GRAND POLEMARCH’S MESSAGE
Social Media in a Culture of Service
I have dabbled in social media for many years but, until recently, never fully realized its utility when you want to stay connected with friends, family and constituent groups. I was reared in the fraternity at a time when you learned what brothers were doing across the Bond through the Kap- pa Journal or an occasional press release when someone thought the activity was newsworthy. Today, we get information in real time, instantaneously and contemporaneously to the event. I am happy for social me- dia technology in this brave new world because I learn what brothers are doing, at the time they are doing it, or a few minutes thereafter. I immediately see what I have sensed since my initiation. Ours is a Bond born in brotherhood, achievement and steeped in a culture of service to the Fraternity and the com- munities in which we live. We can trace our culture of service to the beginning of the Fraternity. You only have to thumb through the pages of the Fifth Edition of The Story of Kappa Alpha Psi to chronicle the spirit of service our members have demonstrated since our inception.
For instance, our members offered their services in World War I and World War II. Just four days after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Grand Polemarch James E. Scott sent a message to President Franklin D, Roosevelt to inform him of the large number of brothers that served and died in World War I and reaffirmed the Fraternity’s commitment to the “vigorous and successful prosecution of the war.” That willingness to serve continues with relentless vigor, now more than ever. Today we have brothers serving in many capacities in the military, education, law enforcement, clergy, government, politics, show business, social service agencies and in their private roles as concerned citizens in their communi- ties. I know the great things brothers are doing today because Immediate Past Junior Grand Vice Polemarch, Brother Christopher Cross, indoctrinated me in the nuances of Facebook ® , Instagram ® , Twitter ® and some other applications I have yet to conquer and can’t remem- ber their names. But, I will master them, too, in time. Suffice it to say I am no longer the technological Luddite
Reuben A. Shelton III, Esq. Grand Polemarch
8 | WINTER 2020-SPRING 2021 ♦ THE JOURNAL
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