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he was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We were like ‘who is the brother here? He was kinda unusual.’ He was the coolest cat at Morehouse. We were nothing but kids, but we all listened to Butts. He had the skill to deal with people at all levels. Butts had charisma and pres- ence. You knew it by the way he walked and the way he talked. That is how he was as a young man.” Torris E. Bailey (Pi 1969): “He and I lived in the same dormitory as freshmen. He was always so clean, so neat. [You] could not help but like him. He was something special.” Harrison D. McIver, III, Esq. (Pi 1971): “There was something unique about him. Mature. This man seemed to be well mature beyond the years of college. During that time, I really looked up to him and saw him as a true man, not a man of 19 or 20. He just seemed to be mature and carried a certain aura of distinction and sophisti- cation.” Curtis Harris, Jr. (Pi 1968): “He walked around campus like he was Thelonious Monk. He had this stature about him. He was always talking to the school administrators ALL the time. He was so smooth in terms of conversation and so persuasive in terms of thought and action. The school administration had the utmost respect for him because he knew what he was talking about. He was just a natural leader, but he also knew where to get guidance. Everyone gravitated towards him and thought the world of anything he had to say. He made his history. We saw that being developed at Morehouse College thru Pi Chapter with the various discussions and meetings among [chapter members, school officials, and fellow students] he had there.” Oliver Hudson (Pi 1969): “Part of Calvin’s charisma was to be able to as- sociate and talk with anybody. It did not matter who it was. He had that kind of aura about himself. [He was] orderly and organized [and] could handle any situation. In school, you could not find anyone that did not like Calvin.” William D. Mann, III (Pi 1969): “As
a person? Unsurpassed. Of all students [at Morehouse], he stood out whether he opened his mouth or not. If there was a crowd, you knew where Calvin was.” James McMurray, Jr. (Pi 1971): “I became acquainted with him during his ‘Malcolm X period’ because he wore these Peabody glasses, and a kufi cap. But Calvin would always stop by and talk to us [underclassmen]. He would talk to us about organizing ourselves to be better students and ask what were our plans once we leave school.” Bernard Robertson (Pi 1969): “All of us recognized early on [of] Butts’ leadership ability. Very engaging. He learned how to redirect you inside of yourself. Help you come up with focus and solutions to how to accomplish goals. He was a great man to have in our midst and he affected my life in a very positive way.” Interestingly, Pi Chapter members noted while they knew Butts would be successful after college, there was no indication that he would enter the ministry as a vocation. Jokingly, Oliver Hudson commented that “Calvin was our Dean of Pledges. All the things we (Scrollers) had and the things that we did DROVE him into the ministry.” Charles Hudson on Butts, “At Morehouse, there are many guys; you don’t know whether they are great or not. But after everything is proven, you
end up with a guy like Butts going on to become great guy as he was and do all these great things. He was in our midst and past through the midst of us and went on his way.”
Abyssinian Baptist Church “My mentor was Samuel Dewitt
Proctor, who was a prominent Kappa and a man of many talents and graces. I am in the leadership position that I am in today because of him.” Butts returned to New York City after graduating in 1972 from Morehouse College with a B.A. degree in philoso- phy. Initially, he considered a career in industrial psychology or teaching phi- losophy to college students. However, Butts followed the advice of a fellow Morehouse College graduate, who con- vinced him to consider Union Theologi- cal Seminary in Manhattan. Years later, in an interview, Butts remarked about his decision to enter the ministry. “One thing I discovered is that every major advance of people of African descent was led by a clergyperson or [someone who] had the strong, over- powering influence of the church. And I was certainly one who was strong on political and social justice. What better base to work from.” He earned a master of divinity in church history from Union Theological Seminary and a doctorate of ministry in Church and Public Policy from Drew
Morehouse College 1969. Arrow indicates Calvin Butts with other Pi Chapter initiates of Kappa Alpha Psi in front of the chapters' on campus residence.
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