UNDERGRADUATE NEWS
Brothers for Brothers: Making a Lasting Impact During the Pandemic
W hen the coronavirus of its impact. Within months, schools, businesses, and churches were shut down; our national economy was hang- ing on by the slightest of threads and our healthcare system was overcome, health- care professionals and first responders overworked with no end in sight. In the middle of this pandemic were our undergraduate brothers. More than 3,000 young men across the country saw internships disappear, employment opportunities erode, campuses closed – with some stranded and unable to get home. In those dark hours, Kappa Alpha reached American shores, no one fully understood the potential magnitude Psi Fraternity, Inc., the Senior Kappa Affairs Endowment Fund, the National Silhouettes, and the Kappa Alpha Psi ® Foundation joined together to create the Undergraduate COVID-19 Relief Fund. The Fund’s purpose was to assist undergraduate members of Kappa Alpha Psi who were in dire need of financial assistance to get them through those
turbulent times. The Undergraduate COVID-19 Relief Fund was created to offset some of the financial hardship our undergraduates faced, which included housing, job loss, food insecurity, par- ent job loss, medical, or student loans. Under the leadership of Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer Rhen C. Bass and Foundation Treasurer Brother Martin L. Hubbard, convened regularly to track applications and donations and create the disbursement process for grant payments. At 12:01 a.m. on May 25, the appli- cation process opened for undergradu- ates to apply for a $500 grant. Within the first 12 hours, 125 applications had been received. By Tuesday afternoon, that number increased to 400. Applica- tions came in from every Province and were carefully reviewed by a selection committee led by Brother Trenton A. Nettles, Director of Undergraduate and University Affairs. “We anticipated that the need would be great, but to see that many applica- tions submitted within a short amount
of time let us know that our undergradu- ate brothers needed us to really step up,” said Michael J. Dubose, Founda- tion President. “To see the members of Fraternity answer the call to assist was heartwarming. Donations of all amounts started to pour in for support of these young men of achievement.” To meet the need of as many un- dergraduates as possible, the “Brothers for Brothers” campaign was launched with a goal of raising $100,000 by June 30, 2020. With participation for all 12 Junior Province Vice Polemarchs, under the leadership of Junior Grand Vice Polemarch Brother Evan R. Jackson, an outreach video was launched as the foundation of the giving campaign. At the end of the giving timeframe, more than $106,000 was donated through the “Brothers for Brothers” campaign to support the Undergraduate COVID-19 Relief Fund. Those funds were added to the contributions from the Fraternity, the SKAEF, the Silhou- ettes, and the Foundation, for a total of $426,500. This provided us the ability
THE JOURNAL ♦ WINTER 2020-SPRING 2021 | 27
Publishing achievement for more than 107 years
Made with FlippingBook HTML5