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H. 4356
STATUS INFORMATION
House Resolution
Sponsors: Rep. Alexander
Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24872zw11.docx
Introduced in the House on June 2, 2011
Adopted by the House on June 2, 2011
Summary: Kappa Alpha Psi
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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6/2/2011 House Introduced and adopted (House Journal-page 63)
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE WORLDWIDE MEMBERSHIP OF KAPPA ALPHA PSI UPON ITS ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY, AND TO COMMEND THE ORGANIZATION'S CENTURY OF DEDICATION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH A TRULY DEMOCRATIC FRATERNITY.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that Kappa Alpha Psi celebrated the milestone of its centennial anniversary on January 5, 2011; and
Whereas, a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), Kappa Alpha Psi sponsors programs providing community service, social welfare, and academic scholarship through the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation and is a supporter of the United Negro College Fund and Habitat for Humanity; and
Whereas, founded at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, on January 5, 1911, it is the first predominantly African-American Greek society west of the Appalachian Mountains still in existence and is known for its "cane stepping" in NPHC organized step shows; and
Whereas, the African-American students, denied membership on athletic teams with the exception of track and field at the majority white campus in Bloomington, constituted a small minority in the era of the Jim Crow laws, but the racial discrimination served to strengthen the bond of friendship among the fraternity's founders and stirred their desire to start a social group; and
Whereas, the ten founding members were Elder Watson Diggs, John Milton Lee, Byron K. Armstrong, Guy Levis Grant, Ezra D. Alexander, Henry T. Asher, Marcus P. Blakemore, Paul W. Caine, Edward G. Irvin, and George W. Edmonds; and
Whereas, originally incorporated under the laws of the State of Indiana as Kappa Alpha Nu on May 15, 1911, the fraternity changed its name to Kappa Alpha Psi in December 1914; and
Whereas, for the first six years, Elder Watson Diggs served as the Grand Polemarch, as the president of the fraternity is called, and he worked tirelessly to establish and provide a constitution, ritual, coat of arms, motto, and, most importantly, a guiding hand for a dynamic Grand Chapter; and
Whereas, by 1913, the fraternity began to expand, and the University of Illinois opened the second chapter; the University of Iowa followed in 1914; then chapters on African-American college campuses opened at Wilberforce University, then Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1915, the first chapter in the East, and Howard University in 1920. In 1921, the fraternity installed a chapter at Columbia University, its first at an Ivy League university, and its first chapter in the South at Morehouse College, and has now expanded through the Midwest, South, and West at both white and black colleges; and
Whereas, the members have a deep sense of pride that the Kappa Alpha Psi constitution has never contained any clause which either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin; and
Whereas, with one hundred fifty thousand members worldwide and over seven hundred undergraduate and alumni chapters in every state of the United States, Kappa Alpha Psi boasts many notable members recognized as leaders in the arts, athletics, business, civil rights, education, government, and science and has international chapters in the United Kingdom, Germany, Korea, Japan, the Caribbean, Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Nigeria, and South Africa; and
Whereas, in 1947, the National Silhouettes of Kappa Alpha Psi were established as an auxiliary group comprised of wives or widows of fraternity members, and in 1980, the Silhouettes were officially recognized with a seat on the board of directors of the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation. Silhouettes provide support and assistance for Kappa Alpha Psi activities at all levels; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the rich legacy of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and look to hear of the continued service and success of its members in the century to come. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor the worldwide membership of Kappa Alpha Psi upon its one hundredth anniversary, and commend the organization's century of dedication to the principles of achievement through a truly democratic fraternity.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to members of Kappa Alpha Psi.
This web page was last updated on June 8, 2011 at 1:32 PM