THE HISTORY OF THE CINCINNATI ALUMNI CHAPTER - A GEM IN THE QUEEN CITY
The Cincinnati Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi was chartered approximately twelve years after Kappa Alpha Psi was incorporated as a National Greek Letter College Fraternity. The Brothers who facilitated this were: Geo F. David, L.R. Breedlove, Ray Clark, Ned Dunham, H.L. Hunter, and James Ross. It was through their dedication that the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter (CAC) attained its charter and was incorporated under the laws of the state of Ohio on December 18, 1923
The racial and social climate in Cincinnati in the 1920s
CAC came into being during an intense racial and social climate in the city of Cincinnati in the 1920s. At this time, the Cincinnati Real Estate Board issued a mandate to real estate agents: "No agent shall rent or sell property to colored people in an established white section or neighborhood and this inhibition shall be particularly applicable to the hilltops and suburban community." The goal was to prevent Black residents in the city's urban core from following whites to other neighborhoods.
Black mortality rates were double those of the city overall. Upon visiting Cincinnati's West End, public health pioneer Dr. Haven Emerson declares, "You could not produce a prize hog to show at the fair under conditions that you allow Negroes to live in this city."
By 1930, the growing demand for low-income housing led city officials to use federal aid to build large-scale housing projects. Almost all of these were racially segregated. Lincoln Court was exclusively for Black residents in the West End, while Laurel Homes had separate Black and White sections.
CAC thrived in the heart of adversity. After approximately sixteen years of successful social endeavors, the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter turned its goals to the aims of colleges and universities: providing a climate within which students may acquire a social, moral, intellectual, and social basis for meaningful and effective living. Thus came the birth of the Cincinnati Kappa Alpha Psi Undergraduate Chapter, Beta Eta, in 1939.
The
Cincinnati Alumni Chapter is home to the first African-American Millionaire in
Cincinnati, Donald C. Spencer. The chapter is also home to Two Laurel Wreath Awardees in the Fraternity's history:
Judge Nathaniel Jones and Dr. Alvin Crawford. The strong tradition and history
of the chapter will continue to grow into the 21st century.
Cincinnati Alumni Chapter Officers
Polemarch: Adrian M. Cunningham
Vice Polemarch: Derrick Cooper
Keeper of Records/Champlain: John Johnson
Keeper of Exchequer/Rhi Omicron Chapter Advisor: Darryl Lowen
Strategus: Jonathan Butler
Lt. Strategus: Cameron Wright
Historian/Kappa Delta Chapter Advisor: Dr. Rodney D. Coates
Parliamentarian: Bruce Bufford
Reporter: Judson Haynes
Board of Directors & MTA Co-Chair: Kemal Catalan
Alumni Board Member: Norman Bouwie III
Alumni Board Member: Tyler James
MTA Co-Chair: Joshua Grace
The CAC Foundation
The Cincinnati Alumni Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation, is the philanthropic arm of the local fraternity chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. The Cincinnati chapter was founded in 1923. To assist in carrying out the fraternity mission, the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter Foundation was established in 1987 as a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. The mission of the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation, is to support our chapter members and others in service to the community.
The Foundation has, through the Black and White Ball and the Scholarship Golf Tournament, supported community food and clothing drives, as well as such national projects as the United Negro College Fund, Habitat for Humanity, and Piney Woods Schools. It has also presented financial assistance to college-bound males from the African-American community as part of the alumni chapter's community service initiative. The recipients embody the fraternity's achievement goals and demonstrate a desire to become leaders in the community. The Foundation has presented scholarships totaling over $685,000 in awards.
Board of Trustees
Pervis H. Bearden Sr. – President
Jim Anderson – Vice President
Norman Bouwie – Secretary
James Williams – Treasurer
Emmett Drane – Trustee
Robert Hall, Sr. – Trustee
Ellery Lewis – Trustee
Jason Wilkerson – Trustee
On Sunday, February 9th, 2020, the Cincinnati Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Silhouettes held their chapter induction and chartering ceremony. The Brothers of the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter were proud to witness and take part in this special ceremony. 15 Silhouettes were present and inducted into the National Silhouette Organization. The Province Silhouette President, Heather Jordan, oversaw the ceremony.
Chapter Officers:
President -Kamaria Maseru-Catalan
Vice President – Danica Gilmer
Secretary – Chanelle Williams
Treasurer – Jeanne Pope
The Silhouettes is an auxiliary organization of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Their membership comprises wives and widows of the men of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Psi-chotic - 6, Spr '90
Kings of SophistiKation (KOS) - Fall '19
Kings of SophistiKation (K.O.S) shipped was initiated into the Cincinnati Alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, incorporated in the fall of 2019. The current members names are as follows: Koncept (ACE) - Braheem Randall, DisKretion (2) - Tyler Baker, Vokal (3)- Tyler Adams, Konvertible (4) - Cameron Foster, Kodak (5) - Aaron Smith, KonstruKtion (6) - Avery Colvin, A$AP RoKKy (7)- Nicholas Issacs, Kool Runnings (Tail) - Jared Johnson.
8 Karat – Spring ’23
L-R Brother Trevor Sauders, Brother Tye Cobb, Brother Bruce Millerton, Brother Henry Dawkins, Intake Chairman Brother Donald Leathers (center), Brother Gabriel Rushin, Brother Lelon Frazier, Brother Phill Cook and Brother Caleb Simmons.”
Kappa League
Each inductee receives mentoring and leadership training throughout their high school matriculation. As inductees approach their senior year in high school, they will receive tools and activities to foster college readiness opportunities, college matriculation, and academic success.
In 2015, Brother Dexter Ross and Brother Norman Bouwie established The Cincinnati Alumni Chapter Kappa League. The first class came into being the next year. The most recent class of the Kappa League was formally inducted at Withrow High School in 2021.
L-R (Roderick Elmore, Warren Williams, Adrian Cunningham, Rickey Johnson, Pervis Bearden, Renee Johnson, Norman Bouwie.
Fred Heisel Award
Bond Hill Academy
One of the community service activities that CAC has orchestrated is the Bond Hill Academy. The relationship has expanded through the years via our chapter's consistent time with the students at our Donald A. Spencer Reading Academy. In addition to the reading academy, we invest in getting the students exposure by sponsoring scholastic and social field trip experiences, providing necessary technology and supplies when needed, and facilitating uniform, coat drives, and other clothing needs annually.
In addition, CAC of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated's Bond Hill Academy students were given personal hygiene and toiletry items to help supplement the extra time being spent at home and stocking up the nurse's office with hundreds of hygiene items, all proven to be a benefit to the students, their family, and school staff.
Over the years, the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter and Silhouettes have contributed their time and effort to compile thousands of bags of these items to distribute to youth in the community.
Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor
CAC Members in the Military
After almost of year of renewed attention for his role as a pioneering African-American Marine during World War II, Mr. Smith, 97, died Tuesday at Hospice of Southwest Ohio, Madeira. He had suffered a stroke on Sept. 10 at his home in Columbia Township.
On Jan. 19, the day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mr. Smith received the Congressional Gold Medal for her service as one of the 20,000 Montford Point Marines. The group's name came from the swampy, racially segregated, and largely undeveloped corner of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where African-American Marines trained.
In June 2012, on the floor of the Senate in Washington, D.C., about 400 other Montford Point Marines received the medals, which required at least 67 co-sponsors to even be considered,
"I didn't expect (to receive the medal)," Mr. Smith, a corporal who played the glockenspiel in the base marching and dance bands, told The Enquirer in January. He received his medal at his church, Kennedy Heights Presbyterian.
WWII Vet's Award a long time coming (cincinnati.com)
As a result of the newspaper's story, Mr. Smith was honored during Black History Month on the floor of Cincinnati City Council by council member Yvette Simpson. President Barack Obama sent a congratulatory letter. Later Mr. Smith received a visit in his home from Brad Wenstrup, U.S. Representative from Ohio's Second Congressional District and former combat surgeon in Iraq. "We had such a nice visit," Wanda Smith said. "Bob enjoyed it very much."
Born in 1917 in Huntingtown, Maryland, he moved with his family in the early 1920s to Baltimore, where he learned to play piano. At 16, he enrolled at West Virginia State College, in Institute, West Virginia, supporting himself by playing piano in clubs.
In the years before World War II, Mr. Smith drove a truck at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. His payload often was the leftover chemical weapon used during World War I in Europe.
In 1943, he was drafted into the Marine Corps and sent to Montford Point for training. Those Marines were the first African-Americans inducted into the Marine Corps since the Revolutionary War.
Superiors soon recognized his musical talent and assigned him to Special Services.
In 1952, he married the former Wanda Lowery and began work as a parole officer with the Ohio State Parole Board. He had been married once before, a marriage that ended in divorce. He retired in 1987 as executive director of the Opportunities Industrialization Center, a job-training and placement nonprofit in Springfield, Ohio.
In his off hours, he played for over 30 years in the five-piece local dance band 5 Steps to Rhythm.
A Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church member, Mr. Smith served as an elder and a Personnel Committee and Pastoral Nominating Committee member. He has also served the Presbytery of Cincinnati for two terms on the Committee of Preparation for Ministry.
"He was sort of that giant man who cared about everybody. And all he ever wanted was for America to right the wrong of the injustice that Black men endured at Port Chicago," Sandra Evers-Manly is quoted as saying. Evers-Manly, 64, started a Port Chicago survivors' group in Los Angeles in 1998 after hearing from her neighbor about Black soldiers' hardships during World War II.
Tuggle was one of about 200 Black men ordered to continue loading munitions after the deadly explosion, even though white soldiers had been sent home. Toggle knew some 50 men who were then tried, convicted, and imprisoned on mutiny charges for refusing to work.
There were other injustices Tuggle noticed leading up to the explosion. The Navy was highly segregated when he was drafted, and Black men were resigned to menial jobs. They received hardly any training.
"We followed the procedures, we did not disobey or disregard any instruction they (the white officers) gave us, but they tried every way they possibly could to … gear you towards doing something wrong," Tuggle said in a 2006 interview with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) issued a resolution in 2016 listing some of these grievances and demanding compensation for the remaining sailors and their descendants.
While some advocated for presidential pardons (and one of the men, Freddie Meeks, was granted such in 1999), Tuggle strove for exoneration for his fellow soldiers. Until he died, Tuggle was adamant that the Port Chicago 50 never did anything wrong and didn't need pardons. He wrote letters and called congressmen, presidents, and the U.S. Navy asking them to recognize the discrimination Black soldiers faced during World War II, particularly in Port Chicago.
"All of the Black men who served in Port Chicago that I met and others, they served their country despite their country treating them different," Evers-Manly said. "They did not let the discrimination and being treated differently impact how they served their country, their families, and their communities."
A life of service: Tuggle served CPS students for 36 years
Tuggle worked in education for 38 years, 36 of which he spent serving Cincinnati Public Schools.
He was a teacher, counselor, coach, and administrator. He worked at several schools, including Hughes STEM High School and Aiken High School - New Tech.
"It was rare that we went somewhere with my dad and someone didn't know who he was and stop him and say hello," Charlette Fuller, one of Tuggle's three daughters, remembers.
Tuggle excelled at connecting with Cincinnati students because he was a Cincinnati student at one time. He was born and raised in the city and grew up in the Over-the-Rhine and Mount Auburn neighborhoods. Before joining the Navy, he went to Taft Elementary School and graduated from Woodward High School.
He attended Wilberforce University, now known as Central State University, after serving in the Navy during World War II. He joined Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically African-American fraternity, in 1948 when he was a junior in college.
He served Cincinnati in myriad ways. Tuggle was active at Allen Temple A.M.E. Church, where he participated in the men's choir and finance committee, chaired the church's anniversary celebrations, and served on the trustee board for 25 years. After retiring from education, he volunteered for several years with Crayons to Computers, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing necessary educational tools to Cincinnati classrooms.
CAC Members in Clergy
By Atmore News
Special
to Atmore News
CAC Members in Medicine
Kappa Alpha Psi bestows highest award to TSU Alumnus
2013 Konklave held in Houston, TX
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. held its biennial Grand Chapter meeting, affectionately known as the Kappa Konklave, in Houston, Texas, on Aug. 6. At the meeting, Alvin Crawford, M.D., was awarded the Laurel Wreath award—the fraternity's highest award for a member's achievement in service to the fraternity or in human endeavors, national or international. He thus became one of only 71 Kappas to be awarded the Laurel Wreath since its founding in 1911.
Crawford marched in TSU's famed Aristocrat of Bands marching band in the late 1950s along with fellow Konklave attendee John Green, who was among dozens of Nashvillians in Houston.
"Since my induction in 1959, the principles of Kappa Alpha Psi have guided me, never knowing that I would someday be awarded this great honor for which I will hold sacred until the day of my death," said Crawford, a professor emeritus of pediatric orthopedic surgery in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine. Crawford is considered one of the nation's foremost authorities on video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, which allows surgeons to insert rods through small incisions to straighten the spine.
In his address to an audience of approximately 3,500 Kappa members, Crawford recalled how, as an undergraduate member of the Alpha Theta chapter of the fraternity at Tennessee State University in 1959, he was fascinated by the achievements of past Laurel Wreath honorees. He discussed how he began incorporating those characteristics and attributes into his work. He then became the first African American admitted to the University of Tennessee's medical college, graduating in 1964.
"He was so smart. He was brilliant," recalled Green. "He was a clarinet player and keeps his mouthpiece with him," speaking of the man who played alongside him at the Konklave in the musical ensemble led by fellow Alpha Theta initiate Leonard Morton, Sr. "He's humble and he still loves to play. He was a music major and his older brother Bubba Crawford was an all-American quarterback." So the younger Crawford excelled in music and academics to escape his older sibling's shadow.
In his acceptance speech, he also identified his mission as a Laurel Wreath holder as two-fold: 1) to assist with ways to increase the number of African American physicians in the health care ranks and 2) to encourage African American men to be culturally sensitive to women through language and deeds.
"I have made achievement a lifestyle and not a goal," he said of the numerous other honors and awards he has received, including the Daniel Drake Medal from the UC College of Medicine (its highest academic honor) in 2006, the Diversity award from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in 2007, and the Trumpet award in 2009. The significance of this award, he noted, was that it remains in perpetuity "to hopefully inspire African Americans as well as others to do well and join the ranks of an organization that honors high achievers."
Crawford's charitable contributions to society extend to providing orthopedic care to underserved children worldwide, especially those with clubfoot and severe spinal deformities. Crawford is the founding director of the Crawford Spine Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in 2004. He is also an attending physician with UC Health Orthopedics & Sports Medicine.
Dr. Ralph Joseph Bryson was born the son of Rass and Annie Bryson in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 10th day of September 1922. He and his sister, Dorothy Louise Bryson Lowe, grew up in Madisonville, Ohio. During childhood, he learned to play the piano and became an avid bridge player.
He is a graduate of Withrow High School. While completing his Bachelor of Science Degree at the University of Cincinnati in 1947, he was employed at a newspaper printing press; his interest in the written word grew into a great passion. During his studies, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during WWII, where he read maps and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, which aided in the liberation of Southern France. He was part of the invasion of Europe in 1944 and was a member of the 43rd Transport Battalion. Then he earned a Master of Education Degree in 1950 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1952 from The Ohio State University.
Dr. Bryson accepted Christ at an early age. He joined Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, now known as Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist, in 1953, where he served faithfully as an usher, ministry leader of the September Birthday Club, and avid supporter of all ministry programs and events, including the Tourism Ministry. Dr. Bryson was a colleague of various Civil Rights icons. Dr. Bryson had a valuable friendship with the icon Mrs. Jo Ann Robinson, who helped to begin The Montgomery Bus Boycott. Dr. Bryson was always willing to cheerfully share his eyewitness accounts of The Modern Civil Rights Movement.
Dr. Bryson began his education career as a middle school English teacher in North Carolina. Then, he taught at Southern University and Miles College as a professor of English literature. But since 1953, he spent most of his years at Alabama State University, where he participated as an acting Department Chair and professor of African-American Literature. Dr. Bryson served a 59-year tenure at Alabama State University before retiring in 2012. He was honored as Professor of Emeritus, and when requested, Dr. Bryson continued to serve Alabama State University.
Dr. Bryson mentored many students. He published numerous empirical works. Dr. Bryson participated on standardized test committees to ensure that various standardized testing companies do not subjectively discriminate against students as learners by the use of 'othering' students of color through written and unwritten language.
Dr. Bryson was a Grand Historian of Kappa Alpha Psi (1997-2011). He was the 64th Laurel Wreath Laureate and the 56th Elder Watson Diggs Awardee. He has served as a mentor to countless Kappa Alpha Psi brothers. He was the second editor of the "Books and Such" column for The Kappa Alpha Psi Journal (1969-1982), and the author of the 5th edition of "The Story of Kappa Alpha Psi, as well as the coauthor of The History of the Southern Province" (1997). Dr. Bryson donated an office building, The Dr. Ralph J. Bryson Computer Laboratory, to use within the Bryson Community Center and a house to the fraternity. Dr. Bryson has earned the highest honors from his beloved Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.
His professional honors include scholarships on behalf of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, and scholarships for the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University. Such scholarships are as given: College of Education and Human Ecology, The Bryson Endowment Scholarship, The Ohio State University, College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services and Information Technology, University of Cincinnati, Bryson Endowed Scholarship.
CAC Members in Law
Nathaniel Jones
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed Mr. Jones to the federal appeals court in Cincinnati, where he served until his retirement in 2002. He served as the NAACP's chief lawyer from 1969 until his appointment to the federal court.
As counsel for the NAACP, Mr. Jones argued for the organization in school desegregation suits filed against public school districts in Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Dayton, and Columbus, Ohio.
In the 1980s, he traveled across Africa, assisting emerging nations in establishing judicial systems. He also helped South African leaders draft a constitution ending that nation's system of legal racial segregation known as apartheid.
After his retirement, Jones became a Senior Counsel in the Cincinnati office of Blank Rome LLP, also serving as its Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer. He also wrote a memoir, "Answering the Call: An Autobiography of the Modern Struggle to End Racial Discrimination in America" (2016), with a foreword by Harvard professor Evelyn Brooks Higgenbotham. On May 6, 2003, the second federal courthouse established in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, was named in honor of Jones. Former U.S. Representative Louis B. Stokes of Cleveland was on hand for the naming ceremony. "This building, which will forever carry your name, will be a testament to outstanding public service by a local boy made good," Stokes said. Jones received the NAACP's Spingarn Medal in 2016, its highest honor. The University of Cincinnati named its Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice to honor Judge Jones in 2019. He also received 19 honorary degrees.
Sculpture Unveiling of the 65th Laurel Wreath Laureate - Cincinnati Alumni’s own, the late Judge Nathaniel Jones. We salute the legacy of our Brother! We are also honored to have chapter members and the 70th Laurel Wreath Laureate - Dr. Alvin Crawford in this picture and our Province Senior Vice Polemarch- Brian Webster, join us!
Bowdeya Tweh
btweh@enquirer.com
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Whenever Cincinnati
attorney Alicia Bond-Lewis needs inspiration, she recalls her father's words in a letter to her in 2006.
"Keep your chin up and don't let
anything keep you down," Howard Henry Bond wrote in the final lines of the
letter. "With God's help, nothing is impossible."
Mr. Bond died on April 27 at age 77. But
those who knew Mr. Bond, who lived in North Avondale, say he was a great
connector of people, unapologetically positive, and deeply
committed to family and his faith. He had been battling cancer for several
years but still smiled and cracked jokes to show people he was OK despite
his health issues.
"He encouraged me and instilled in me
this belief that I could accomplish anything," said Bond-Lewis, an attorney at
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP's Cincinnati office.
Mr. Bond was born in Stanford,
Kentucky, but spent most of his childhood in Detroit and other cities.
After serving in the U.S. Army, Mr.
Bond graduated with a bachelor's degree from Eastern Michigan University and a
master's degree in business administration from Pace University in New York.
Mr. Bond started his career at Ford Motor Co. and then moved to General
Electric and Xerox. He developed and implemented programs in the late 1960s and
early 1970s that helped transform Xerox into a leader in affirmative action and
equal opportunity among the nation's Fortune 500 companies.
Before founding Executech Consultants,
Mr. Bond was vice president of Playboy Enterprises and supervised the company's
worldwide human resource functions. He also served as the president of the
National Association of Executive Recruiters.
Bond-Lewis said her father emphasized
the importance of education. He and other family members, who include
architects, educators, and business leaders, encouraged her to strive for
excellence. Mr. Bond organized the first Bond family reunion in the 1990s, which continues today.
"I talked to him every day and if it
sounded like he was unable to talk, I would ask if he had a brief minute, and
his response would always be 'for you, always,'" Bond-Lewis said.
President Jimmy Carter appointed Mr.
Bond to the White House Conference on Small Business and served on the board of
directors of the first minority-owned money management firm Ariel Capital
Management, now Ariel Investments. He also served on the board of
directors of Downtown Cincinnati-based Opus Capital Management.
He also served on the boards of
Cincinnati Public Schools, the Cincinnati Parks Department, and the Cincinnati Zoo
& Botanical Garden. Mr. Bond was chair of The United Way of Greater
Cincinnati campaign in 1990. It was active in the American Red Cross, Salvation
Army, Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses, Cincinnatus Association, the National
Urban League, and Urban League of Cincinnati. Mr. Bond and his wife Ruby
published one of the Midwest's oldest African-American magazines, News,
Information, and Pictures Magazine.
Mr. Bond was a member of the
fraternities Kappa Alpha Psi and Sigma Pi Phi, the National Black MBA
Association, and he was a 33rd degree, Prince Hall Mason. Mr. Bond also taught
leadership and social responsibility at Northern Kentucky University. He was a
visiting professor in the Black executive exchange program of the National
Urban League since its inception in 1969. Mr. Bond also lectured at Harvard
University, Drexel University, the National Technical Association, and various
MBA conferences. Mr. Bond was a member of Allen Temple African Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Eric Kearney, a Cincinnati attorney and former Ohio state senator, remembers Mr. Bond as a great connector of
people and an astute businessman. He also said Mr. Bond was young and had
a zest for life. Kearney bought the NIP publication from the Bond family.
"He's the kind of guy you'd want to go
into battle with," Kearney said. "He'd say 'We're going to win. Victory is
around the corner.'"
.
Judge John Andrew West
The University of Cincinnati will bestow its highest honorary doctorate award to alumnus Judge John Andrew West during the university's Dec. 8 Commencement ceremony. UC President Neville Pinto will name Judge West an Honorary Doctor of Laws at the ceremony.
A native of Cincinnati, Judge West
received his formal education locally, graduating from Walnut Hills High
School, the University of Cincinnati, and the Salmon P. Chase College of Law.
In addition, Judge West is a proud Kappa Alpha Psi and Sigma Pi
Phi fraternity member. Judge West currently serves on the Salmon P. Chase School of
Law Advisory Board is the chairman of the University of Cincinnati
Community Advisory Board.
During his professional
career, Judge West has held various positions. He taught history at
Roberts Junior High School; served as program coordinator for the Citizens’
Committee On Youth; worked as a purchasing agent for the Large Jet Engine
Division of the General Electric Company; served as a staff attorney for the
Model Cities Law Office; and practiced law for 24 years before being appointed
to the bench of the Hamilton County Municipal Court in 1996. In 2001, Judge
West joined the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court General Division, where
he recently retired. While serving on the Court of Common Pleas, Judge West was
instrumental in creating the Hamilton County Common Pleas Mental Health Court, recognized by the Ohio Supreme Court in 2014 as a specialty court.
In addition to being a past chairman of the Hamilton County Public Defenders Association, Judge West has served on the Civil Service Commission for the city of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Bar Association Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, the Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association, the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Melrose Street YMCA, and the Advisory Board for the University of Cincinnati College for Arts and Sciences. Judge West is also a former co-chairman of the BLAC-CBA Roundtable, an organization dedicated to increasing the presence of African-Americans in the mainstream Cincinnati legal community, and is a founding member of the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati (BLAC).
Judge West has dedicated his life to helping others succeed, and in 1997 he was recognized as the Best Judge on the Hamilton County Municipal Court bench by Cincinnati Magazine. He has received numerous awards for his community involvement and service to the legal profession. Among the many awards received are Profiles In Courage, Men of Style and Substance, the University of Cincinnati College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award, and the Theodore M. Berry Award from the Cincinnati Branch NAACP.
Judge West is married to Miriam E. West (former Director of Mentoring for the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative) and is the father of Hamilton County Municipal Court Chief Magistrate Melissa E. West.
Currently a private practice lawyer, Payne has a resume of
experience in athletics, law, social work, and academia and
represents Louisiana College President Dr. Joe Aguillard said the perfect
blend of talents to head up LC athletics.
"We are pleased to welcome Darrell Payne to the Louisiana College family,"
Aguillard said. "Louisiana College is blessed to have as our athletic director
a man of faith, character and leadership to head all of our athletic programs.
He is a profound athlete and scholar and will integrate athletics, academics
and faith through his position. After an extensive search I believe we have
found the man who, through his Christ-first attitude and God-given skill, can
lead our athletics department for years to come. Mr. Payne has a wealth of
knowledge and has dealt with athletes on the highest levels. He is also both a
skilled attorney and accomplished academician. We couldn't be more pleased with
his decision to accept the position of Athletic Director at Louisiana College."
Payne is a graduate of the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky
University (1988) holds a Master of Science in Social Work from the Kent School
of Social Work at the University of Louisville (1982). It has a Bachelor of
Social Work from the University of Dayton (1980).
He's been in private practice since 1991, but in addition to extensive work in
law – his thesis in law school was on sport and entertainment law – Payne has
quite the background in sports.
A multiple-sport star in Shawnee, Ky., where he was a high school teammate of
LSU basketball great Rudy Macklin, Payne was a member of the 1977 NCAA Division
II men's basketball national championship team at Tennessee-Chatanooga.
He later went on to work closely with professional athletes as a sports agent.
During his three years in that profession, he represented the likes of Dave
Parker (Cincinnati Reds), Leon Durham (Chicago Cubs/Cincinnati Reds), Jeff
Graham (San Diego Chargers), Tony Tubbs (former WBA heavyweight champion), Nate
Tubbs and briefly with Buster Douglas.
Payne is equally accomplished academically, having served as a full-time
professor at Northern Kentucky and Indiana University and an adjunct
professor at Wright State and the University of Kentucky.
From 1993-97 he was the Assistant Dean of the College of Professional Studies
at Northern Kentucky.
He's been a public defender, prosecutor for the state, and legal counsel and
worked in various capacities in social work.
Payne has had 12 scholarly articles published in various periodicals, has two more literary works in review, and has been a featured or invited speaker on
issues of athletics, law, and social work on more than 65 occasions.
CAC Members in Real estate
Donald A. Spencer
"I was born in Cincinnati on Friday, March 5, 1915."
These are the words of Spencer, Cincinnati's first real estate broker, recalling his life in the Queen City across six decades:
"in a three-room flat, No. 4, at 3003 Kerper Avenue."
"Where did you attend school, Mr. Spencer?" Pearson asked.
"I attended a racially integrated Cincinnati elementary school where Black children were not expected to excel," Spencer said. "Negro children never had a white partner if they lined up in twos. If there wasn't another Black child, he stood by himself.
"Class plays and entertainments never included Black children. Black children were on the fringes of the class pictures."
Discrimination impacted all aspects of his childhood and continued into high school.
"When I went to Withrow High School as a freshman, Black boys could swim only on the last bell on Friday, just before the school was cleaned. The school pool was cleaned for the next week," Spencer said.
By age 15, Spencer became the first Black employee to work for a chain store in Cincinnati at the A&P grocery stores.
"This was during the Depression, and as business declined, the company threatened to lay me off," Spencer said. "Then there was a young man named Ted Berry, just out of law school and president of the NAACP. When layoff was threatened, I'd call Ted, and he would write a letter about the importance of having Negro employees. While others were left off, I was always retained."
While attending the University of Cincinnati, Spencer founded Quadres to promote equal opportunities for Black students and chartered the university's chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, a predominately Black fraternity.
At UC, he met his wife, Marian, who became a Cincinnati civil rights icon.
"We moved into our first real estate purchase in the spring of 1944. That was at 1370 Burdette," Spencer said. "Thirty years later, Burdette is still a prestige street, denying the content that when Black people move into a neighborhood, it always goes down."
He became a real estate agent; his first office was at 411 W. Fifth Street.
"The building was demolished in 1945 along with the rest of the buildings in that section to make way for Interstate Highway I-75," Spencer said.
That wouldn't be his last experience with government decisions affecting Cincinnati's Black citizens.
"Why is there such a thing as white flight to the suburbs?" Pearson asked.
"It's always been assumed that Blacks were not desirable in the neighborhoods," Spencer said. "Maybe the white people felt that Black people were not as good, and when they moved into the neighborhood, they lost prestige."
CAC Members in Athletics
Barrier-Breaking Bengals
Coach Still Making a Difference in Retirement
Article from The Athletic Media Company – Written by Jay
Morrison
When Jim Anderson, the
first African American coach to work for the Cincinnati Bengals, retired six
years ago to snap the longest uninterrupted coaching tenure in franchise
history, he felt like so many rookie running backs he had
mentored for 29 seasons. The ball was in his hands, but he was unsure of when
to cut, where to pivot, and which hole to hit. It would take some time and coaching to figure things out, so Anderson took cues from the person he
trusted most, his wife Marcia.
The ball was in his hands,
but he needed help determining when to cut, where to pivot, and which hole to hit. It would take some time and coaching to figure things out, so Anderson
took cues from the person he trusted most, his wife, Marcia. "She cautioned me
about not getting involved in too much, too fast because everyone is going to
want you to do something," Jim said. Marcia, a former high school teacher, principal, and college professor, was less experienced in retirement, having
stepped away from education when Jim left football in 2013. But
she is an expert when it comes to knowing her husband. "I just know how hard it
is for him to say 'no' to anything, especially if it's philanthropic and you
get involved in these different committees and everything," Marcia said. "I
told him whenever you say yes, it's always more than you think. So beware. He
took heed for a bit but didn't listen long because he's an all-in
type of guy. So, he jumped in and said 'yes,' and there he goes."
Check out the Best of The Athletic Cincinnati on our one-year anniversary
(https://theathletic.com/tag/best-of-the-athletic-cincinnati/)
Where he goes depends on the day, but most of his time is spent at two
elementary schools, Bond Hill Academy and Winton Hills Academy, where Anderson
is the chairman of the Donald Spencer Reading Academy. Anderson also serves as
the vice president of the alumni chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity,
which awarded $20,000 worth of scholarships to inner-city students last year.
And he's the chairman of the social action committee for Alpha Delta Boulé, an
invitation-only fraternity of roughly 50 men of high achievement in the Greater
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area.
Please click the link
below to read more….
Barrier-Breaking Bengals Coach still
making a difference in retirement – The Athletic.
UC Hall of Famer George Wilson
A member of the University of Cincinnati's last national title team in men's basketball died at the age of 81 on Saturday, July 29, 2023.
Former Bearcat forward Myron Hughes, who played in the early 1980s, posted this on the University of Cincinnati Basketball Alumni Facebook page:
I am sad to share with you that Hall of Famer and true UC Legend, George Wilson, passed away today. I was fortunate to visit him and his daughter at the hospital an hour before he was called home.
UC released a statement from current coach Wes Miller:
"I am saddened to hear the news of George Wilson's passing, "head coach Miller said. "He is a legend in the game of basketball: a national champion, Olympic gold medalist, NBA player, proud Bearcat, and a trailblazer in his era. I was fortunate to spend time with him on multiple occasions over the last two years. Our entire Cincinnati program sends its regards to George's family, loved ones, and those he impacted over his lifetime. "George Wilson, who became a starter for Coach Ed Jucker midway through 1961-62, helped the Bearcats to their second straight NCAA championship that season, averaging 9.2 points per game. In UC's second straight win over Ohio State, he scored six points and hauled down 11 rebounds in the 71-59 victory at Louisville's Freedom Hall.
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward was almost part of a historic third title spoiled by an overtime loss to Loyola-Chicago in 1963.
Wilson averaged 15 points per game in that junior year and 11.2 rebounds. His senior year, he was co-captain with Ron Bonham in Jucker's final year of coaching, ending with a 17-9 record. Wilson hit for 16.1 points per game and 12.5 rebounds. Later that year, he made the 1964 United States basketball team that won gold in the Olympics in Tokyo. Wilson spoke of his gold medal accomplishment just two months ago.
"You're talking '64, that wasn't 20 years after the bombing (Hiroshima, Nagasaki)," Wilson said. "At that particular time, people didn't read about it because we were way over there in Tokyo. By the time they got the word back here, it was two days!"
Wilson was a two-time NCAA All-Tournament honoree, first in 1962 and again in 1963, as the Bearcats reached the title game for the third-straight season. He was a Second-Team All-American in 1963 by Converse and The Sporting News.
George Wilson's post-UC career
He was drafted into the NBA in 1964 and played seven seasons for the Royals, Bulls, Sonics, Suns, 76ers, and expansion Buffalo Braves. Cincinnati's Royals then had a territorial draft. Wilson was once on a squad at The Gardens that featured Tom Thacker, Jack Twyman, and Oscar Robertson from UC; Jerry Lucas from Ohio State; Adrian Smith from Kentucky and Wayne Embry from Miami University.
Part of the Wilson resumé
For his career at UC, he was voted into the Bearcat Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. He scored 1,124 points in three seasons as freshmen weren't eligible for varsity competition in the 1960s. He also added 888 rebounds. He's also one of three UC Olympic gold medal winners. "The Big O" won gold in 1960 in Rome, Wilson in '64 in Tokyo, and Mary Wineberg took gold in the 4x400 relay in 2008 in Beijing.
From Illinois, he won two state championships in high school and was a three-time high school All-American. He briefly committed to Illinois, then flipped to Cincinnati, where George Smith had Oscar Robertson, who had led the Bearcats to three straight Final Fours.
By his freshman year, Smith became athletic director, and Jucker was promoted to head coach. "Juck was like a father for everybody," he told The Enquirer in 2020.
"He always had you first and he always thought about you. He was consistent all the time I knew him. He never switched. And that's all you ask people to do: Just be straight up with me."
Bengal Neal Craig
Herald News Report
CINCINNATI – Former NFL player Cornelius Neal Craig died Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. During his football career as a defensive back or strong safety, he played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns.
“Neal is a brother that never forgot where he came from. He built everlasting relationships in his neighborhood, his city, in college (Fisk), NFL, family and fraternity brothers (Kappa Alpha Psi).” said Jim Anderson, a former NFL player and coach for the Bengals.
A Cincinnati native born on April 21, 1948, Craig grew up in the West End and in South Cumminsville. He attended Taft High School and is in it’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., earning a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He also played on Fisk’s football team as a defensive back.
While in Nashville, he met and married Marcia Hall. From that union they had three children, Cornelius Craig III, Qia Craig and Cornell Craig.
In 1971, the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Neal Craig as its 7th round draft pick. After playing for three NFL teams, he retired from the Cleveland Browns in 1976. Leaving football, Craig made a career in Sales working for Heidelberg Distributing, Con-Agra and Letica Corporation.
Wayne Box Miller
Wayne Box Miller is in his sixth season as host of the Cincinnati Bengals pregame, halftime, and postgame shows on the Bengals radio network. The Morehead State University Alumni Hall of Famer was initiated into the Zeta Lambda Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi in the Spring of '74.
For years, Miller has been the radio voice for the Bengals' pregame, halftime, and postgame shows. He's developed relationships with players, management, and media personalities through an award-winning career.
But Miller is so much more than that. He is a motivational speaker and activist who makes every effort to effect love and understanding between community members who lack familiarity. He's also authored several books, including From the Soul of a Man and The Power of Love.
He works with St. Xavier High School daily as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director. Miller provided an eloquent, powerful, yet simple message that reveals his years of experience and deep wisdom. "The short answer is really this: it's just the goal for everybody to respect everybody else," he said. "Just be kind."
He then provided a realistic example that will resonate with Bengals fans:
"If I got a black man, a white man, a Hispanic, an Asian, a puppet, and they all went to a Bengals game in a Bengals jersey, everybody would drop their filters and high-five and say 'Who Dey!' because we were intentional about getting along because we come together to root against the Steelers, the Browns, and the Ravens. We just do it. We don't think about it. But when we're out in our natural habitat, we all tend to look at someone, 'Oh, I don't trust him.' Or, 'I heard about them.' Or, 'Look at him.' And we start putting all these filters and barriers in the way of simply allowing us to hate versus love instead of just saying, 'How are you doing? Good morning. How are you?' And we go to a football game, boy, you see that striped jersey and a 'Who Dey' cap, and we're playing the Steelers, and people can come from all walks of life, and all we do is high-five and 'Who Dey.' Man, if we could treat life like that, we'd all get along much better.
Community service
Why Are Black Men Dying
Lunch with the Greeks at Lincoln Heights
On Wednesday, February 20th, 2019, the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter and the Rho Omicron participated in "Lunch with the Greeks" at Lincoln Heights Elementary School. School Principal Dawn Bailey and her staff invited industry professionals and community leaders who are part of an NPHC organization or graduates of an HBCU to come to eat lunch with the students! Six Brothers and over 30 professionals were in attendance to mentor the students and teach them about Greek Life in College and the importance of HBCUs. The students had an amazing time, and great feedback was received by the staff. We hope to inspire future leaders to attend and graduate from HBCUs and join an organization such as Kappa Alpha Psi!
On Wednesday, December 5th, 2018, the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter partnered with the Walnut Hills Anti-Drug Coalition. It provided an excellent holiday meal, coats and jackets, and social services offered by the Community Action Agency/Head Start to the First Step Watch group – a star single mother group in recovery. This is the eleventh annual year Cincinnati Alumni has supported this cause. A huge thank you goes to Brother Donald Washington for leading this effort.
Undergraduate Chapters
Beta Eta Chapter was founded on May 20, 1939, at The University of Cincinnati by undergraduate brothers R. Hudson Anderson, Paul Brown, Lawrence C. Hawkins, Richard E. Malcolm, and Louis A. Williams. Brother Donald A. Spencer was the first Dean of Pledges. Through their efforts, Kappa Alpha Psi was able to preserve its charters as a social fraternity; however, yet to be fully recognized by The University of Cincinnati.
Twenty-two years later and under the chairmanship of Leonard Herring, Jr. and polemarch Henry B. Tate, the Beta Eta Chapter formed, with the guidance of The Cincinnati Alumni Chapter, a "committee to get recognition at The University of Cincinnati" and be able to take the necessary steps to be considered as an official fraternity from the University's point of view.
The first step was inviting the University of Cincinnati Dean of Men, Dr. Edward C. Keiser, to combine alumni and undergraduate meetings to find the prerequisites for full-fledged university recognition. After acquiring this information and complying, which included chapter by-laws, rosters of alumni and undergraduates, plans for the coming year, and a petition for recognition from both the local chapter and grand chapter, the Beta Eta Chapter was presented a letter of credit from the university with all rights and privileges of any university organizations.
The second step in the move for full-fledged fraternity recognition was petitioning The InterFraternity Council for status as a colony. This status is for those fraternities who still need to meet all of the qualifications of the Interfraternity Council. Beta Eta lacked a fraternity house at the time, which was one of the prime prerequisites.
On August 12, 1961, Beta Eta Chapter was granted this colony status and was officially given recognition by the University and Interfraternity Council. Thus, Kappa Alpha Psi became the first predominately Black Fraternity recognized by The University of Cincinnati. It also marked the first time Kappa Alpha Psi members participated in all the University Interfraternity Council Rush Programs.
Realizing that this recognition brought privileges and responsibilities, Beta Eta met the challenges by participating in many campus activities such as interfraternity council meetings, homecoming, student government, cultural events, and athletics. Athletically, two members of Beta Eta were on the University of Cincinnati's NCAA Championship Basketball Teams of 1961 and 1962 – Brothers George Wilson and Tom Thacker, both of whom went on to play basketball in the National Basketball Association, as well as Brother Oscar Robertson, the all-time leading scorer in U.C.'s history. Culturally, Brother Leonard Herring, Jr. had the honor of representing the University at President Kennedy's First International Jazz Festival held in Washington, D.C., in 1962 and received the Distinguished Service Award for excellence in creative initiative for his Student Union Jazz Program in 1963.
Through this participation, Beta Eta became a major force in shaping the philosophies and traditions at the University. The other founders of Beta Eta recognition were brothers Robert L. Braddock, Clyde English, Charles H. Jackson, and George Welch.
As a reward for Beta Eta's progress on the University's campus, The Cincinnati Alumni Chapter, under the leadership of Polemarch Eugene Bouldin and brothers Clarence Clemmons, Fred O. Heisel, G. Robert Smith, Alfred C. Stone, and others, purchased The Kappa Fraternity House in 1964. This action and dedication provided a complete fraternity experience for the undergraduate brothers, and Beta Eta was awarded full membership in The University's Interfraternity Council in 1966.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Beta Eta faced the challenge of maintaining itself in the face of anti-Greek sentiment, the black revolution, married and working brothers, and limited finances. Yet, during this time, the spirit of Phi Nu Pi prevailed and produced successful brothers in all fields of endeavors: Bob Bell, Carl Burgess, Al Nelson, Movie Smith in athletics; Lionel Brown in education; Howard Fuller, Charles Kelloms, Wesley Spencer, Carl Stevens, Brian Hall, William Wallace in business; Darryl Rush, John West in law; John Pittman in Architecture; Herman Brooks and Brandon Barton in medicine.
The Beta Eta of today faces tomorrow with the optimism of their predecessors. This optimism is based on the lessons of the past. The ever-increasing pool of alumni support and the inspiration with which Kappa men have been so dedicated and generously endowed over the years. Beta Eta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi - Men with a Proud Tradition.
Kappa Delta Undergraduate Chapter History
Miami University, Oxford OH
“Training for Leadership Since 1911”
The First line is called New Breed. The Brothers, in order, are Gooden, Edelen, Andrews, Seward, Jackson, and Betts.
Expansion to
Miami University occurred on March 4,1978 with six initiates that included:
Ernest Andrews, Russell Betts, Bruce Edelen, Reginald Gooden, Bruce Jackson,
and Rollin Seward. They were a colony under the Delta Zeta Chapter at Central
State University for one year. In 1979, the colony became a swing chapter with
of Iota Mu Chapter at the University of Dayton under the direction of Dayton
Alumni. With these new initiates started
a “New Breed” of young leaders at Miami University whose purpose was based on
Achievement and leadership.
Before 1978,
there was interest in creating a chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi on Miami’s campus.
The first attempt was by Brother Elmer Brooks, a November 14, 1950, initiate of
Xi Chapter at Howard University. Brother
Brooks transferred his second year to Miami University to join the Air Force
ROTC. The university thwarted his attempt to start a chapter as Miami’s administration did not feel two
historically Black fraternities could be supported on its campus; z chapter of Alpha
Phi Alpha was formed in 1953. In recognition of Brother Brooks, then retired
Brigadier General US Air Force, he served as keynote speaker at Kappa Delta’s
30th Charter Day celebration in April 2010. A second attempt was
made in the 1950s; however, three Miami students, John Smith (April 1,
1957), Joseph Dowdell, and William J. Madison III (April 5, 1958), were
initiated into the Beta Eta Chapter at the University of Cincinnati.
After two years
as colony and a swing chapter Kappa Delta Chapter received its Greek letter
designation on April 26, 1980. The
charter members of the Kappa Delta Chapter were brothers Douglas Banks, Kevin
Brown, Wayne Dancie, Mark Davis, Bruce Jackson, Edward Ogletree, Rollin Seward,
and Terry Stephens. Brother Douglas Banks became the chapter’s first
Polemarch. Brothers Hardy Faison and
Kevin Mack were initiated into the fraternity on April 24, 1980, just before
the charter day, and are last to be recognized under the Iota Mu swing chapter and
are considered de facto charter members. The first initiates of the Kappa Delta
Chapter were Vincent Davis and Alvin Mathews on April 8, 1981.
Kappa Delta
Chapter distinguished itself as a model chapter from its inception, having been inspired
by influential members of the fraternity, such as James “Biff” Carter of
Washington DC Alumni, whose daughter was attending Miami University. Brother Carter wondered why there was not a
chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi on Miami’s campus, given its proximity to
Bloomington, Indiana. Brother Carter
soon started creating interest in having the presence of Kappa
Alpha Psi in 1978. The fraternity recognized Brother Carter for his work with elected officials and a program named on his behalf called the James “Biff” Carter Kappas on Capital Hill. He is a recipient of the Elder Watson Diggs Award, the fraternity’s
second-highest award. In its initial years, the colony at Miami University was advised
by Brother Jay Crosby from Dayton Alumni, who served as its advisor from 1978
through 1991, after which responsibility moved to Cincinnati Alumni. Brother
Crosby was recognized for his outstanding work with the Guide Right Program and received the Elder Watson Diggs Award. With the guidance of Brothers
Carter and Crosby, the chapter was created on a solid foundation and would
exemplify “Achievement” in its early endeavors within the fraternity and
on the campus of Miami University.
Some of Kappa
Delta Chapter’s early achievements in the fraternity are Brother Terry Stephens
became Student of the Year in 1979, Brother Hardy Faison became East Central
Province Board Member in 1980, and eventually on the Fraternity’s Grand Board of
Directors in 1982. The chapter would go
on to be awarded a chapter of the year on several occasions in the East Central
Province for its work on the campus of Miami University.
The members of the Kappa Delta Chapter were instrumental in making numerous contributions to the
Miami University community that enhanced the quality of life for all students. Many
of these changes remain in place today, given their positive impacts on the
university and its students. Some examples
of such contributions are as follows:
·
In
1980, petitioned IFC to reconstitute Greek Week to exemplify scholarship and
athletic accomplishment to provide a positive image of the Miami Greek
community; A letter to the Miami Student raised awareness of this issue, and IFC
ultimately voted to make the historic change.
·
Chartered
the local affiliation of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) in 1980, and
Brother Kevin Mack became the first chairperson.
·
Leading
the change to have student government to include the Office of Minority Affairs
and for Brother Wayne Dancie to be elected as the first Black student to serve in
this capacity in 1980/1981.
·
Brothers
Douglas Banks and Wayne Dancie created the student organization of the Minority
Students Professional Association for Business Students in 1979, which is
currently succeeded by the Multicultural Business Association and the student
chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants.
·
Brothers
Douglas Banks and Wayne Dancie created the “Bridges Program” that commenced in
1982 to attract and retain minority students.
It has been one of Miami’s best recruitment programs for many decades.
·
In
2010, conducted the Freedom Walk in honor of the National Underground Railroad
Freedom Center in Cincinnati to raise $7,500 and awareness to support the
center’s mission and create goodwill between Miami University and the Freedom
Center. Brothers participating were undergraduate members of Stephen Buchanan,
Gregory Jordan, Glenn Miller, Donovan Potter, Callen Reese, Andre Rudolph, and
Alex Tyree, along with alumni Doug Banks, Brandon Black, Jerry Bradley, Bruce
Jackson, and Troy Luke. The walk
retraced an underground railroad route over 40 miles from Covington, KY, and
symbolically crossed the Ohio River from a slave state to a free state. The
route included stops at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the former
home of Harriett Beecher Stowe, and a stay overnight at a “safe house” before
continuing on the journey to Oxford. The trek concluded at the Freedom Summer
memorial on Miami’s campus.
·
Started
an endowment scholarship at Miami University called the Kappa Alpha Psi
Scholarship. Starting in 2011 and yearly thereafter, six scholarships of $1,000 each are awarded to minority
students. The number of scholarships is to recognize the six initiates that
became Kappa Delta; every 10th year, ten scholarships are
awarded to recognize the founders of the fraternity. As of 2023, over $100K in
the endowment and have awarded over 40 scholarships.
Promoting Scholarship at Miami University
The Kappa Alpha Psi Scholarship at Miami University was an inspiration of Brother Doug Banks. Brother Banks recalled the challenges of having enough financial aid and scholarship money available to complete his education. He wanted money to be available to minority students that had an unmet financial need beyond their Freshman or first year who may not be eligible for scholarships based on GPA alone. In his view, scholarship money should be available to those progressing toward a degree but may not be eligible for merit-based scholarships or may even have lost merit-based money due to not meeting a GPA requirement but who remain students in good standing.
Brother Banks has always been a life-long giver to Miami University starting off with his senior pledge of giving one hundred dollars for the next three years. Brother Banks increased his annual giving over time but did not think of creating a scholarship until he served on Miami’s alumni board. It was then that he heard about what it would take to start an “endowed” account that would share in the invested returns of Miami’s total endowment fund. The immediate goal was to reach the minimum level of $25,000. Brother Banks asked if his past contributions could be consolidated to help to achieve the endowed account. Miami granted his request, and he soon discovered that he had given a tidy sum over the years, and the minimum goal of $25,000 was very achievable.
While having an endowed account was met, the annual returns on the account in Brother Banks’ estimation, would not be sufficient to sustain a meaningful annual scholarship. Consequently, a larger goal was established of $100,000. With the chapter’s 30th anniversary in 2010, Brother Banks used this as a rallying point to get other chapter members to give to the scholarship fund. A tangible goal of awarding ten $1,000 scholarships during the academic year 2010 – 2011 as an honor to the ten fraternity founders as part of the fraternity’s centennial, which the goal was “achieved”.
The six scholarships awarded each year is to commemorate the six young men that was the inaugural group that started the colony of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity that eventually became Kappa Delta Chapter.
Building “Bridges” to Enter Miami University
The Bridges Program has become the premiere minority recruitment program in Miami University’s history. Launched in the Fall of 1981, the Bridges Program was co-founded by Brothers Doug Banks and Wayne Dancie. As students, the two would often brainstorm about programs and initiatives that would improve the overall well-being of Black students. The major concern was to increase the university's overall diversity by attracting more minority students to enroll at the university.
The principles of the program were as follows:
· Attract high-achieving minority students from the large metropolitan areas of Ohio. Minority juniors
and seniors would be recommended by their high school guidance counselors to attend a Fall weekend that would expose them to the academic and social life of Miami University.
· There would be a small cost, $10, to attend the weekend as the program would provide bus transportation to and from the originating city, lodging, and food for the entire weekend.
· Current Miami students would volunteer to house the visiting high school students where they could shadow their host students to class, dining hall, and weekend social life.
· A university-level classroom experience would be offered by an existing professor for the students.
Brother Dancie, then the current Vice President of the Associated Student Government, gained the support and sponsorship of Larry Young, Director of the Educational Opportunity Office of Minority Affairs.
The two presented the Bridges Program for university acceptance and funding in the Spring of 1981 before Brother Dancie graduated. It was one of the last official acts of then-President Phillip Shiver. After the program’s approval, Mr. Young would be responsible for its successful launch. Brother Dancie was invited back to the university to participate in the inaugural program that Fall. Brother Dancie served as a chaperone for Cleveland students; later, Brother Banks would do the same. They both are very proud of how the program has helped Miami become a more diverse and welcoming university for minority students.
Even after 42 years, the program successfully attracts minority students to the campus. While the foundational principles of the program have remained the same, the program has been enhanced and expanded over time. The Bridges Program is Miami’s premier pre-college visit program that provides an inside look at the university and helps enhance the diversity of students from diverse backgrounds, particularly historically underrepresented populations. The program was enhanced to award scholarships to admitted students who attended the Bridges Program ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 per year for four years, which can be added to the financial aid and scholarships already awarded. Additionally, the student is invited to participate in the Bridges program once admitted to Miami.
Building “Bridges” to Enter Miami University Scholars Program, an exclusive opportunity devoted to creating a successful transition to Miami University. Recently, the Enhanced Program has received National acclaim for its creativity.
KD Brother of Distinction Douglas A. Banks
Douglas A. Banks is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and a graduate of Maple Hts. High School in 1977. He enrolled at Miami University in Fall 1977, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with concentrations in Accounting and Finance in 1981. After graduation, he started his professional career assignment with Armco Inc., a steel company in Middletown, Ohio. He stayed with Armco for five years, having served as a Credit Analyst, Internal Auditor, and Pension Benefits Accountant.
Brother Banks was initiated into the Fraternity on March 24, 1979, as part of the Iota Mu Swing Chapter at the University of Dayton. He was a second pledge line member, including Brother Edward Montgomery of Cleveland and Brother Kevin Brown of Springfield. With the inaugural members either graduating or not returning, Brother Banks was the Polemarch of this new and expanding chapter, where he served for two years from 1979 to 1981.
During his time as a student, Brother Banks and Brother Wayne Dancie developed a student organization for Black business students called the Minority & Women’s Professional Association. This organization allowed business students to gain higher exposure and insights to potential employers and prepare them for future employment. Brothers Banks and Dancie also became the founders of the Bridges Program, which has become Miami University’s premiere minority recruiting model since 1982.
Brother Banks remains engaged with his alma mater and chapter through various initiatives. He has served on Miami’s Black Alumni Coordinating Committee, put on Black alumni reunions and social events, served on Miami’s Alumni Association, where he served as President, served as Chairman of the Miami Black Alumni Advisory Committee, and Miami’s National Campaign Steering Committee.
Opportunities to visit the campus have allowed Brother Banks to be engaged with the undergraduate members and to help keep the ongoing legacy of the Kappa Delta Chapter.
Rho Omicron
Undergraduate Chapter
Xavier University
Xavier University is a private university in Cincinnati, OH, founded in 1831, providing a liberal arts education in the Jesuit Catholic tradition. The undergraduate enrollment is approximately 5,145, with about 10% identifying as Black/African American. In 2017, an information meeting was held on campus, and several young men expressed interest in joining the Fraternity and establishing a chapter on campus. Several NPHC sororities had branches on campus. Still, the only NPHC fraternity with a chapter chartered at the university was Alpha Phi Alpha, and due to lack of membership, it was inactive. Conversations were had with the appropriate university officials, and permission was granted to conduct a membership intake of students who met the standards of the Fraternity and the University.
- Robert J. Chess
- David E. Fluker
- Desmond C. Varner
- Khaleel J. Maturine
- Sahr Marrah
- Clarence Lyles
- Dashaun Williams
- Gilbert D. Durand
Archives of Cincinnati Alumni
Source: CINCINNATI NEWS: CINCINNATI, OHIO
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