A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY
FOUNDERS
purpose of ACHIEVEMENT.
Fraternity in the United States once granted a charter by the Indiana Sec- retary of State on May 15, 1911. Born out of the vestiges of racism, Kappa Alpha Nu encountered anoth- er metamorphosis, partially related to action of bigotry. One day as one of the Fraternity members, Frank Summers, was running the hurdles, Founder Diggs overheard a White student state, “He is a member of Kappa Alpha Nig”. There was an additional misunderstanding being attributed to the acronym of the Fra- ternity’s Greek letters, KAN. Some confused the abbreviation of the letters to refer to the state of Kansas. The name of Fraternity and the image it portrayed was of paramount importance. These incidents caused the Founders to change the name of the Fraternity. The Greek Letter Ψ was chosen in place of N and the Fraternity acquired a distinctive Greek letter symbol and Kappa Al- pha Psi ® thereby became an indis- tinguishable Greek-letter Fraternity. The name was officially changed to Kappa Alpha Psi on a resolution adopted at the Grand Chapter Meet- ing in December 1914. This change became effective April 15, 1915. Kappa Alpha Psi ® was the first to Black Greek Lettered Organization to issue a monthly publication. The inaugural edition of the Kappa Alpha Nu Journal debuted April 1914 and has printed uninterrupted since with the exception to 1918 and 1919, due to WWI. Since the beginning, every endeavor was directed toward establishing the Fraternity upon a strong foun- dation before embarking on plans of expansion. Careful consideration was given to ensure the organization established a firm foundation the first year before efforts to expand were attempted. Five chapters were chartered from 1913-1915, centered in the Midwest; with the first chap-
ter being established in the East in 1915. Except for the years of World War I and II, when some Grand Chapter Meetings were suspended, Kappa Alpha Psi ® has grown and prevailed with unabating impetus. Kappa Alpha Psi ® , now comprised of functioning Undergraduate and Alumni Chapters on major campuses and in cities throughout the coun- try, is the crystallization of a dream. It is the beautiful realization of a vision shared commonly by the late Revered Founders that enabled them to sow the seed of a fraternal tree whose fruit is available to, and now enjoyed by college men everywhere, regardless of their color, religion or national origin. It is a fact of which Kappa Alpha Psi ® is proud that the Constitution has never contained any clause which either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from mem- bership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin. Kappa Alpha Psi ® is the second oldest existing collegiate histori- cally Black Greek Letter Fraternity and the intercollegiate Fraternity incorporated as a national body. It remains the only Greek letter organization with its Alpha Chapter on Indiana University’s campus. The Fraternity has over 125,000 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 com- munity outreach activities to feed the homeless, 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. Nationally, Kappa Alpha Psi ® has provided summer enrich- ment camps and provided funds for St. Jude Med- ical Research Center to assist in the fight against childhood catastrophic diseases by raising more than $1 Million. Interna- tionally, Kappa Alpha Psi ® members have answered the call to service by proudly serving our mil- itary in wars since WWI and raising funds to assist those in need following natural disasters around the world, including hurricanes, tornados, ty- phoons and earthquakes. who epitomize the very essence of Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor. Some of these members include: Ralph Abernathy, Wilt Cham- berlin, Montell Jordan, Benjamin Jealous, Oscar Robertson, Cedric the Entertainer, Arthur Ashe, Kappa Alpha Psi ® proudly boasts of members Robert S. Abbott, Bennie Thompson, Donald Byrd, Johnnie Cochran, Ed Gardner, Smokie Norful, John Singleton, Tom Bradley, Bob Johnson, John Conyers, Alcee Hastings, Lerone Ben- nett, Jr., Kwame Jackson, Bill Russell, Tavis Smiley, Marvin Sapp, and Colin Kaepernick to name a few. Mike Tomlin, Gayle Sayers, Adrian Fenty,
The Fraternity would seek to raise the sights of Black youths and stimu- late them to accomplishments higher than might otherwise be realized or even imagined. On January 5, 1911, the Fraternity then became known as Kappa Alpha Nu , possibly as a tribute to the Black students of 1903 (the Alpha Kappa Nu Greek Society) who preceded them at Indiana University. These men of vision decided Kappa Alpha Nu would be more than another social organization. It would be the only Greek-letter organization found- ed with the concept of achievement. Kappa Alpha Nu began uniting college men of culture, patriotism and honor in a Bond of fraternity. Primarily, under the efforts and leadership of the calm, methodical, and philosophical Elder W. Diggs and the critical, and scholarly Byron K. Armstrong, the Kappa Alpha Nu Fraternity was founded. Through their combined labors, the frater- nity’s ritual and ceremonial forms, constitution, hymn and motto were created, and insignia and emblems were fashioned. Taking careful attention to detail and to ensure the fraternity was rooted in authenticity, these Founder Diggs took courses in Greek heraldry and mythology and applied their combined knowledge to the development of these articles. The idealist, John Milton Lee also contributed significantly to the fledg- ling organization. For their works to establish the fraternity, Diggs was named permanent chairman, Lee was designated as secretary and Armstrong as sergeant-at-arms. These three Founders are credited with guiding the infant Fraternity through the most perilous years of its life. Able assistance provided by each of the remaining Founders fur- nished necessary sustenance for the embryonic group. Kappa Alpha Nu became the first incorporated Black
Elder Watson Diggs 1883–1947
Dr. Ezra Dee Alexander 1892–1971
ByronKennethArmstrong 1890–1980
Henry Tourner Asher 1892–1963
Marcus Peter Blakemore 1889–1959
Paul Waymond Caine 1891–1931
George Wesley Edmonds 1890–1962
Guy Levis Grant 1891–1973
Edward Giles Irvin 1893–1982
John Milton Lee 1890–1958
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