NATIONAL NEWS
Undergraduate Board Members Amplifying the Work of Kappa Alpha Psi: by Leading Through Advocacy, Literacy Programming and Mentorship of the Generations Behind Them
Kappa Alpha Psi leadership supported the undergraduate initiative of Room to Read with a soft launch that became an official initiative at the beginning of this year.
L iteracy is the foundation for all future learning yet a quality education remains out of reach for millions of children around the world. Over the years, access to primary schooling has improved, but educational quality remains a major issue. Many children in primary school aren’t learning the basics, the result of inadequate teachers, funds and school infrastructure challenges. Room to Read envisions a world in which all children can pursue a qual- ity education that prepares them to be fulfilled and make positive change – in their families, communities and the world. Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children ® , Room to Read transforms the lives of millions of children through education, creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality. Kappa Alpha Psi ® is the second oldest existing collegiate historically Black Greek Letter Fraternity and the first intercollegiate Fraternity incorpo-
rated as a national body. The Fraternity has over 150,000 members with 700 undergraduate and alumni chapters in nearly every state of the United States, and international chapters in Nigeria, South Africa, the West Indies, the United Kingdom, Germany, Korea and Japan. Through its worldwide prominence, Kappa Alpha Psi has had a global impact on events which affect our local communities as well as places around the globe. Local chapters of Kappa Alpha Psi, participate in community outreach activities to feed the home- less, provide scholarships to young people matriculating to college, serve as mentors to young men, participate in blood drives and serve as hosts of seminars for public health awareness to name a few. For the pilot phase, each Province nominated three chapters to participate in the program that will partner with an under-resourced primary school in their area. Room to Read then trained these
undergraduate volunteers, and each month participating chapters intro- duced a Room to Read South Africa storybook title to the elementary school by reading the books aloud, conducting reading activities and donating 10 cop- ies to the school's library. The books Room to Read provided are developed by local South African authors and illustrators in one of the 42 languages Room to Read has published around the world and have the power to foster global citizenship for children in the United States. Room To Read's Soft Launch with Kappa Alpha Psi The program had a soft launch in Milwaukee on November 15, 2019 In November, the members of the Milwaukee (WI) Alumni and Delta Kappa (NC) chapters served as hosts of the North Central Province C. Rodger Wilson Leadership Conference which was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During the conference, the brothers of the Province led by Province Pole-
84 | SPRING 2020 ♦ THE JOURNAL
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