as the chapter's inaugural Polemarch [1935-38] and again as its 4 th Polemarch
leaders who advance the work of Kappa Alpha Psi in the North Texas area.
For 85 years, DAC adhered to its motto, "To Become the Premier Leader in Service and Community Impact." Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, DAC stood firm with the fraternity, oth- er civil rights, and social service agencies to pursue equal rights and opportunities not afforded to citizens of color. DAC members were commissioned to military service and worked in local schools and
26 | FALL-WINTER 2020 ♦ THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 105 years
Made with FlippingBook Publishing Software