p ROJECT ALPHA CONTINUED History of Project Alpha Week 2000 The leadership team of General President Adrian L. Wallace, Director of Educational Activities Dr. Zollie Stevenson, Jr., National Programs Chair Dr. Ronald J. Peters, Jr. and Project Alpha National Chair John L Colbert, started to revise the Project Alpha curriculum. The March of Dimes gave $250,000 to fund the project, which used the services of MEE Production, Inc. to produce the curriculum which features the award-winning S.TAT.S. (Sex, Teens, AIDS, Take'em Serious) Video and accompanying curriculum guide. The next step was to establish the Project Alpha Faculty which was composed of Project Alpha leaders from around the country. This group was formed to provide training and technical support to all Chapters. In 1998, this team was trained and developed a delivery plan. The idea to establish Project Alpha Week 2000 was born at that time. Members of the faculty planned this initiative with Wilbur Jackson named as National Chair.
Brothers explain the pitfalls of early sexual involvement to Project Alpha youths. Through two years of planning and training, Project Alpha Week 2000 became one of the main focuses in the Fraternity along with the other National Programs and initatives: Go-To-High School, Go-To-College, A Voteless People is a Hopeless People and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project. The planning of Project Alpha Week 2000 started in 1998 and culminated in Dallas at the 1999 General Convention where the National Faculty successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of the new curriculum with youth from Dallas. The training and planning continued through district conferences, test chapters, the 1999 regional conventions and finally the Atlanta Millennium General Convention where Project Alpha was incorporated into Alpha University. Now the entire Fraternity was ready to make history!
CONVENTION EDITION
Project Alpha mentees listen to words of wisdom in Chicago.
Purpose/Goals of Project Alpha Week 2000 The primary goal of Project Alpha is to prevent teen pregnancy by focusing on the role of the teen male. Through education and motivation, the program influences young men to act more responsibly. Project Alpha Week 2000's goals were to: /. Mobilize all Chapters, College and Alumni working together, to use the new curriculum. 2. Engage the. media to help deliver the programs message of male responsibility. J. Gain the support and endorsement of chic leaders to affect behavior change. 4. Planning mdpreparation, A project of this magnitude requires strong leadership, detailed planning and lots of hard work by volunteers and staff. The March of Dimes staff both in" their Nafional Headquarters and in their local Chapters provided guidance and support throughout the planning process by attending all meetings and directing their Chapters to support local planning. The tasks were broken down into their vital components with Chapter mobilization led by Brother John L Colbert, media engagment led by Brother Ronald Peters, and Program Evaluation led by Brother Zollie Stevenson, Jr. During the 1999 March of Dimes Volunteer Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., Brothers Peters and Jackson visited the Office of the Vice President and the offices of the seven Brothers in the U. S. Congress. Brothers Danny Davis, Julian Dixon, Chaka Fattah, Earl Hilliard, Gregory Meeks, Charles Range! and Bobby Scott pledged their support and offered ideasand the services of their respective staffs. Brother Davis, from Ilinois, took a bold step and offered to coordinate a "Special Topics" discussion on the legislative floor which would document.the project in the Congressional Record while being covered worldwide by C-SPAN . Two years of hard work and dedicated national planning started to show that it would achieve its goals if all of the Chapters accepted the charge to do their "detailed planning. Several key Chapters reported early success with the new curriculum. Brother Ron Madden, Chair of the New York Jewel Site reported outstanding success with the Spring 20*00 delivery in New York City. During the Atlanta Millennium Convention it became clear that Chapters around the country were excited and ready to execute Project Alpha Week 2000. T %^J