COVER STORY
the enormity of having a room named in my honor. This is the best that I can do to describe how I feel. Williams: Most of us know that you were initiated at the Xi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi at Howard University, but what some of us don’t know is that the Historic Kappa House is a pretty big part of being a young Kappaman in DC. Tell me some of your expe- riences at the house as you grew in The Bond? Jenkins: Well, I would say as I shared with Brothers at the dedication ceremony, my experience in the Kappa House started before I had the good fortune to become a member of the fraternity. I go back to my freshman year. No, my sophomore year in the fall of 1989 was the first time I ever visited the house. I understood that I had enough credits to now pursue membership. Back then, it required at least 30 credits and at least a minimum GPA at 2.5 and I satisfied both of those requirements, so I started my pursuit of membership in Kappa Alpha Psi. You’ve got to understand, in that day and time and probably even still today, when you’re not a member of the frater- nity you don’t understand
the concept of chapters. All you see is Kappa Alpha Psi. Myself and a group of other Howard students who were all equally interested knew that there was going to be a Kappa party at the house. We figured out where the location was and we attended. At that point, I didn’t even have enough infor- mation to know that the Xi Chapter at Howard Uni- versity was suspended and wouldn’t be in a position to have a line. But I went down to the house none- theless and that was my first occasion of being in the Historic Kappa House. There were a lot of emo- tions. I was excited, but also had some uneasiness about how I would be treated as a young kid coming in there and trying to pursue membership. That was my first experience and I don’t think I stepped foot in the house again until I was there to participate in my initiation ceremony. Back then, most of the things that we did up until that point at Xi Chapter didn’t occur in the house, so it wasn’t until the night of March 20th, my initia- tion, that I found myself back. That was three years removed from when I first entered and of course it
Top: SGVP Jenkins with members of the Historic Kappa House Restoration Foundation; Vice President DeMar Rogers and President Karl Stewart. Bottom: Fellowshipping with Foundation members and John F. Cotten.
was a special night. After crossing, I can’t remember exactly how much time had transpired before we finally received our official cards, certificate, and badge of membership. The pinning occasion was also at the house. These are my very early experiences of the Historic
Kappa House. As a member, as a full-fledged member, I remember all the social events, the parties, and everything else that comes along with being a Nupe. I got to enjoy those princi- pally during my law school days while I was officially a member of the Theta Tau (Howard University
SUMMER 2024 ♦ THE JOURNAL 29
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