THE SPHINX | Summer Fall 2012 | Volume 97 | Number 3&4 201209703_04

The

summer/fall 2012 alpha phi alpha fraternity, inc. www.apa1906.net

Celebrating the year of the College Brother OBAMA: Historic turnout gives president four more years

TILLMAN: Detroit brother elected 34th general president

FAREWELL: Gordon, Logan, Two of Alpha’s oldest enter Omega Chapter

CONTENTS The Sphinx® H summer/fall 2012 H volume 97 H Nos. 3 & 4

6 Tillman elected 34th General President

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Only 33 men had been elected general president of Alpha Phi Alpha prior to 2012. But after a long-fought campaign, Mark S. Tillman became the 34th general president elected to lead the world’s oldest fraternity of black college-educated men.

8 Black Marines Honored for WWII Service They showed up and fought for their country at a time when their country rarely stood by them. But after long last, black WWII Marine Corps veterans got their due.

The Corps bestowed upon them the Congressional Gold Medal in a solemn ceremony in Washington, D.C. Two of those honored are celebrated Alpha men: former Executive Secretary James “Jimmy” Huger and 26th General President Ozell Sutton.

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14 Cover Story: Celebrating College Brothers 2012 was deemed “year of the college brother” across Alpha Phi Alpha. It was the fraternity’s way of rekindling the fire of enthusiasm in its most important unit. For without the continual birth of new Alpha members on college campuses, the fraternity would lose its future.

But college brothers are answering the call to be “first of All... servants of all.”

42 7 QUESTIONS with Ambassador Andrew Young From what keeps him going well into his eighties, to what Barack Obama needs to do in his second term, Brother Andrew Young gives insight into the world, when he answers 7 QUESTIONS for The Sphinx Interview.

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50 Three New Alphas from Three Different Places They had never met before. One was a New Yorker, one a country boy just north of the Florida state line and the other from just outside Atlanta, Ga. But their paths would cross and their lives change forever when they became neophytes in Alpha Phi Alpha.

42 ON THE COVER: Members of the 2011-2012 term of Alpha Phi Alpha regional assistant vice presidents representing the Year of the College Brother. From left: Roger Sancho, Christopher Alexander, Xavier Jones, Cameron Henry and Frederick Cox.

Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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I N e v e r y issue 3 EDITOR’S DESK 6 NEWS 26 M ONEY AND BUSINESS 27 REGIONAL ROUNDUP / CHAPTER NEWS 40 BROTHERS ON THE MOVE 42 7 QUESTIONS: The Sphinx Interview 44 LIFE AND LEISURE 46 ARTS AND CULTURE 48 OMEGA CHAPTER 52 LEADERSHIP DIRECTORY 60 PERSPECTIVE

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Since the founding of The Sphinx in 1914, the African-American community has looked to the publication for its profound insight on the great issues of the day. The Sphinx is the second-oldest continuously published African-American magazine in existence and is preserved in libraries and archives across the country as an historical record of community occurrences in America and around the world.

Those interested in writing articles for The Sphinx are encouraged to read the writer’s guidelines on www.apa1906.net, or write the editorial office for a printed copy of the guidelines at The Sphinx; Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; 2313 St. Paul Street; Baltimore, MD 21218-5211.You may also request guidelines and instructions via direct e-mail at sphinx@apa1906.net.

The deadline for submissions for 2013 issues is 11:59 p.m. eastern time on the following dates: Winter: December 1, 2012; Spring: February 1, 2013; Summer: May 1; Fall: August 1. The Winter 2014 issue deadline is October 1, 2013.

The Sphinx® is printed in the United States of America

orm

The

Organizing Editor RAYMOND W. CANNON (1892-1992) Organizing General President HENRY LAKE DICKASON (1886-1957) Official Organ of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.® SUMMER/FALL 2012 VOL. 97 • NOS. 3 & 4

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RICK BLALOCK sphinx@apa1906.net managing EDITOR Jaquon C. Heath senior associate EDITORS Sean M. Allen Richard Butler WORLD AFFAIRS EDITOR Eric Ham ASSOCIATE EDITORS Torrance Alexander, Khoy Blasi-Diggs, David C. Brown Jr., Samuel Brown Steven D. Carter, Brandon Cole, Troy A. Corbin Sr., Leonard Le’Doux Jr. Leslie Elus, Russell E. Flye Byron J. Grayson, Andre A. Greene, James E. Hale II, Larnzell “Jay” Harper Jr., Demarcus Harrison, Terry L. Hazzard, Byron Hunter Tremaine Jasper, Jonathan C.W. Jones Kevin Jones, Victor Kakulu, Moses Lee Samuel H. Lloyd, Joseph D. Lockett, Marque D. Macon Jonathan D. Madison Robert A. Massey, Corey Matthews, Reuben A. B. May, Roscoe W. McClain Jr. Calvin McNeill, Renard Mobley, Anthony Moore III, Steston J. Olaye Derek O’Neal, Garrison Owens, Damion Sean Samuels, Antuwan Shade Michael Sudarkasa, Zikomo Turner, Andre R. Watkins, George Wimberly

COPY EDITOR K. Thomas Oglesby CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Bryan J.A. Kelly, William Douglass Lyle, Don Weston SENIOR WRITERS Ellis Albright, Waldo E. Johnson Jr., Darryl A. Peal, Derrick Alexander Pope Ron Peters, Andrew Timothy Siwo, F. Carl Walton CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Horace Dawson, Ali Fadlallah, Ira L. Foster, Esq., Joseph Gambrell Antoine M. Garibaldi, Jarvis Givens, Justin Harlow, Robert L. Harris Jr. Tony O. Hubbard, Ronald C. Jackson, Aaron L. Jones, Ed Marshall, Darren M. Morton, Lowell W. Perry, Jr., Roland Shaw, Elgie R. Sims Jr. Ronald Clay Small, Michael A. Smith, Roderick L. Smothers, Sr. Zollie Stevenson, Mark S. Tillman, Norman E.W. Towels, Ronnie Versher Jr. Douglas Wilson, Sacoby Wilson, Milton C. Woodard, Yvesner Harnould Zamar CONTRIBUTORS Lazbri Akpuchukwu, Cory J. Anderson, Brandon T. Batts Rod Beard, Dominique Beaumonte, Keith Bishop, Bobby Clark, Brandon Clark Stephen Cosey, Rufus Credle, Delores Diggs, John Ellis, Steven Eloiseau Adrian Escalante, Michael Feeney, Felix Gallagher, Carla Gaskins, Ray Gittens Henry Goodgame Jr., Hill Harper, Damon “Dee” Horn, James “Jimmy” Huger Warren Isenhour, Richard T. James Jr. Michael Jenkins, David M. Johnson Herb Jordan, Jabari Jones, Xavier Jones, Charles King, Percy J. Lipsey II Antwan Lofton, Dale Long, Wayne Lynn, Duane Malone, Terence McPherson Bernice Meadows, Lucien Metellus, Ryan E. Middleton, Isreal Moses IV Kevin Newell, Henry Ponder, Oz Roberts, Jossan Robinson, Dontae Ryan Yorman Sanchez, Victor Scotti Jr., Said Sewell, John C. Shelby, Derrick L. Sibert Robbie Stokes, Ozell Sutton, Bryan Thomas Jr., Orlando Thomas, Willis Toles Sherelle S. Torrence, Adrian L. Wallace, Charles M. Washington, Gerald Yerby

ART DIRECTION THE O’NEAL GROUP Toni O’Neal Mosley Michelle Y. Glennon PHOTOGRAPHERS Alonzo S. Blalock, Rickey Brown, Jarvis Harris Bryan J.A. Kelly, Jeff Lewis, Jason Lewis Philip McCollum, Oz Roberts, Cory Thompson, Jamal Wiggins Christopher Williams, Evelyn Wright, James A. Wright

ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC. Aaron Crutison, Sr., Acting General President William Douglass Lyle, Executive Director James W. Ward, Chairman, Committee on Publications FOUNDERS Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, Vertner Woodson Tandy The Sphinx Editorial Offices Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. 2313 St. Paul St. • Baltimore, MD 21218-5211 (410) 554-0040 • (410) 554-0054 FAX • www.apa1906.net Advertising and Sales Contact: sphinx@apa1906.net

2 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

© 2012 Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summer and Fall Campaigns Lead to New Beginnings, New Opportunities

Every four years in Alpha there is renewal. This

Editor’s Desk

comes, just as it does for the United States, in the form of an election of a president.

For Alpha, this played out with a campaign between Roderick L. Smothers, Sr., the fraternity’s regional vice president in the southwest and Mark S. Tillman, the former regional vice president of the Midwest Region. For the U.S., this cycle of renewal pitted President Barack Obama against businessman and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. As our pages here in this Summer/ Fall issue will reflect, the name on the 34th General President ballot that was declared the winner was Tillman; and American voters overwhelmingly reelected Obama.

A major part of our magazine is dedicated to showcasing some of the best and brightest in the college ranks of Alpha Phi Alpha. Our cover story and SPECIAL REPORT: 2012 The Year of the College Brother focuses on some of the young men who have excelled both on and off the college campus.

We also say farewell to two men who passed the century mark: Walter Gordon and Tom Logan. Both were unsung civil-rights giants, one on the West Coast, and the other on the East Coast.

Rick Blalock is a two-time Emmy® winner and editor of The Sphinx.

In our 7 QUESTIONS interview, Brother Andrew Young, the former

sphinx@apa1906.net

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations weighs in on what a second Obama term may look like. He also adds his insight on what happened to Susan Rice and her dashed hope of becoming the first black Democrat secretary of state.

As always, your comments and questions and letters are welcomed.

Please take a moment to write me at sphinx@apa1906.net and let us know what you like about The Sphinx, and what you might like to see within these pages. H

Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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From the

Acting General President

A Word To College Brothers

This has trulybeen a challenging year! The “Year of the College

Brother” has been a year of groundbreaking change for this organization. Just as you constantly find yourself learning and growing, together, as a fraternity, we find ourselves continually in a similar situation. You departed from loved ones who raised you to embark on a journey of lifelong learning as a man of Alpha Phi Alpha.

Your journey may have taken you only a short distance or perhaps along an untraceable path that doubled back several times, but you are now on your own—making your own mistakes and setting your own goals. Part of growing into a man is making decisions and understanding that we are imperfect and must learn from our mistakes.

Some goals should be lofty and as long as you remember your values, no object is insurmountable but merely a challenge asking you to rise to the occasion.

As I prepare to depart from an office that I did not campaign for, during this critical time in Alpha history, I look forward to the new challenges that Alpha Phi Alpha will experience. There will be challenges in all areas of your lives that will mold you into great Alpha men. It will be our own words of encouragement and prayers to each other as well as our fundamental belief in our foundation that will guide us through. I am encouraged because I know that God orders my steps in his words for it is not my will but his will that is done. Be encouraged as you continue to strive as he would want you to and let him order your steps.

Aaron Crutison Sr. is Western regional vice president and is serving as acting general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. president@apa1906.net

While your life’s journey progresses, take time to thank those who have helped you persevere. I want to thank our past general presidents for their wisdom, insight, and belief in me. I am thankful for the trust and honor given me to experience the fraternity through a different lens of leadership and appreciate the diversity of our beloved fraternity. I have been working closely with our 34th General President Mark S. Tillman, to ensure a smooth transition as we move Alpha forward. I commend the leadership of our executive director, Brother William Douglass Lyle, and thank his staff for all of their hard work during this time. I also want to thank my fellow members of the Board of Directors and all brothers everywhere for their grace and composure while weathering unchartered waters.

Like any organization, we are continuing to improve. We must do all we can to be solution agents who are focused on our mission. College brothers, I want you to know the past eight months have provided our organization an opportunity to reflect, lead, strengthen, protect, and guard this house. We still have a lot of work to do; yet, I am confident we will get there.

You are our future, and we have placed our investment in you, the “College of Friendship, the University of Brotherly Love, and the School for the Better Making of Men.” I am reminded that all things work together for the good of those who love God, and for those who are called according to his purpose. Challenges both great and small have a purpose. It is when we demonstrate our resolve that we continue to lead as Alpha men.

It has been an honor to serve you.

God bless you, and may God bless our beloved fraternity. H

4 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

Imagine an Alpha the Jewels Would Recognize Today

Last year, I asked you to think about “What would this fraternity

be WITHOUT you?” It was an opportunity to take an “honest inventory” of your individual workmanship. A time to evaluate the very essence of our foundation: UNITY. There was a time when Alpha men could say, rest has abandoned us in the night because we wrestle with the issues facing our community, political and economic issues, or simply put, “tired moments find me a delightful treat.”

From the

Executive Director

“First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All” is not simply a creative collaboration of words; it’s the foundation of our mission. Are all of us still there or have we lost focus of our mission? Those words are a form of marching orders to take the lead in providing service and advocacy for our community, to go beyond our limits even when others believe it is not attainable. We are not designed and selected as Alpha men to be popular. We are designed to take the bullets FIRST so that those coming behind us will not have to. We are not in the movement; we are the movement.

It is time to end the poison that impacts a constantly revolving door of foolishness. There are those who still silently support illegal activity and provide reason or flawed logic in doing so. I say to you, just because no one complains doesn’t mean the parachutes are perfect. We must set our personal feelings and beliefs aside; for it is our duty as Alpha men to do the right thing even when it goes against the grain and no one else will.

As you assemble with your chapter to do the business of Alpha, I challenge you to imagine what this house would look like if every man who entered was financial and active (call your LBs, ships and sands). Imagine what our collegiate African-American retention numbers would look like if OUR COMMUNITY standard was that of the days of our social literacy club. Imagine what our communities would look like if we “talked to strangers” and shared in becoming solution-focused and had less water-cooler and cyber-bickering conversations on problems. Lastly, before casting your vote to admit someone into our beloved brotherhood, imagine what a member chosen by the Jewels would look like.

William Douglass Lyle is executive director and chief operating officer of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc wlyle@apa1906.net

Brothers of Alpha, as always I promise, if you imagine and give back to Alpha—to the mission and principles you took an oath to uphold—you will receive much more in return.

Let us unite and imagine a greater Alpha. I look forward to seeing you all in Austin. H

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NEWs

Tillman Elected 34th General President by Wide Margin

By Jaquon C. Heath

After a long two-year “I believe we have to invest campaign, Mark S. Tillman, in our future now,” said of Detroit, Mich., became the Tillman after his election.

34th elected general president “This was a hard-fought of Alpha Phi Alpha on July 21, campaign, and I am proud of 2012. He defeated Southwestern my team and the fact we stayed Regional Vice President Roderick above the fray and ran a race L. Smothers, Sr. In doing so, he that represented the true spirit becomes the first Midwestern of fraternity,” said Smothers Region resident to win the high after the vote was announced. office since 1976.

“I congratulate Mark on

The ballots were counted his win, and will work to by members of the Standing move Alpha forward during Committee on Elections in his administration and then Atlanta, during the July Board of some,” Smothers said.

The theatrics on the Directors meeting. Committee members gathered in a backroom campaign trail are likely to be at the Hilton Alanta Airport long remembered.

Brother Mark Tillman holds his “key.” near the Atlanta Hartsfield At the candidate forums at Jackson International Airport all five regional conventions and spent two days counting nearly 10,000 ballots of the Tillman was noted for raising an oversized key during his stump 18,418 that were sent to financially active members of the speech. The key represented “entrance” into the “House of fraternity.

Alpha,” from his days as a pledge at Beta Phi Chapter at Dillard

“We wish more brothers had voted, but we counted what we University in New Orleans, La. At the beginning and throughout his presentation, Tillman, had,” said Thomas Phillips, committee chairman. “However, we did have a very smooth process and cooperation from both campaigns.” holding the key would belt: “Brothers I got my key!”

According to the committee’s report, Tillman won 5,146

Brothers have now given him the key to the general votes or 62 percent, Smothers had 3,189 or 38 percent. The president’s office. H report issued to the Board of Directors said: “The candidate receiving the largest number of votes cast shall be declared elected to the office. Therefore, Brother Mark S. Tillman is declared the 34th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.”

Tillman, the former Midwestern regional vice president ran on a campaign theme of “Alpha Investment” while Smothers, of Austin, Texas, ran on an “Alpha Action” platform.

Tillman and Smothers were nominated by the General Convention, and earned a spot on the ballot after besting two other candidates at the 2011 Chicago national convention: former General Counsels Keith Bishop of North Carolina and Cecil Howard of Florida.

Brothers from around the world mailed their ballots in the Spring to a secure lockbox in Atlanta, Ga. The committee retrieved Brothers Roderick L. Smothers, Sr. (left) and Mark S. Tillman share the ballots at the onset of the Board of Directors meeting. a laugh after the election result was announced in Atlanta, Ga.

6 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

NEWs

ELECTORAL VOTES OBAMA 332 ROMNEY 206

The president and First Lady Michelle Obama with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden celebrate Nov. 6, 2012, in Chicago, Ill. Official White House photo by David Lienemann.

Barack Obama Elected to Second Term as U.S. President

By Rick Blalock

Nearly every tracking poll had the race neck-and-neck.

But, in the end, President Barack Obama rolled to an overwhelming re-election Nov. 6. He vanquished former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney who had hoped a weak economy and a high unemployment rate would help him defeat the incumbent Democrat from Illinois.

“This happened because of you. Thank you,” Obama tweeted to supporters as he celebrated with thousands in Chicago on Election Night. After the concession phone call from Romney, crowds chanted “four more years.” Supporters also gathered in New York’s Times Square and near the White House in Washington, with people honking as they drove by.

The race was the most expensive and the dirtiest in the nation’s history. It was the first presidential election since the controversial “Citizens United” Supreme Court case that allowed for companies and organizations to spend endless amounts of money to support campaigns.

The harshly divided country and the tone of the campaign were not lost on Obama during his victory speech.

“Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated,” the president said.

“We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs.

And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.”

The final tally showed Obama and Vice President Joe Biden winning 332 electoral votes and Romney and Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan with 206. 270 electoral votes were needed to win.

The president also won 51 percent of the popular vote with more than 65 million votes to Romney’s 47 percent and his nearly 61 million votes.

The Democratic ticket swept the so-called battleground states.

Only two states that the Democrats carried in 2008 flipped to the GOP in 2012: Indiana and North Carolina.

Experts say it was an impressive coalition of women, African Americans, Latinos, lesbian and gay persons, and young people who gave Obama his historic victory. He won each group with huge percentages; for example, at least 93 percent of African Americans and 71 percent of Latinos.

“Gov. Romney handily won the white vote with about 60 percent, but it wasn’t enough to win, even though Caucasians are still a majority of the country’s population,” said political scientist F. Carl Walton, former chairman of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s Political Action Committee and a vice president at Lincoln University in Lincoln University, Pa.

“The president’s win shows that you can no longer just count on a majority of white people to elect a president; you have to include every demographic.”

Democrats also retained control of the Senate with surprising ease and gained seats. Republicans lost seats in the House but maintained their majority, which means there will still be divided government in Washington.

“We are pleased that the fraternity’s ‘First of All... We Vote’ campaign contributed to record turnout across the country,” said Brother Everett Ward, who chaired the fraternity’s 2012 voterregistration initiative.

“Specifically, black voter turnout surprised many, but we in Alpha were not surprised. Many African-American citizens that we came in contact with knew the stakes were just too high.

“We must continue our voter empowerment efforts because now all Alpha men need to focus on public policy issues impacting our community,” said Ward. H

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NEWs

Brothers Huger, Sutton Receive Congressional Gold Medal African-American Marines Honored

By Rick Blalock

In June, dozens of African-American marines got what many say they should have had coming to them more than 50 years ago.

Under hazy skies in the nation’s capital, the Marine Corps honored more than 400 of them, many of whom served during World War II and are now well into their 80s. The men went to a segregated boot camp, called Montford Point at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and served in all-black units afterward.

On June 28, they all received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon civilians by Congress.

Two of the 400 are distinguished leaders of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity: retired Executive Secretary James “Jimmy” Huger of Daytona Beach, Fla., and 26th General President Ozell Sutton, of Atlanta, Ga. Both were additionally honored with a reception in July by the fraternity.

Sutton, 87, was drafted in 1944 at age 18. He went on to serve in the South Pacific in a depot support unit.

“Those were segregated days; it was not unusual to be in the segregated facility,” said Sutton.

Between 1942 and 1949, the camp at Montford Point trained some 20,000 African Americans before President Harry Truman ordered the desegregation of the U.S. military.

“I longed for the days when we would not be segregated and discriminated against, but that came after I was out of the Marines. However, getting this award is a great honor, and I was overjoyed when we received it.”

Huger, 97, also served in the South Pacific and became the second black to

attain the rank of sergeant major in the Marines. He joined the Marine Corps while working at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Fla. “It’s hard to explain our feelings,” said Huger. “They didn’t want us in the Marines and we proved we could do anything any other Marine could.”

During the ceremony at the Marine barracks not far from the U.S. Capitol building, Marine general officers walked down the ranks of Montford Point Marines, presenting replicas of the medal to each veteran.

The Montford Point Marines have never enjoyed a prominent place in history like the Tuskegee Airmen, black pilots who flew during World War II, or the Buffalo Soldiers, African-American units that fought during the Indian wars.

In recent years, the Marine Corps has become determined to change that.

“For them to finally honor us was something out of this world,” said Huger. H

Far Left: Alpha Phi Alpha Executive Director William Douglass Lyle congratulates 26th General President Ozell Sutton on receiving the Congressional Gold Medal.

Left: Brothers Ozell Sutton (standing) and James “Jimmy” Huger wear their gold medals during a special recognition program hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha in July in Atlanta, Ga.

8 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

NEWs

Garibaldi Installed as President of University of Detroit Mercy

Brother Antoine M. Garibaldi delivers his inaugural address to the University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit, Mich. Looking on from left are: former UDM presidents Maureen A. Fay and Gerard L. Stockhausen and The Most Rev. Allen H. Vigneron, archbishop of the Detroit Catholic Archdiocese. Photo by David Frechette.

In a ceremony filled with tradition harkening back to 1877, Brother Antoine M. Garibaldi was inaugurated as the 25th president of the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) on Friday, April 13, in Detroit, Mich.

He becomes the university’s first African-American president.

The university’s famous sports arena, Calihan Hall, in Northwest Detroit was filled with delegates from more than 65 colleges and universities around the country, civic officials, business leaders, faculty, staff, students, alumni, fraternity brothers and friends.

Prior to the installation, the university held an inauguration Mass celebrated by Detroit Archbishop The Most Reverend Allen Vigneron.

Unlike U.S. presidential inaugurations, which typically occur on the first day in office, college and universities often wait until the president has been in office for several months before holding their ceremonies—giving the new president time to become more familiar with the university and its many constituencies and to develop a vision for the institution.

Garibaldi, who most recently was the president at Gannon University in Erie, Pa., took over at UDM in summer 2011. He also is a tenured professor of education.

UDM is Michigan’s largest private Catholic university, offering approximately 100 majors and programs in 60 academic fields on three campuses. H

Sims Takes Seat in Illinois General Assembly Surrounded by his family and friends, Brother Elgie R. Sims Jr., Alpha Phi Alpha’s Midwestern regional vice president, formally took the oath of office on Aug. 3 as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in Springfield, Ill. He was appointed by party leaders to fill the unexpired term of his predecessor.

Rep. Sims is the third Alpha member currently serving in the Illinois General Assembly.

Sims went on to win a hotly contested Primary race for a full term, and was elected in the November General Election.

A practicing attorney, Sims formerly served as director for appropriations to the president of the Illinois Senate.

He was initiated at Eta Tau Chapter at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., at which he earned his bachelor’s degree. He also holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Illinois and a law degree from Loyola University’s Chicago School of Law.

Sims is a member of Mu Delta Lambda Chapter in Springfield and resides in Chicago with his wife and two daughters. H

After taking the oath, pictured from left: Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles Freeman, Brother Elgie R. Sims Jr., daughter Kennedy, wife Shivonne and daughter Mackenzie.

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NEWs

Lincoln University Installs Alpha Brother as President

Brother John H. Jackson

Jackson Named to Harvard Alumni Board The president of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., recently announced the election of Brother John H. Jackson to the HAA Board of Directors. The Board of Directors represents recipients of all undergraduate and graduate degrees granted by the university and Radcliffe College, as well as the members of all university faculties.

Jackson will serve a three-year term. He was one of six new directors, chosen from a slate of nine candidates, selected by Harvard alumni across the globe.

The HAA Board of Directors holds three slated meetings each year in Cambridge.

Jackson is the president of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, based in Boston, Mass., and New York, N.Y. He joined Alpha Phi Alpha at Beta Tau Chapter while matriculating at Xavier University of Louisiana. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Xavier, he earned a law degree at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill., and in 2001, a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). He currently is a member of the HGSE Alumni Board. H

10 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

In a ceremony full of academic pomp that included the governor of Pennsylvania, Brother Robert R. Jennings was formally installed as the 13th president of Lincoln University in Lincoln University, Pa., on Sept. 22.

The inaugural ceremony included an academic procession of the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni and distinguished guests.

“I am honored to be inaugurated to lead the nation’s oldest historically black college and university, which continues to produce men and women who make outstanding contributions to the nation and world,” said Jennings.

“In Dr. Jennings, Lincoln has a president who is highly qualified and prepared to advance the University’s legacy of excellence,” said Bishop David G. Evans, chairman of the university Board of Trustees.

“We welcome and embrace his visionary leadership and are committed to help him meet the needs of the people of our state and the Lincoln community,” said Bishop Evans.

In his inaugural address, Jennings offered an ambitious vision for the university’s future, calling for academic improvements, increased enrollment and new sources of funding, all amid a looming financial crisis.

Jennings also proposed new master’s degree programs in social work and environmental green initiatives, an annual energy conference and a new doctoral program in educational administration and policy studies.

Before arriving at Lincoln in January, Jennings served as president of Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Ala. He has also held posts at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.; North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, N.C. and Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va. H

Lincoln University President Brother Robert Jennings accepts the university mace from Bishop David G. Evans, chairman of the Lincoln University Board of Trustees.

Photo by Ed Hille.

NEWs

Tragedy in Sanford, Florida After a Year, Case Still Haunts America “Being a Black man in America isn’t easy.

The hunt is on, and you’re the prey.”

—Mr. Butler (portrayed by Charles S. Dutton) in the motion picture “Menace II Society”

By Derrick Alexander Pope

The “desperate wail of a child, a gunshot, and then silence.”

That’s what three witnesses say they heard just before Trayvon Martin was killed. A child’s desperate wail. A gunshot. Silence.

If this were told to authorities on an episode of ‘Law and Order,’ the admitted shooter would surely be arrested and his claim of self-defense shredded by D.A. Jack McCoy.

But in real life, when the victim is young, black, male and said to “look suspicious,” and the shooter is white and male, then there is a parallel universe of how the law will be ordered.

Trayvon Martin’s death—and the faux judicial response to it—is a painful reminder of the negligible value of the lives of black men in these United States. They have lived and died with this reminder for far too long.

Black men have known this pain from the lynchings that claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 black men between 1882 and 1968.

We were reminded of it in 1955 when Emmitt Till was brutally murdered because someone said he whistled at a white woman.

It gripped us again in 1980 when more than two dozen young black children (mostly boys) were mysteriously killed in Atlanta during the Missing and

Murdered Children’s crisis.

And we are, once again, revisited by this pain with the killing of Trayvon Martin in February 2012. It was right to call for the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Trayvon’s brutal slaying. After all, that is precisely the function of the criminal justice system.

It is perfectly legitimate to expect the Justice Department to inquire into the possibility of whether his murder was precipitated by some racial animus.

As the chief vanguard of civil liberties, it is emphatically the duty of the federal government to do so.

Similarly, it is entirely appropriate that sustained national outrage accompany this gruesome tragedy. No less should be expected of an enlightened society.

Nonetheless, none of these elements can assuage the pain of knowing that a

sort of benign tolerance for the devaluing of black life is tucked away in our national psyche. Too many of us on one side of that color line that W.E.B. DuBois wrote of are numbed by the ever-recurring incident of premature black death, while too many of our fellow citizens on the other side of the line are aggressively accommodating of the benefit of the doubt.

Worse, as this case moves with tortoise-like speed through what is supposed to resemble the administration of justice, a kind of perversion of the rule of law becomes obvious when the killing of a black child is less consequential than a black man accused of engaging in dog fighting and the killing of dogs.

The Trayvon Martin case is a hunt for justice. But true justice would mean that we would no longer be hunted.

Unfortunately, this will not be the last time that we will hear of the desperate wail of a child, a gunshot, and then silence. H

Derrick Alexander Pope, J.D., was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha in 1984, at Iota Chapter in Atlanta, Ga. He is chairman of the fraternity’s Commission on Racial Justice, and author of By the Content of Our CHARACTER and Thy Will Be Done.

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NEWs

Across the A PHI A Nation: Brothers Participate in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 42nd Annual Legislative Conference

Brother Horace Dawson, chairman of the Alpha Phi Alpha World Policy Council, addresses the Alpha Phi Alpha Brunch.

U.S. Rep. Brother Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, Mo., addresses the Alpha Phi Alpha Brunch honoring Alpha members of Congress.

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34th General President Mark S. Tillman stops by the March of Dimes booth during the CBC Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.

U.S. Rep. Brother Danny Davis of Chicago, Ill., hosted a panel discussion on intergenerational poverty and incarceration during the Ex-offenders Forum.

NEWs

Snapshots of Alpha in the Capital Anti-Hazing Forum Held

Brother M. Christopher Brown, president of Alcorn State University in Alcorn, Miss., shares a thought with Marcus Chanay, vice president for Student Life at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., during the Anti-Hazing Forum.

Mary Wright, international grand basileus of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, makes a point at the Anti-Hazing Forum.

The Rev. Al Sharpton addresses the Anti-Hazing Forum.

National Pan-Hellenic Council Leaders Meet

Professor Michael Eric Dyson moderates a panel discussion during the 3rd Annual NPHC Presidents Forum.

Leaders of the Divine Nine gather at the national headquarters of Delta Sigma Theta for the Council of Presidents meeting.

The national headquarters building of Delta Sigma Theta in Washington, D.C. Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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The Year of t

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special report

Honoring Excellence in the Classroom and in the Community 2012 was deemed the “year of the college brother” across Alpha Phi Alpha. It was the fraternity’s way of rekindling the fire of enthusiasm in its most important unit. For without the continual birth of new Alpha members on college campuses, the fraternity would lose its future.

Each year, a new set of college initiates populate the university and

f the College Brother

with a host of brothers looking on, the newest group of college-brother officers took their seats on the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Board of Directors at its July 20, meeting in Atlanta, Ga.

The oath of office was administered to Regional Assistant Vice Presidents, from left: Brandon R. Johnson, Eastern Region; Sharron R. Anderson, Midwestern Region; Jeremy C. Kirk, Southern Region; Gilbert Christopher Cutkelvin, Southwestern and LiQuan M. Hunt, Western Region.

These brothers will serve through the end of the 2013 General Convention in Austin, Texas.

college campuses in the U.S. and overseas. In this SPECIAL REPORT, we highlight some of the best of the best from around the world serving Alpha as college brothers.

Surely there are thousands among thousands of men who could be placed upon these pages. We have listed them by name, college chapter, their school, and the city and state in which they matriculate.

This is a mere sample of why Alpha continues to hold true to the motto “first of all, servants of all.”

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s pec i al report

Marcus D. Allen Gamma Theta University of Dayton Dayton, Ohio

Brother Marcus Allen, in center, with two of his chapter brothers at the University of Dayton.

Brother Marcus Allen is one of those brothers who stands out on campus and in the community. A senior, pre-med major at the University of Dayton, he was named College Brother of the Year for Ohio. He was born and raised on the west side of Detroit, Mich. His activities have included being a summer researcher on prostate tumor cell suppression at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. He also spends time volunteering at the Montgomery County Jail in Dayton, tutoring inmates who plan to obtain their GED. H

Jade Bouhmouch Beta Psi Richmond, The American International University London, UK

Many of his chapter brothers say exemplary is the only word that comes to mind when describing Brother Jade Bouhmouch. An outstanding student, Bouhmouch has a cumulative grade point average of 3.7, and has maintained a place on his university’s Dean’s List since his first semester.

A native of Casablanca, Morocco, Bouhmouch serves as president of the university’s Student Union as well as treasurer and director of educational activities for Beta Psi Chapter. He is the recipient of multiple scholarship awards, including the Presidential, Dean, and Walter Foundation Scholarships.

Brother Bouhmouch has proven himself an active leader on campus by starting a lecture series on various academic topics, organizing open study sessions for students prior to examinations, along with helping to revamp the peer tutoring program run by the university’s academic department.

Possessed with a voracious nature for success, he was named College Brother of the Year for District 1 of the fraternity’s Eastern Region. H

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Brother Jade Bouhmouch volunteering at the local Vineyard School as a safety patrol officer for England’s Guy Foux Day Fireworks Show.

Year of the college brother

Tahir Boykins Theta Epsilon St. John’s University Queens, New York

At left: Brother Tahir Boykins and a fellow Alpha brother help a flood victim in Binghamton, N.Y., after heavy rains in the area devastated the community.

Tahir Boykins is not only a standout on the campus of St. John’s University, he is a leader in his fraternity. His fellow chapter brothers at Theta Epsilon elected him president in spring 2011.

Under his leadership, the chapter gained a five-star rating at St. John’s University. The star system is based on the cumulative grade point average, service hours, program success, and philanthropy of the students in university groups and organizations.

Brother Boykins is a member of the university’s Mock Trial Team and was inducted into the St. John’s University President’s Society. He maintains a 3.62 grade point average and was named New York Alpha College Brother of the Year.

A legal studies major at St. John’s, he also spends time mentoring elementary-school students in the Zeta Zeta Lambda Chapter’s “Invictus” mentoring program. H

Ellison E. Brown Jr. Nu Upsilon University of Mississippi Oxford, Mississippi

Brother Ellison Brown Jr. recently received his white coat as he entered the pharmacy school at the University of Mississippi. He has worked diligently to see this achievement. He continues to be one of the high academic learners in not only his chapter, but at his university. Initiated in 2010, Brown will soon be “Dr. Brown,” after graduating with his Doctor of Pharmacy Degree.

Throughout his years on campus, Brown has participated in numerous organizations. He has worked with the Associated Student Body, served as a mentor to underclassmen, was an orientation leader and has been a member of the University of Mississippi Marching Band.

Within Alpha, Brown has been his chapter’s representative to the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the step captain.

Off campus, Brown has volunteered with the local Boys and Girls Club and the Salvation Army.H

Brother Ellison Brown Jr. tries on his “white coat” for the first time at the University of Mississippi.

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special report

Brandon Hall

Kappa Tau Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas

Brother Brandon Hall with one of the Kansas State University mascots on campus.

Brother Brandon Hall is a shining example of what a collegiate Alpha man should be. He has been an outstanding leader on the campus of Kansas State University as well as in his school’s athletic conference. His accomplishments include serving as president of the black student union, chair of the Big XII Council on Black Student Government, the governing body of all the black student unions in the Big XII Conference.

He is also a member of Mortar Board Senior Honor Society and is a Cargill Impact Scholar. Brother Hall’s leadership in Alpha includes serving as chapter secretary, parliamentarian and director of intake. He also served as the Kansas assistant district director for two years. Brother Hall has done all of this while maintaining a 3.14 grade point average. H

Matthew Nicholas Farr Theta Psi University of Central Arkansas Conway, Arkansas

When brothers in Arkansas named Brother Matthew Farr College Brother of the Year, they knew they were choosing a solid leader.

He has a huge record of leadership and service on his college campus, in his community and church and in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

On campus, he has been a mentor in the Minority Mentorship Program, held several offices with the National Association of Black Men United and was financial secretary of the university’s NAACP chapter. He also served as treasurer of the local chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity, Inc.

In Alpha, brothers of Theta Psi Chapter elected him president for the 2011-12 school year.

A member of the Dean’s List, Farr has earned several academic awards and scholarships. A marketing student with a 3.3 grade point average, he was selected to intern with Acxiom Corporation. H

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Brother Matthew Farr on campus with fellow brothers and students at the University of Central Arkansas.

Year of the college brother

Brother Omar Hamid, initiated in fall 2010, majored in mechanical engineering at the University of Mississippi.

His leadership skills earned him the respect of his fellow chapter members, who ultimately elected him chapter president at Nu Upsilon Chapter. He also was elected to the Associated Student Body Cabinet.

He was selected to be included in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities &

Colleges and was a recipient of the Martin Luther King Volunteer Service Award. He accepted a teaching position with the Teach for America program, to commence after graduating with his bachelor’s degree. H

Omar Hamid

Nu Upsilon The University of Mississippi Oxford, Mississippi

At right: Brother Omar Hamid and fellow Nu Upsilon brothers perform a step maneuver on the campus of the University of Mississippi, in Oxford, Miss.

Durelle Hill

Iota Rho Seton Hall University South Orange, New Jersey

Brother Durelle Hill maintains a 3.9 grade point average at Seton Hall University. He is pursuing a bachelor’s and master’s degree, triple majoring in philosophy, criminal justice and sociology. He also is taking master’s courses in public administration.

Hill has received several distinguished honors, including being a Truman Scholarship finalist, a Marshall Scholarship alternate, and a Rhodes Scholar candidate.

He was a “spotlighted student” in the Seton Hall alumni magazine, and an Alpha Phi Alpha Education Foundation Scholar and Distinguished Collegian. His academic pursuits are his pathway to becoming a lawyer, providing advocacy for underprivileged communities. H

Brother Durelle Hill speaks to a crowd on campus.

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special report

Kaylord Hill

Mu University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota

Brother Kaylord Hill volunteers at the Ronald McDonald Cook for Kids program.

AS A LEADER on campus and in the surrounding university community, Brother Kaylord Hill was a model of a man who represented the true spirit of the fraternity’s motto. Before graduating, he spent his final year as assistant district director of the fraternity’s District of Minnesota, the second-highest elected office in the state.

He constantly would reinvent himself and heighten expectations of an assistant district director by brokering significant partnerships with community organizations to help take his brothers to the next level.

He was involved in many campus activities, including tweeting for the university president, organizing the campus’ first oratorical contest and giving keynote speeches. H

Xavier Jones

Kappa Eta The University of Memphis Memphis, Tennessee

Brother Xavier Alexander Jones is a mentor, a scholar, a musician and a business owner and has served in many capacities at the University of Memphis Campus and Memphis Community. He was recognized with the 2011 Presidential Leadership Award from the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He also is an outstanding example of a college brother who holds manly deeds, scholarship and love for all mankind dear to his heart.

Jones was recognized as the 2011-2012 Tennessee Alpha College Brother of the Year. But his leadership reaches far beyond his home state. He was elected to the fraternity’s Board of Directors and served as assistant vice president of the Southern Region. H

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Above: Brother Xavier Jones working with sixth graders at Cypress Hill Elementary School in Memphis, Tenn.

Year of the college brother

Philip Lewis

Zeta Delta Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan

Philip Lewis is an active leader on the campus of Michigan State University with a 3.55 grade point average. He is an executive board member of the Black Student Alliance and has played a key role in combating the inequalities that plague students of color at his university. He is also an intercultural aide in Holmes Hall and is tasked with helping students make successful social, cultural and academic transitions at Michigan State. He recently received a special award from the Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions. H Brother Philip Lewis delivering food as part of the Meals on Wheels program in Detroit, Mich.

Eric L. Mackie

Nu Beta Georgetown University Washington, D.C.

Brother Eric Mackie is a Spring 2010 initiate of Alpha Phi Alpha. He joined the fraternity at Nu Beta Chapter at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. After working hard, he graduated cum laude from Georgetown with a Bachelor of Arts in English Degree.

While at Georgetown, he sought to leave a legacy not only in the spirit of Alpha but also in hopes that his achievements would serve as a foundation for any African-American at the university.

Being an Alpha has only increased his desire to make effective change in his community, school and family. As he embarks on a new journey at The University of Chicago Law School, he hopes to show current brothers and future Alpha men that the House of Alpha is indeed a school for the better making of men—and that its legacy continues to inspire many. H

Brother Eric Mackie working with a youngster in the community.

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special report

Ricky L. Mason Epsilon Chi University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky

Brother Ricky Mason holds several leadership roles within the fraternity and in the community. He was elected secretary of Epsilon Chi Chapter and assistant secretary for the Kentucky District.

An engineering major, Mason is president of the University of Kentucky chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, the diversity liaison for the student government association and fundraising chair for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Mason serves on campus and in the community as a mentor, tutor and youth basketball coach where he has completed more than 300 hours of community service in the past year. He also has completed two internships with NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense. H

Brother Ricky Mason during his internship at NASA working on the GPS IIF-2 rocket launch in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Ugochukwu (Ugo) Obilo Pi Rho Temple University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Brother Ugochukwu “Ugo”Obilo performing community service during a community Thanksgiving Dinner program.

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Brother UGOCHUKWU Obilo, the 2011-12 College Brother of the Year in the state of Pennsylvania, was a superior student as he headed toward graduation in May. His major course of study was accounting, and, minored in management information systems.

He had numerous leadership positions on Temple’s campus, including serving as vice president of the student body, past president of Pi Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and chairman of professional development for the Black Law Student’s Association. He also was the student liaison for Temple University Campus Safety.

Obilo interned at Ernst & Young. In 2011, he received recognition as a “Firm Inclusivity Leader” at the International Intern Leadership Conference hosted by Ernst & Young. In his community service efforts he has worked with Temple University’s Service Immersion Program” abroad in Jamaica. H

Year of the college brother

Timothy C. Purdie Jr. Gamma Phi Tuskegee University Tuskegee, Alabama

Brother Timothy Purdie is a native of Selma, Ala., and a brother of the Gamma Phi Chapter at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala. He is a chemical engineering major and since his initiation into Alpha, he has served as financial secretary and step master.

On campus, he is actively involved in several academic honor societies and groups including Alpha Kappa Mu and the National Society of Black Engineers, all while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average. Most recently, he was awarded the Alpha Phi Alpha Alabama District College Brother with the Highest GPA Award. H Brother Timothy Purdie studying in the lab at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala.

Kenneth Williams Alpha Rho Morehouse College Atlanta, Georgia

Brother Kenneth Williams was a senior economics major at Morehouse College from Fairfax, Va. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he graduated summa cum laude from Morehouse in the spring.

While at Morehouse, he was very active in the community and an industrious student and leader. He has started his own nonprofit organization to help students find funding for school, and he worked on community service initiatives on five continents.

Deloitte Consulting recognized his excellence and offered him a position as a business analyst. H Brother Kenneth Williams with children of the Wat Kanon School in Thailand.

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special report

Walter Williams Gamma Epsilon University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin

Walter Williams is a college brother that exemplifies the Alpha-Wisconsin model of “Alpha is not just an organization, it’s a lifestyle.”

As Brother Williams engages in the aims and ideals of Alpha Phi Alpha, he does so in a contagious manner that leads other brothers to follow and replicate his dedication to that lifestyle of service and leadership. It was these ingredients of his academic and social DNA that lead the brothers in Wisconsin to select him as the District of Wisconsin College Brother of the Year. H

Brother Walter Williams volunteering and helping disabled members of the community.

Do you know of an outstanding Alpha phi alphA college brother?

We can never hear enough about the good things our college brothers are doing—both on and off the campus. To this end, we encourage any member of the fraternity to forward the name, e-mail address and phone number of a college brother who is worthy to be recognized on the pages of The Sphinx.

Just send his information along with your name, e-mail address and phone number to your chapter’s associate editor to The Sphinx and have him forward it to the magazine editor-in-chief.

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m one y & b u s i ne s s

Being your own boss Alpha Brother Provides Strategies to New Entrepreneurs

By Ed Marshall

W

hen he was studying for his MBA degree at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Ga., Brother Chris Williams was not certain how he would fully use his marketing knowledge when he left the university’s doors for the last time (as a student) in 2005. But several years later, the Louisiana native has put his focus on helping other likeminded entrepreneurs succeed.

“What I began seeing is that many small-business owners have great ideas, but did not know how to market their products or services,” says Williams, who now works from an Atlanta suburb; he maintains his contacts in New Orleans, just a phone call or mouse-click away.

He wrote a reader-friendly, marketingplan workbook with a companion CD. Titled Big Business Strategies for Small Businesses, it was developed with micro-entrepreneurs in mind.

The book is designed to provide small-business owners a complete blueprint for conducting market research and creating a comprehensive marketing strategy for their business. It also explains techniques to implement the strategies as well as ways to conduct your own feedback analysis.

The principles used within are battle-tested and have been proven effective in both times of economic stability or uncertainty. The workbook simplifies and shares the marketing principles used by the nation’s most successful enterprises.

“With the uncertainty of today’s economy, and ambivalence in ,

Entrepreneur-author Brother Chris Williams and his daughter Harmony share a light moment during a marketing photo shoot for a client in suburban Atlanta, Ga.

Washington, as we all witnessed during the debt-ceiling debate in 2011, and the fiscal cliff rollercoaster of 2012, it is critical for entrepreneurs to have a strategic marketing plan,” says Williams.

In the workbook, each chapter features easy-to-follow definitions, directions and visual aids. Both traditional media (television, radio and print) and new media (online and mobile) strategies are explored in the workbook.

In the workbook, pricing strategies are explained in detail for smallbusiness owners offering products or services to their market. The workbook also covers product and service distribution and smallbusiness supply-chain management.

All forms found in the workbook are also on the companion CD. What makes the workbook even more practical is that it’s also designed

FOR MORE information, visit www.brandmanagementllc.com

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for entrepreneurs who are juggling their business while raising a family.

“As a single dad, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to run a business and raise a child or children,” says Williams, whose second daughter, Harmony, came along in 2010.

“I wanted to make sure this workbook and CD would be something an entrepreneur could comprehend in a short amount of time, while still grasping the important marketing strategies needed to succeed.”

Prior to attending Clark Atlanta’s business school, Williams earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Degree at Southern University of New Orleans. In 2005, he was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha at Omicron Mu Lambda Chapter in Marietta, Ga. Big Business Strategies for Small Businesses is available wherever books are sold, including online booksellers. H

re g i onal ro u n d u p

Eastern Region Highlights Young and Old at Regional Convention in Portsmouth, Va. Brothers from along the East Coast and those from the fraternity’s International District gathered at the Portsmouth Virginia Renaissance Hotel from March 28 to April 1, 2012, for the annual regional convention. In addition to conducting the business of Alpha East, members participated in various leadership and training seminars. Brothers also competed individually and collectively as chapters for the top honors awarded by the region. H

2012 EASTERN REGION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS COLLEGE BROTHER OF THE YEAR Maurice Nick Iota Zeta University of Maryland College Park, Md. COLLEGE CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Xi Delta James Madison University Harrisonburg, Va. ALUMNI BROTHER OF THE YEAR Michael Files Xi Alpha Lambda Prince William County, Va.

Top: Brother Harvey Johnson, one of the oldest members in Alpha Phi Alpha, is greeted by Executive Director and COO William Douglass Lyle at the Eastern Region Convention.

Left: U.S. Rep. Brother Bobby Scott, from the third congressional district in the House (right), speaks with Brother Jade Bouhmouch of Beta Psi Chapter at Richmond, The American International University in London at the Eastern Regional Convention.

ALUMNI CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Xi Alpha Lambda Prince William County, Va. HIGHEST GPA - BROTHER Durelle Hill Iota Rho Seton Hall University South Orange, N.J. HIGHEST GPA - CHAPTER Rho Nu Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University BELFORD V. LAWSON ORATORICAL CONTEST Thompson Imasogie Iota Alpha George Mason University Fairfax, Va. JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN COLLEGIATE SCHOLARS BOWL Eta Zeta Bowie State University Bowie, Md. Beta Alpha Morgan State University Baltimore, Md. CHARLES H. WESLEY AWARD Beta and Mu Lambda Howard University Washington, D.C. STEP SHOW Omicron University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pa. MISS BLACK AND GOLD Brianna Pippens Theta Epsilon St. John’s University Queens, N.Y.

Eastern Region Assistant Vice President Christopher Alexander (far left) next to U.S. Rep. Brother Bobby Scott and Regional Vice President Sean McCaskill (far right) join local high school students for a photo at the 2012 Eastern Region Convention in Portsmouth, Va. The students were part of the region’s Leadership Development Institute program.

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Midwest Honors Best and Brightest, Celebrates Mu Chapter’s 100th at Midwestern Regional Convention

2012 midwestern REGION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS COLLEGE BROTHER OF THE YEAR Naeem Muhammed Rho Tau DePauw University Greencastle, Ind.

BELFORD V. LAWSON ORATORICAL CONTEST Jacoby Cochran Epsilon Kappa Bradley University Peoria, Ill.

COLLEGE CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Epsilon Chi University of Kentucky Lexington, Ky.

CHARLES H. WESLEY AWARD Epsilon Upsilon Lambda and Theta Tau University of Michigan-Flint; Kettering University; Baker College and Mott Community College Flint, Mich.

ALUMNI BROTHER OF THE YEAR Albert Smith Delta Chi Lambda Milwaukee, Wis. ALUMNI CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Gamma Lambda Detroit, Mich.

HIGHEST GPA - BROTHER Miguel Doughlin Epsilon Chi University of Kentucky Lexington, Ky. HIGHEST GPA -CHAPTER Epsilon Chi University of Kentucky Lexington, Ky.

Members of Mu Chapter, celebrating Mu’s 100th anniversary, are recognized at the regional convention.

Brothers gather for the 80th Midwestern Regional Convention in Minneapolis, Minn.

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STEP SHOW Delta Xi Central State University Wilberforce, Ohio MISS BLACK AND GOLD Ugwem Eneyo Tau University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, Ill.

re g i onal ro u n d u p

Southern Region Hosts Presidential Candidates Forum, Honors Winners at 81st Regional Convention in Columbia, S.C.

2012 SOUTHERN REGION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS COLLEGE BROTHER OF THE YEAR Ludger Marsan Iota Delta Florida State University Tallahassee, Fla.

34th General President Nominee Roderick L. Smothers, Sr., makes a point during the presidential candidates forum.

COLLEGE CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Alpha Rho Morehouse College Atlanta, Ga. ALUMNI BROTHER OF THE YEAR Said Sewell Rho Pi Lambda Douglasville, Ga. ALUMNI CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Eta Lambda Atlanta, Ga. HIGHEST GPA - BROTHER Marcos Gooden Beta Pi Lane College Jackson, Tenn.

HIGHEST GPA - CHAPTER Beta Pi Lane College Jackson, Tenn.

BELFORD V. LAWSON ORATORICAL CONTEST Reginald Sharpe Alpha Rho Morehouse College Atlanta, Ga.

Brother Thomas Phillips, chairman of the Elections Committee addresses the Southern Region Convention in Columbia, S.C.

34th General President Nominee Mark Tillman holds his “key” while addressing the brothers.

CHARLES H. WESLEY AWARD Eta Lambda; Alpha Phi; Alpha Rho and Zeta Mu Clark Atlanta University; Morehouse College and Georgia State University Atlanta, Ga. STEP SHOW Kappa Xi Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, Tenn.

MISS BLACK AND GOLD Miss Megan Piphus Kappa Theta Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tenn.

JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN COLLEGIATE SCHOLARS BOWL Delta Delta Albany State University Albany, Ga. HOBART JARRETT DEBATE COMPETITION Alpha Rho Morehouse College Atlanta, Ga.

Brothers Don Weston of Greenville, S.C., (left) and Keith Harris of Atlanta, Ga., listen to speakers during the business session at the Southern Region Convention in Columbia, S.C. Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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2012 SOUTHWESTERN REGION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS COLLEGE BROTHER OF THE YEAR Dexter Harris Delta Sigma Grambling State University Grambling, La. COLLEGE CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Delta Theta Texas Southern University Houston, Texas ALUMNI BROTHER OF THE YEAR Pritchard Moncriffe Zeta Gamma Lambda Langston, Okla.

ALUMNI CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Pi Pi Lambda Slidell, La. HIGHEST GPA - BROTHER Runell King Beta Phi Dillard University New Orleans, La. HIGHEST GPA - CHAPTER Beta Chi Philander Smith College Little Rock, Ark. BELFORD V. LAWSON ORATORICAL CONTEST Matthew Farr Theta Psi University of Central Arkansas Conway, Ark. CHARLES H. WESLEY AWARD Delta Sigma and Epsilon Kappa Lambda Grambling State University Grambling, La. STEP SHOW Eta Chi University of Louisiana at Monroe Monroe, La.

Little Rock, Ark. Turns Black and Gold at 66th Southwestern Regional Convention

By Roderick L. Smothers, Sr.

Brothers from around the four-state region and from across the country flocked to Little Rock in great numbers to conduct the business of Alpha Southwest in March. The convention marked another historic record of attendance with more than 1,000 people assembled at the Peabody Hotel.

Members of Pi Lambda, Beta Chi, Kappa Psi and Theta Psi Chapters provided an exceptional convention experience for brothers and their guests. In addition to experiencing true southwestern hospitality, brothers participated in training programs, social events and more. Among the list of events were: the regional Hall of Fame induction ceremony; the health and wellness fair (cosponsored by the American Cancer Society); the regional initiation ceremony; the C2C (College to Corporate Life) Career Fair and the 34th General President Candidates Forum. H

Time and Place Cmte.

Chairman Bobby Pierce, of Sigma Lambda Chapter in New Orleans, La., addresses the convention.

Left: Brothers from Pi Pi Lambda Chapter in Slidell, La., receive the regional Alumni Chapter of the Year Award.

Left: Miss Black and Gold winner Keturah Green (center) from Kappa Theta Chapter at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, La., poses with her court and Regional Vice President Roderick L. Smothers, Sr., (center) and Assistant Vice President Roger Sancho (far right).

MISS BLACK AND GOLD Keturah Green Kappa Theta Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, La. JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN COLLEGIATE SCHOLARS BOWL Delta Sigma Grambling State University Grambling, La. HOBART JARRETT DEBATE COMPETITION Kappa Kappa University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Ark.

Brothers from Delta Theta Chapter at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, celebrate winning the College Chapter of the Year Award at the 2012 regional convention in Little Rock, Ark.

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Western Region Honors Winners at Las Vegas Regional Convention

2012 WESTERN REGION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS COLLEGE BROTHER OF THE YEAR Jason Fuller Tau Sigma University of New Mexico Albuquerque, N.M. COLLEGE CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Gamma Xi University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, Calif.

ALUMNI BROTHER OF THE YEAR Dominique Beaumonté Zeta Beta Lambda Sacramento, Calif.

Brother LiQuan Hunt of Mu Chi Chapter at California State University (CSU) Long Beach and CSU, Dominguez Hills, addresses the regional convention after being elected the new regional assistant vice president.

Jason Fuller of Tau Sigma Chapter at the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, N.M., was honored as 2012 Western Region College Brother of the Year.

Dominique Beaumonté from Zeta Beta Lambda Chapter in Sacramento, Calif., displays his Western Region Alumni Brother of the Year Award.

ALUMNI CHAPTER OF THE YEAR Delta Tau Lambda Phoenix, Ariz.

BELFORD V. LAWSON ORATORICAL CONTEST Tyrone Cooper University of Nevada, Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nev. CHARLES H. WESLEY AWARD Gamma Phi Lambda and Alpha Epsilon University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, Calif.

STEP SHOW Alpha Epsilon University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, Calif.

JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN COLLEGIATE SCHOLARS BOWL Gamma Xi University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, Calif.

Brothers from Gamma Xi Chapter at University of California at Los Angeles celebrate their win as they receive the College Chapter of the Year Award from Western Regional Vice President Aaron Crutison Sr., at the Western Regional Convention in April in Las Vegas, Nev.

HOBART JARRETT DEBATE COMPETITION Kappa Kappa University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Ark.

Brothers from Delta Tau Lambda Chapter in Phoenix, Ariz., pose for the camera after winning the Alumni Chapter of the Year Award at the Western Regional Convention in Las Vegas, Nev. Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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chapte r new s

Phi Lambda Chapter brothers celebrate their 85th anniversary in Raleigh, N.C.

Phi Lambda Chapter Marks 85 Years in Raleigh, N.C. Phi Lambda Chapter celebrated its 85th anniversary with its Black and Old Gold Ball at the Raleigh Convention Center. The theme for the event was “Celebrating the Talented Tenth and Their Commitment to Advancing our Society through Knowledge and Achievement.”

Alpha Phi Alpha’s presence in Raleigh began in 1925, with a journey by nine men: Max W. Aiken, Brooks

Dickens, Everett W. Johnson, W. A. Robinson, C. G. Segar, Ben Taylor, Edward A. Cox, Harold L. Triggs and Reginald L. Lynch. These brothers successfully petitioned the fraternity and 12th General President Raymond Cannon to establish a chapter in Raleigh.

Authorization for a chapter was granted at the 18th General Convention, and later the next year the chapter was chartered on Dec. 19, 1926. H

ALPHA IOTA LAMBDA Charleston, W.Va.

University (WVSU), delivered a captivating lecture about the Tuskegee Airmen and their connection to WVSU.

Ladies of Beta Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority also served as chaperones at the event. H

Understanding that if you don’t know your history, navigating the future can prove difficult, the brothers of Alpha Iota Lambda Chapter in Charleston, W.Va., hosted local students at a movie theater to learn about the Tuskegee Airmen. With the release of the hit motion picture “Red Tails” in February 2012, Alpha members used the excitement around the film to make it a teaching moment.

The event, led by Brother T. Ramon Stuart, included food, prizes and the opportunity to watch the film that brought the story of African-American fighter pilots to the big screen. More than 250 youngsters attended.

Brother Charles Ledbetter, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and professor emeritus at West Virginia State

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Brother Charles Ledbetter (standing, far right) addresses students in Charleston, W.Va.

chapter ne w s

MU LAMBDA Washington, D.C. Brothers in THE NATION’S capital held a formal gala to culminate its 17th Annual Henry Arthur Callis Beautillion Scholarship Academy in April. The Academy is a six-month program for African-American male high school seniors. The teens are involved in social and academic programs to enrich their high school experience and prepare them for college. Each beau was

mentored by a brother from Mu Lambda and Beta Chapter, seated at Howard University (HU) in Washington, D.C.

The chapter presented 10 beaus, highlighting their academic and social training, at the black-tie event. It was held on the HU campus. Attendees included Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray and Council Member Vincent Orange, a member of Mu Lambda Chapter. All of the young men who participated have been admitted to four-year universities. H

ALPHA PHI LAMBDA Norfolk, Va. MEMBERS OF Alpha Phi Lambda Chapter in Norfolk, Va., held an audience with former Virginian-Pilot newspaper president and publisher Maurice A. Jones at their annual Youth Inspirational Breakfast in March.

The purpose of the breakfast is to expose African-American high school young men to the career opportunities available to them. The chapter has worked hard to ensure that these teenagers not limit their goals to athletics and entertainment, and Jones’ appearance continued that thrust.

Jones shared the story of his upbringing and education with the young men assembled. When he was named publisher of the Pilot (Virginia’s largest daily paper) he became its first ever African-American chief executive.

He has since been appointed deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development by President Barack Obama. H

Mu Lambda Chapter’s Beaus on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Alpha Gamma Lambda Celebrates Its 85th Anniversary The brothers of Alpha Gamma Lambda Chapter in New York, the oldest alumni chapter in the state of New York, brought together family, friends and brothers from far and wide to celebrate their 85th anniversary. With the theme “Alpha’s Greatest Legacy,” the brothers hosted a memorable black-tie affair.

A host of dignitaries were in attendance, including New York Congressman Brother Charles B. Rangel and former New York Mayor Brother David Dinkins. Chapter brothers were introduced, and then all brothers in attendance joined in the singing of the Alpha Phi Alpha Hymn to formally end the program. A night of Brothers sing the hymn at Alpha Gamma Lambda’s anniversary program. festive dancing followed. H Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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Lifting Spirits of Sick Children

BETA OMICRON LAMBDA Mobile, Ala. Members of Beta Omicron Lambda Chapter in Mobile, Ala., recently presented toys to children suffering from sickle cell. Pictured above, from left: Nichelle Williams, executive director of the Mobile chapter of Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (SCDAA); Brothers Herb Jordan, Terry Hazzard, Clifton Bates, Ronnie Williams and Charles Johnson. H

KAPPA UPSLION LAMBDA Mid-Hudson Valley, N.Y. In Newburgh, N.Y., in April, members of Kappa Upsilon Lambda Chapter in Mid-Hudson Valley, N.Y., made a pilgrimage to honor Brother the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Brothers gathered at a memorial bust located at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Colden Street, for their first group photo of members who reside in the state’s Mid-Hudson Valley.

The gathering concluded with brunch at Elvedge Restaurant, where more brothers and guests from surrounding chapters joined the fellowship. Brother George Bowles delivered the keynote address. In his remarks, he spoke on how Alpha service is needed in Newburgh and the importance to “get back to the basics.”

Chapter President Shawn Cheatham noted that the gathering was long overdue and the events provided Alpha men in the area a chance to get reacquainted.

Brother Merlon Pinnock organized the Kappa Upsilon Chapter brothers gather at the bust event. H of Brother Martin Luther King Jr.

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ETA EPSILON LAMBDA Monrovia, Liberia In March, members of Eta Epsilon Lambda Chapter in Monrovia, Liberia, presented a check for $7,500 to the Liberia Educational Trust. The contribution provides educational assistance to 80 young girls. The chapter also launched a mentoring program for young boys at the Monrovia Y.M.C.A. Chapter President T. Nelson Williams said that brothers in the chapter are excelling in true Alpha fashion.

Brother Williams was reappointed managing director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company by Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Williams will also continue to serve as chief patron of the Oilers Sports Association (OSA) and as secretary to its board of directors.

Olu Menjay was appointed chairman of the board at the Liberia Telecommunications Authority. Brother Menjay was also the youngest to be elected president of the Liberia Baptist Convention. This 2012 achievement comes after he was elected vice president of the Baptist World Alliance in 2011.

Henrique Tokpa was appointed a member on the board of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company. Brother Tokpa is the chapter’s director of educational activities and is president of Cuttington University.

Brother Emmanuel Bowier was also appointed to serve on the board of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company.

Sebastien Muah was reappointed deputy minister for finance and planning. He is vice president of Eta Epsilon Lambda. H

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ETA MU LAMBDA Gastonia, N.C.

From left: Brothers Jerome Miller; Thurgood Marshall Award of Merit winner Gerald P. Richard II; and Marquis Scott, president of Delta Tau Lambda Chapter at the award ceremony.

DELTA TAU LAMBDA Phoenix, Ariz.

The light of Alpha shined bright throughout the Valley of the Sun in late September. That month brothers of Delta Tau Lambda Chapter and the Sphinx Educational Fund raised $20,000 for scholarships at the Ninth Annual Thurgood Marshall College Fund Brunch in Phoenix, Ariz.

More than 300 guests attended the event, including Western Regional Vice President Aaron Crutison Sr. Each year, the event honors the legacy of the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Brother Thurgood Marshall.

Brother Gerald P. Richard II received the Thurgood Marshall Award of Merit for his service and advocacy to the Phoenix community. The funds raised will provide scholarships to college-bound youth in Maricopa County, Ariz., and around the country. H

Brothers in Gastonia, N.C., are helping to give young people a second chance. The chapter conducts discussions with and mentors youngsters through its 2nd Chance and Former Offenders program.

As seen in the photo below, Alpha men spoke to more than 100 former offenders at the Goodwill Job Connection in Gastonia. Brothers tied the session to the annual Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Chapter Chaplain Charles Wesley Reid said, “Brother King was all about second chances, and we must be, too.”

King himself was arrested many times while fighting for civil rights.

Reid says many with a criminal background regret what happened, and in a tough job market like now it’s especially important to show them the way to better themselves so offenders don’t become repeat offenders. H

Members of Eta Mu Lambda Chapter encouraging offenders not to repeat in Gastonia, N.C.

Iota Pi Lambda Raises Awareness, Funds for Worthy Causes

Brother Chris Stevenson (left), Christian Archer (center) and Christian’s father (right) at the Miami-Dade NPHC awards luncheon.

FOR THE BROTHERS of Iota Pi Lambda Chapter in Miami, Fla., putting their money where their mouths are doesn’t seem to be a problem.

In May, the chapter rallied to raise funds and took to the track for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. For more than 20 hours, the brothers, their family members and friends, and members of the community walked, ran and jogged to raise awareness and funds to support

cancer research. The chapter raised and donated more than $1,000.

Also, in June, the chapter and the Miami-Dade chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council awarded local high school student Christian Archer with the High School Male Scholarship Award. Christian, a recent graduate of Maritime and Science Technology Academy, received a $1,500 scholarship to help cover his expenses at the University of Florida. H Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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RHO XI LAMBDA Canton, Miss.

Above: Rho Xi Lambda Chapter brothers from Canton, Miss., and Alpha Epsilon Lambda Chapter brothers from Jackson, Miss., get ready to “march for babies.”

Brothers Travis Parks and Antuwan Shade lead hundreds of participants along the three-mile March for Babies route in downtown Jackson, Miss.

PI OMICRON Texas A&M University College Station, Texas

The brothers of Rho Xi Lambda in Canton, Miss., raised approximately $5,000 in support of the 2012 March of Dimes Jackson Metro Area March for Babies. Walking in downtown Jackson, brothers were able to nearly double the amount the chapter provided during the 2011 fundraising drive.

“This year we decided to be a little more creative than just relying on online donations from friends and family,” said Brother Michael Gater, chairman of the chapter’s March for Babies Committee. “We canvassed in the Canton Square, which netted us approximately $1,000.

We also introduced a raffle this year, which raised about $500, and we held a yard sale.”

The increase in funds didn’t go unnoticed by the March of Dimes.

“The Alphas have really doubled their efforts this past year, and that’s critical to everything we’re trying to do here in Mississippi,” said Dina Ray, March of Dimes Mississippi state director. H education program. Not only did the brothers achieve their goal but also the event provided another opportunity for alumni brothers and college brothers to work together more closely as they serve the community. H

PI ALPHA LAMBDA College Station, Texas

forms to those who wanted to register at a later time. The daylong event was part of the chapter’s participation in the 2012 “First of All... We Vote” campaign, a modified version of the fraternity’s longstanding “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People” voter-

As the 2012 General Election approached, college and alumni brothers in College Station, Texas, united to make sure everyone who was eligible to vote was registered to vote.

In September, the brothers of Pi Alpha Lambda Chapter and Pi Omicron Chapter held a voterregistration drive at the local Walmart store in Bryan, Texas. Several brothers were deputized as Brazos County voter registrars and provided onsite registration for patrons who indicated they were not registered. Additionally, brothers distributed voter-registration

Members of Pi Alpha Lambda and Pi Omicron Chapters prepare to register citizens to vote in Bryan, Texas.

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Marietta, Georgia Alpha Men Ask: Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

OML Chapter Puts Newest National Program into Action on Local Level

By Arthur D. Vaughn

On a brisk Saturday afternoon in September, in a northwest Atlanta suburb, the Rev. Randolph Scott only had to look out at his front yard to witness once again what fraternity really means.

Scott, 83, a retired minister who joined Alpha at Omicron Mu Lambda Chapter in Marietta, Ga., on Jan. 17, 1987, was the recipient of the chapter’s first official “A. Charles Haston Brother’s Keeper Program” project.

Members of OML and Tau Zeta Chapter at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga., spent the better part of the day raking leaves, planting flowers, cleaning gutters and performing other tasks at Brother Scott’s home.

Scott, a past chapter president and now a senior Alpha, is a much beloved member, who has given a lifetime of service to the fraternity and the greater Cobb County, Ga., community. Before retiring, he spent years as assistant pastor of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

“I am so blessed and so thankful that the brothers have kept me and my family in their thoughts,” says Scott. “When you get to be my age, often people forget about you.”

“However, these brothers have not forgotten me, and we were pleasantly surprised, yet then again, not too much; since I know this is what Alpha men do, we are servants of all,” says Scott.

The Brother’s Keeper program is a service initiative in which brothers advocate forand improve the quality of life of senior Alpha brothers, their spouses, widows and other

Alpha brothers from Omicron Mu Lambda Chapter and Tau Zeta Chapter visit with senior Alpha Brother Randolph Scott and his wife (center) at their Cobb County, Ga., home in September.

brothers who are ailing or have disabilities.

The program was developed in the fraternity’s Southwestern Region and recently made a national program.

Locally in Cobb County, it is co-chaired by Brothers Arthur D. Vaughn, Vincent Brown and Sims Gordon Jr. “This is exactly what the program was designed to do,” says Brother Roderick L. Smothers, Sr., the fraternity’s Southwestern regional vice president. “When we urged the fraternity to adopt this as a national program, we knew that it would have an impact in every community Alpha serves in the U.S. and around the world.” H

PI GAMMA LAMBDA Fort McPherson, Ga.

Pi Gamma Lambda Chapter brothers provide food and toys to families in need.

PI GAMMA LAMBDA Chapter continues proving that its members are “first of all, servants of all.” For nearly 10 years, the chapter has provided newly established families in metro Atlanta with their first Thanksgiving meals.

The effort is the brothers’ way to honor the families’ commitments to support children in search of a more stable family structure. Additionally, the brothers continue to volunteer in the community by helping families cope with the child-adoption process. Pi Gamma Lambda Chapter has also assisted the Southwest Ecumenical Emergency Assistance Center’s “Our Food Pantry” program by providing food, toys and books to more than 300 families. H Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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RHO KAPPA LAMBDA Duluth, Ga. In AN Atlanta northeastern suburb, Alpha members at Rho Kappa Lambda Chapter held their second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast. The event serves as an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of service of Brother King as well as other pioneering African Americans.

The brothers recognized some of the best corporate and community groups, focusing on increasing diversity within the Rho Kappa Lambda Chapter brothers celebrate during their second annual community. The chapter also used the Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast. event as another opportunity to raise funds for the chapter’s education foundation. H

Members of Sigma Gamma Lambda Chapter and Southwestern Regional Vice President Roderick L. Smothers, Sr. (center) during the chartering celebration.

SIGMA GAMMMA LAMBDA Katy/Cypress, Texas Brothers at Sigma Gamma Lambda Chapter held their chartering ceremony in April. Chapter President Cecil Dorsett accepted the charter from Southwestern Regional Vice President Roderick L. Smothers, Sr. on behalf of the charter’s 21 members.

During the ceremony, the brothers honored the lineage of fraternity by recognizing the Seven Jewels and the Texas Council of Alpha Chapters (TCAC).

38 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

In 2010, brothers from the TCAC saw the need to expand Alpha into the westward section of Houston.

The vision gave birth to SGL, which was chartered on January 30, 2012. The chapter has brothers representing various industries, including oil and gas, education, engineering, health care, information technology, real estate and finance.

The event was supported by brothers from several local chapters, including Epsilon Tau Lambda in Prairie View; Alpha Eta Lambda in Houston; Xi Eta Lambda in The Woodlands and Xi Kappa Lambda in Missouri City. H

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brother s on the m ove MARK BROWN When members of the U.S. armed forces go on leave from the world’s battlefields, they usually are taken care of by Brother Mark Brown in the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta, Ga. Brown, a U.S. Army soldier, was recently promoted to lieutenant colonel at his post at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. In his job, he supports getting more than 270,000 Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen to their destinations while on rest and relaxation (R&R) leave from Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

All members of the Armed Forces returning from R&R travel through Hartsfield-Jackson.

Brown earned his commission in the Army at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. He is a member of Pi Gamma Lambda Chapter in Atlanta, Ga. ROBERT FERRELL Two-star U.S. Army General Brother Robert Ferrell was recently named commanding general of the Army’s CommunicationsElectronics Command (CECOM), located at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

Maj. Gen. Ferrell now leads a worldwide organization of more than 11,000 military and civilian personnel who coordinate, integrate and

Alpha man, 27, is one of youngest principals in Louisiana history Brother Christopher Jackson was recently named principal of Gibsland-Coleman High School in Gibsland, La. His appointment, at the age of 27, makes him the youngest in the Bienville Parish school system’s history, Jackson, initiated in 2004 at Delta Sigma Chapter at Grambling State University (GSU), is currently a member of Epsilon Kappa Lambda Chapter in Grambling, La. He graduated from GSU with degrees in sociology and history and subsequently earned a Master of Arts in History degree and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La. Jackson has earned many honors in his career as an educator. In his first year of teaching, he was named Rookie of the Year. He has subsequently earned two Teacher-of-the-Year awards and has received the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

40 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

synchronize the entire lifecycle management of the C4ISR (command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems for all of the Army’s battlefield mission areas. Previously he was the C4 director and chief information officer at the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) in Stuttgart, Germany.

Initiated in 1982, at Gamma Iota Chapter at Hampton University in Hampton, Va., Ferrell was a member of Theta Theta Lambda Chapter while stationed in Germany.

MICHAEL GATER Initiated in 2011 at Rho Xi Lambda Chapter in Canton, Miss.,

Brother Michael Gater has been promoted to senior director of human resources at Comcast.

In his new role, Gater is responsible for influencing, aligning and leveraging the talent of his team to partner with business leaders to continuously improve performance of the company’s call centers in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

He collaborates with the leadership of these business units to ensure that a superior customer experience is delivered, using a consultative approach offering balanced, practical and effective solutions that have a positive impact for employees, customers and the business.

Teaching American History Fellowship. He also was awarded the Horace Mann Abraham Lincoln Fellowship. Jackson said his ultimate career ambition is to become superintendent of a large urban school system.

His service does not end Brother Christopher Jackson when he steps off the school campus. Since his initiation, Jackson has diligently served the fraternity. He was a three-term chapter president while in college. After graduation, he quickly affiliated himself with the Epsilon Kappa Lambda alumni chapter and has served as associate editor to The Sphinx, historian and advisor to the Delta Sigma and Eta Kappa (Louisiana Tech University) Chapters, among other leadership roles. H

brother s on the m ove

James Williams recognized for leadership in cancer control efforts Retired U.S. Army Col. James E. Williams Jr., was recently honored with the Susan Matsuko Shinagawa LIVESTRONG Cancer Control Leadership Award by the Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC) and the LIVESTRONG Foundation.

The presentation was made at a June awards luncheon held in conjunction with the ICC’s 25th Anniversary Biennial Symposium on Minorities, the Medically Underserved and Health Equity in Houston, Texas.

The award recognizes Williams’ role as a 20-year prostate cancer survivor, advocate and national leader in prostate cancer control for men in communities of color and poverty, particularly among GRAHAM JONES Continuing in a long tradition of leadership at his chapter and school, Brother Graham Jones was recently named an assistant to the executive director of the fraternity’s Michigan District.

Initiated at Pi Upsilon Chapter at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Jones is an accounting and economics senior. He has made the Dean’s List every year.

He also was elected chapter president for this school year and played a pivotal role in creating an alumni association of

African-American men. It also honors his unique role as the only elected ICC chair to serve a three-year term, presiding over the organization’s major transition from a large 75-member governing board to a leaner and more nimble 15-member body.

Williams was initiated in 1956 at Psi Chapter at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa. Currently, he is a member of Zeta Theta Lambda Chapter in Harrisburg, Pa. He credits his wife Lois for the early detection of his prostate cancerby insisting that he schedule a physical with their family physician.

Although he was accustomed to annual physicals throughout his military service, a visit with the

former chapter members to support the college chapter.

NEHEMIAH STEPHENS Initiated at Kappa Kappa Chapter at the University of Arkansas in 2009, Brother Nehemiah Stephens was recently admitted to the Edison Engineering Development Program at GE Healthcare in Milwaukee, Wis. After he graduates in May 2013, he will be a part of the team developing diagnostic healthcare systems, including Computerized Tomography (CT) scanners, Positron Emission Tomography

doctor in 1991 revealed elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels—nearly three times normal.

“My wife saved my life,” Williams says. H

Brother James Williams, the 2012 Susan Matsuko Shinagawa LIVESTRONG Cancer Control Leadership Award honoree, and his wife Lois celebrate.

(PET) scanners and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning systems.

Stephens, a mechanical engineering major at U of A has also been a key leader in Alpha Phi Alpha.

In 2012, he was reelected to a second term as assistant district director of the Arkansas District.

JICE STOKES JR. A proud member of Gamma Zeta Lambda Chapter in Tampa, Fla., Brother Jice Stokes, senior employee relations manager for Coca-Cola Refreshments, recently

earned his certification as a global professional in human resources (GPHR).

The GPHR certification signifies that he possesses the theoretical knowledge and practical experience in international human resource management necessary to demonstrate a mastery of the field.

In 2008, Brother Stokes earned the senior professional in human resources (SPHR) designation. Currently, he leads a team of 56 HR professionals that handle employee relations in the U.S. and Canada.

Stokes was initiated in 1988 at Mu Alpha Chapter at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. H

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7

QUESTIONS

The Sphinx Interview

Andrew Young, initiated at Beta Chapter at Howard University, in Washington D.C., served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the administration of President Jimmy Carter and is a former congressman and mayor of Atlanta, Ga.

What does a second Obama term mean

Let’s talk about Palestine and the Middle

for America and the World?

East. When you were ambassador, you kept lines of communication open with all

Hope for the world. President Obama is the

sides. Now that the Palestinians have won

only global leader who seems to have the

observer status in the UN, what do you

intellectual capacity and political sophistication

think that means for Palestinians, Israel

to bring order to the chaos in the global

and the United States? Do you think this is

economy. The world is in a mess, where most

a topic that African Americans care little

people have focused on their own little piece

about, don’t know enough about and why?

of it. Of all the leaders, he was born for this. He has the DNA of Africa, America and Asia running through his life cycle. He’s

There really is not much different than before. The Palestinians had

comfortable with it; most people look at the world and panic. I think

plenty of power when I was at the UN because they enjoyed respect

he has confidence in his experience and has the intellectual capacity

of most nations back then. It was the violence launched later that

to try to make order out of the chaos.

cost them their moral status. The problem is that it’s too complex for most people to comprehend; there are no easy answers.

How tough is it being the ambassador to the UN?

Ambassador Susan Rice was considered by most as the

really an economic problem. Palestinians want food, they want

first choice to be the next secretary of state but did not

shelter, and Israelis want security. If someone offered clean water for

get the nomination. With her résumé, shouldn’t she have

Palestinians to grow food, that would do more for peace than any

been promoted?

political negotiations could ever do.

Most people keep looking at it as a political problem, but it’s

An example: the Arab spring started because of a Tunisian

That’s the president’s decision. There is no such thing as automatic

peddler wanting a license for his push cart. He said, “I just want to

promotion in today’s world. Susan is brilliant, and I think she has

work,” then he poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire

a creative mind and the capacity to work with the president on

in protest. People took out their cell phone cameras, and it was on

making sense of the world. But I think it was the bureaucracy more

YouTube in an hour. That protest and demand for jobs went all over

than the Senate that worked against her. The State Department is a

the Middle East. We in America turned it into a cry for democracy. No

very conservative, “cover your ass” bureaucracy.

one wants democracy, they want work.

I found I could influence policy as much from the UN as I

Look at the fiscal cliff situation: People who have made money

could have as secretary of state. The State Department was not

on the American government’s military and technical prowess are not

interested in the Panama Canal or Southern Africa. I went around

reinvesting that money in the world. They’re hiding it so it cannot be

State and dealt with the White House directly. Positions are always

taxed. After World War II, people reinvested in Japan and Europe.

overrated. Positions don’t create power; policy and brains generate

We stabilized the world, because all of the money made in the war

power. Susan Rice will generate power wherever she is. Remember,

was used to build the post-war economy. Now, you look at companies

they screwed Colin Powell at the State Department.

like Halliburton, which made $6 billion a month for 9 years in Iraq,

42 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

and when they were asked about their investments, they closed down

importance of the world view because we have a foot in several places.

their American operations in Houston, Texas, and moved to Dubai.

As a black American you grow up in three worlds: your family, your

Estimates are that about $21 trillion was taken out of the economy

neighborhood and the streets, and the white world. We grow up in this

from the war and now is being hidden in tax savings shelters. That’s

fashion very early--even before we get to the first grade really, and on to

three times the Chinese economy.

college life. We are used to the setbacks presented in the world.

As for voter suppression, they just have to fight, which is what

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and it still is a

they did in this last General Election. I believe the publicity about the

fragile state with enormous resources. Are you worried that

suppression motivated people to vote. If people think that something is

we could see an Arab Spring in places like Nigeria and other

being taken, they will fight for it. I believe the suppression is very real; we

African countries, and what will that mean for America?

live in a time when some white people are threatened because they are outnumbered by nonwhites.

It’s already going on, just not en masse. It’s piecemeal. Nigeria does have a working democracy. It’s manageable. Nigeria turns out a

What do Alpha Phi Alpha men, and the fraternity in general,

million collegians a year, many who are educated in the United States.

have to do in the future? What is the chief concern that Alpha

When they go back home, with their degrees and their money, they

and similar groups should be zeroing in on right now?

invest. Seven of the 10 fastest growing countries are on the African continent. The largest middle

We should be focusing on

class in 2030 will be on the

understanding the world in

African continent. They

our time. We have 10,000 folks

are growing faster than

going to law school but only had

the BRICS (Brazil, Russia,

about 10 Ph.D’s in economics

India, China and South

come out of school last year.

Africa) countries. While

African Americans are still living

Nigeria and South Africa are

and thinking in the Thurgood

overcrowded, most of Africa Brothers Andrew Young and Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights era. has plenty of room to grow.

Marshall era, but we need to

The key for Africans is they must develop their own countries.

be looking at this new era of

technology and science. We need to steer our children into engineering, economics and technology. They should travel the world, learn other

Why is it important that black Americans know and care

languages and work at becoming world citizens. You’ve heard the

about what’s happening in Africa, the Middle East and other

saying, it’s “silver rights.” That is what we need to be fighting for.

places? Many are still just trying to survive in America after all the years of struggle. For example, voter suppression.

What keeps you so “young” and vibrant? You are one of the last

How serious is voter suppression a threat to freedoms

lieutenants of Martin Luther King Jr., and you just keep on going.

fought and died for? And what do victims of it have to do to ensure they don’t lose their right to the ballot?

So many of my friends gave their lives for us. I could have been, maybe should have been, killed a long time go. But, I’ve been kept

We have to know more about the world. Too many scholars here are

alive for a purpose, and I keep looking for it. In the days ahead, I

writing about local issues; but we live in a world where economics are

plan to work to help historically black colleges and universities. I

global. People who understand global economies are going to make

think HBCUs are unique. I went to Howard University and my

the money. We need to know people who are leaders of business in

family has ties of course to Dillard University in New Orleans, so

places like Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

for me I believe we must continue our support of these very special

institutions, even as people want to migrate them out of existence in

Many of us don’t understand the nature of the global economy.

Of all the people on the planet, African Americans should realize the

larger universities. H Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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Life &Leisure

Brother Judson Todd Allen in the kitchen.

Eating Healthy Can Save Your Life and Kick-Start Your Career Chef to the Stars Judson Todd Allen is Living Proof

By Richard Butler

Judson Todd Allen, a 2001 initiate from Allen lost more than 100 pounds, dispelling Tau Chapter at the University of Illinois the myth that healthy food is boring and Urbana-Champaign, is on a mission to get unpalatable. people to think outside-of-the-box when Allen established Healthy Infused Cuisine, it comes to all things food and flavor—and LLC in 2007 to offer healthier upscale meal eating healthy. delivery, as well as personal chef and cuisine Brother Allen, the self-proclaimed services. His goal is to transform the way “Architect of Flavor,” brings the concept of people think and feel about healthy cuisine. life, creativity and flavor to healthier cuisine Enthusiastically serving as personal chef and shares it with others. to some of Chicago’s most elite, as well as A native of Chicago, Allen realized early in offering cuisine services to powerhouse life his passion for preparing exquisite cuisine. organizations, he operates with a spirit of This love for food led him to earn a degree in humility, excellence and professionalism. food science and human nutrition. However, he Allen aspires to bring his personality and experienced a significant 70-plus pound weight love for food to television. Recently, he was a gain during his college years. After graduation, finalist on the Food Network’s hit show ‘The Judson Todd Allen’s first product, hot Allen decided to apply his advanced knowledge Next Food Network Star,’ and a semi-finalist sauce that’s “Less Hot in food science and nutrition and thus began his on ‘Your OWN Show,’ a show competition with More Flavor.” personal journey of adopting a healthy lifestyle. program on the OWN cable network.

He created recipes that highlighted his favorite foods, It took three years of auditioning for ‘The Next Food infusing them with a healthier twist, all while providing a Network Star,’ before he became a season eight Finalist new and exciting eating experience. Over a two-year period, in 2012. Finalists were handpicked by the show mentors

44 THE SPHINX H Summer/Fall 2012

Alton Brown, Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis. Allen was chosen by Alton Brown himself, the “Mr. Wizard” of food.

Allen started off the season with a bang, leading the pack in the first episode, and he made it to the fifth of the 10 episodes.

“While I did not win the entire competition, the natural exposure and opportunity to share my weight-loss story was priceless,” says Allen. “The Food Network was a stepping stone for the plethora of great things in store for me.”

Most recently, he debuted his own live cooking show platform at Kenmore Live Studios in Chicago, which peaked as the highest viewed show in Kenmore history. He also is personal executive chef for Steve Harvey in addition to serving as the culinary contributor to the ‘Steve Harvey’ syndicated talk show.

He also has partnered with the National Restaurant Association and McCormick for the Kids Recipe Challenge, which offers fun and creative ways to showcase healthy menu options when dining out.

And, what chef doesn’t have his or her own line of food products?

As the “Architect of Flavor” Allen has introduced his first product. It’s a Signature Chef Blend All-Natural All-Purpose Habanero Hot Sauce offering “Less Hot with More Flavor.” H Allen is negotiating with national grocery chains to have his product placed on shelves in stores across the United States, but in the meantime, it is available online worldwide at his website: www.judsontoddallen.com.

Spice Up Your Life: Cooking With Sells

Creole cooking, a part of Louisiana heritage, is an art. It originated when the wives of the early French settlers could not find the ingredients to which they were accustomed. The Spanish put their mark on it and the Negroes added their exotic African touch.

The late 29th General President Nominee and Past Midwestern Regional Vice President Halloway “Chuck” Sells and Rose Sells wished to introduce Alpha families to their culinary heritage and dared others to venture into the world of Creole cuisine. Here are three of their recipes.

CREOLE JAMBALAYA

RED BEANS A LA CREOLE (Serves 6) 2 c. dried red beans 2 onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped ham bone Salt and pepper Soak beans in water overnight. Drain and cover beans with about 1 1/2 quarts cold water. Add ham bone, onions and garlic. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper. For creamy beans, mash several spoonfuls of the cooked beans and stir thoroughly into remaining mixture.

(Serves 6) LAGNIAPPE – a little something extra!

1 lb. headless, raw shrimp 1 T. shortening 1 T. flour 1/4 c. minced green pepper 1 bay leaf 1 sprig of thyme 1 sprig of parsley, minced 1 onion, sliced 2 c. tomatoes 1 1/4 c. tomato juice 1 c. uncooked rice Salt and pepper Peel, de-vein and wash shrimp. Melt shortening in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in next three ingredients. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients except rice. Bring to boil.

Press rice into liquid. Cover and simmer at 200 degrees for 40 minutes.

PECAN PRALINES (Makes 12) 1 c. brown sugar 1 c. white sugar 1/2 c. light cream 2 T. butter 1 c. pecan halves Dissolve sugars in cream and boil to the thread test (228 degrees). Cool; beat until somewhat thickened but not until it loses its gloss. Drop by tablespoonful onto a greased marble slab or double thickness of waxed paper.

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arts and cultur e

compact disc

Have You Been to the Race Track Lately? Pope’s New SpokenWord CD Puts Every Listener in the Winner Circle of Knowledge The Race Track: An Anthology of the African American Narrative… Then and Now!

BY DERRICK ALEXANDER POPE Spoken word, 12 tracks There is more to the “I wanted this African-American narrative CD to have an than can be contained in a intergenerational mere 28 days, or 29 during appeal,” says Pope. leap year. February may be “I wanted to get the time to celebrate black history, but it took a whole young people curious year (and several hundred about our story, and years) to create that story.

I wanted the rest Enter ‘The Race Track: of us to get serious An Anthology of the African American Narrative… Then about building on and Now!’ from Brother that story.”

Derrick Alexander Pope. This new spoken-word project is a collection of black history and cultural commentary set to original neo-soul, jazz and a dash of hip hop.

Pope brilliantly depicts the history and mystery of African-American people by using the imagery of “the sport of kings.” He takes 13 concepts familiar to American and African-American life, turns them into “horses” and runs the “393rd Equality Derby” keeping the listener challenged and entertained from the starting gate on through the dash toward the “Yes, We Can” finish line. The sound effects of an actual race like the Kentucky Derby or Preakness make you feel you are right there in the grandstand.

In between the action on the track, Pope pays tribute to Fannie Lou Hamer and other unsung women— expertly assisted by his 11-year-old daughter, Sydney.

He explores the origin of the phrase “40 acres and a mule,” highlights the events that led to the failures of Reconstruction and takes a fresh new look at the use, misuse—and a little known use—of the “N-word.”

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“I wanted this CD to have an intergenerational appeal,” says Pope. “I wanted to get young people curious about our story, and I wanted the rest of us to get serious about building on that story.”

Anyone who listens to this CD will agree that Pope succeeds at his goal and leaves the listener wanting to know more about American history and the African experience in that history.

The CD has 12 tracks and is produced by Derrick Alexander Pope for DA Pope Properties and Joseph Cunningham for Cunningham Enterprises and is available at www.onesheet.com/theracetrack.

arts and cultur e

POEM

Sojourner’s Truth: A Descant To The Negro In America

By Victor Kakulu Oh, say, can’t you see, by the brown Indian’s plight?

Generations derailed, as the valiant died screaming.

Genocide by the sword, in the name of the Lord.

And the vampires gorged, on the flesh of young seedlings.

But the prophets said, “Fear--not, the day shall appear, When the murderer’s reign, will have ceased once again.”

Oh say, does the blood of the innocent stain-O’er the land of the thief and the home of the slave?

On the eyes it would seem, this was all but a dream But broken-winged birds still fly, on the winds that life brings When I think of the people who suffered before me Little black boys and girls, who died sullied and stolen Though the caged bird can’t fly, it will cry, pray and sing Toward the day when all life shall remember the king

Oh say, does the Blood of the innocent stain-O’er the land of the thief and the home of the slave?

Where are those that would call ugliness by its name?

Who will stand up for freedom and justice the same?

When the long day has gone, and the cold night done came Who’ll remember to sing of the sufferer’s pain?

In the valley of dark, in the shadow of death Will your light be my compass? Will you love me no less?

Oh say, does the blood of the innocent stain-O’er the land of the thief and the home of the slave?

Do you remember that day? Do you remember that night?

When the heavens and earth joined as one for your life?

There was blood, there was war. There was life, there was death.

All the ancestors gathered to pray forth your blessing.

There’s a portion of triumph that’s yours all alone Victory is your name so remember your throne Oh say, does the blood of the innocent stain-O’er the land of the thief and the home of the slave?

Victor Kakulu, inititated at Nu Chapter at Lincoln University in Lincoln, Pa., in 2006, is associate editor to The Sphinx at Epsilon Gamma Lambda Chapter in Boston, Mass.

book When Bull Elephants Fight: An American Surgeon’s Chronicle of Congo

BY ROGER L. YOUMANS, M.D. Word Association, Paperback, 298 pages “When bull elephants fight, the grass gets trampled,” so says an African proverb. So why would a young American doctor abruptly give up a comfortable life in Kansas in order to work in Congo—not once but twice?

In 1961, that’s what Alpha Brother Roger Youmans did, taking his wife and two young daughters with him to work in a country whose people had suffered terribly as a result of tribal warfare and general political upheaval. Congo at that time had no trained physicians and most of the foreign doctors had fled the country. The medical system had collapsed, and the Congolese people were battling malaria, smallpox and starvation.

In When Bull Elephants Fight: An American Surgeon’s Chronicle of Congo, Youmans tells the story of how he was drawn to the country precisely because of its overwhelming needs. He spoke only the most rudimentary French and considered himself totally unprepared for the problems he would soon face on the wards of the mission hospital to which he had been assigned. But slowly and often with amusing results, he and his family began to adjust

to life in Congo.

In this celebrated book, the reader will find both a vivid account of Youmans’ medical experiences and an honest and deeply personal description of an American family’s struggle to embrace a vastly different culture. Eventually, Youmans would venture deeper into the heart of Congo where there were no medical facilities. This experience would bring him in direct contact with Mobutu, the charismatic president who fostered the idea of “authenticity” for the country (which he renamed Zaire) but whose motives and tactics were often questionable. In the course of working on Mobutu’s riverboat hospital, Youmans gives us a fascinating glimpse of this powerful dictator.

A master storyteller, Youmans writes with warmth and compassion about the Congolese people, who have for so long been trampled like the grass whenever the “bull elephants”—the tribal warlords and ruthless politicians—begin to fight. His story will make you want to figure out how you can reach out to those in need and begin to make a difference in this world.

His lifelong work was honored in 2009 when his fellow Alpha Phi Alpha members bestowed its highest honor upon him, the Alpha Phi Alpha Award of Merit.

Readers can find When Bull Elephants Fight everywhere books are sold.

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O M E G A : Chapter of Sweet Rest

Walter L. Gordon Jr. Blazed Many Trails in his 103 Years

Walter L. Gordon in his early in his legal career in Los Angeles.

This vintage photograph is part of the special digital collection at the UCLA Library in Los Angeles.

Brother Walter L. Gordon Jr., at 101, addressing the Life Membership Luncheon at Beta Psi Lambda Chapter on April 4, 2009, in Los Angeles, Calif. Photo by Jason Douglas Lewis.

O

n April 16, 2012, Alpha Phi Alpha lost its oldest member when Brother Walter L. Gordon Jr. died at the California Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Gordon’s legal career is legendary, especially in the Western U.S., where he fought segregation and discrimination most of his adult life. He also was a pioneer and mentor for scores of African Americans who wanted to pursue careers in the legal field.

Brother Gordon, who was last a member of Beta Psi Lambda Chapter in Los Angeles, was born in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 22, 1908.

He was the only child of Walter and Vertner Gordon. Gordon, Sr., worked

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for the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier, but his son had his eyes set on the law.

Having a dream of becoming an attorney, Gordon pursued his goal despite the obstacles in Los Angeles, where at the time blacks could not join the local bar association. He completed his law degree in the Midwest at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, in 1936.

With his law degree in hand, Gordon returned to Los Angeles, passed the bar and set up a oneperson law practice in an area where black people were allowed to live and work. Knowing that few white firms would take on black clients,

Gordon assertively pursued African Americans as clients. His clientele included black Hollywood celebrities, working-class black families and others in need of wise counsel. He kept his firm open for business on L.A.’s Central Avenue from 1937 until he retired in his early nineties.

“Brother Gordon was always an inspiration to everyone,” said Charles Loeb, president of Beta Psi Lambda Chapter. “Up until his last days with us, he was a spark unto us younger generations to keep on moving ahead in everything we do.”

Gordon was the father of three children. His fourth wife, Clara, whom he married in 1956, died in 2006. H

O M E G A : Chapter of Sweet Rest

Thomas W.S. Logan Sr. at 100 Left Legacy of Service and Advocacy M

any hearts were heavy throughout Alpha Phi Alpha when word spread that the Reverend Canon Brother Thomas W.S. Logan Sr. had entered Omega Chapter.

Many who knew him always said he was “100 years young” because he was so vibrant, jovial and was still driving upon his 100th birthday on March 19, 2012.

Born in 1912, Brother Logan had eight siblings and grew up in Philadelphia, Pa. He was a student and athlete at Lincoln University in Lincoln, Pa. He was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha at Alpha Omicron Chapter while attending Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C. He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a member of the clergy, and he attended seminary in New York. Over time he became a legendary cleric in Pennsylvania. He was the longest serving African-American priest in the Episcopal Church and was the founder of the African-American museum in Philadelphia. In 1945, he even merged two churches to create the first integrated congregation in Philadelphia.

Logan was a life member and former board member of the NAACP’s Philadelphia and Darby, Pa., chapters, and he worked with Brother Martin Luther King Jr. in organizational and fundraising efforts in Philadelphia to support civil rights strategies.

“Father Logan,” as he was affectionately called by some, will no longer be able to tell the tales about how life in Alpha was 80 years ago, when Alpha itself was still young.

“There will be no more words and stories about fighting the good civil-rights fight with Brother Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Brother Darrell Tiller, president of Rho (alumni) Chapter in Philadelphia, Logan’s last chapter of membership. “Now all we have are memories, and those are timeless.”

Logan remained an active brother of the fraternity until his last day. He was part of a group of senior Alphas who were honored at the fraternity’s 2011 General Convention in Chicago, Ill. Brother Logan is survived by his wife of 74 years, Hermione, and other relatives. His son, also a minister, Thomas Jr. died in 2011. H

In March 2012, two months before his death, Brother Logan pins young Alpha Brother Malcolm Newton, president of Nu Chapter at Lincoln University, during a ceremony in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Reverend Canon Brother Thomas W.S. Logan Sr. Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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NEONEWs

Three Rho Sigma Lambda neophyte brothers from different backgrounds became one in 2012. From left: Brothers Santana Flanigan, Aaron Johnson and Jordan Casson. Photo by Maria Flanigan.

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My Soul Looks Back to 2003

How a New York Boy Became an Alpha Man

By Jordan F. Casson

When I was 16 years old, I knew I wanted to be an Alpha man.

It was 2003, and I had just become the president of the youth and college division of the New York Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. No small feat for a teenager. At the time, I was the youngest person ever to serve in that capacity. My day-to-day work to eradicate racism, advocate for stronger educational programs and my commitment to address social and economic concerns affecting African-American youth in New York was the key to my victory.

When Alpha Phi Alpha members of the MidHudson Valley alumni chapter, Kappa Upsilon Lambda, heard of my victory and learned of my accomplishments, they reached out to me and asked if they could host my first news conference. They wanted to announce to the state of New York that I represented the paradigm of young men for which Alpha Phi Alpha was looking as future leaders of the 21st century.

It was at that news conference that the men of Kappa Upsilon Lambda Chapter planted a seed.

Then, a few years later when I was departing New York for Atlanta’s Morehouse College, the brothers challenged me to always remember Alpha Phi Alpha.

They said, “Remember that Alpha Phi Alpha is a brotherhood of excellence and through this excellence Alpha creates the paradigm and the gold standard for what men are and should be.” I remember those words like it was yesterday.

Since 2003, I waited for the moment in my life when I would be ready to join Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. In the spring of 2012, I finally was able to say I am Alpha; that I was among the brotherhood that’s “first of all, servants of all.”

However, I did not make this journey all by myself; I had two inspiring gentleman with me.

Santana Flanigan, known as “The Esquire,” Aaron

Johnson, known as “The Governor” and I as “The Messenger” were initiated at Rho Sigma Lambda Chapter in Henry County, Georgia, just south of Atlanta.

The week we were initiated, Brother Flanigan adopted a newborn baby, after receiving news the same day that his wife was four weeks pregnant.

He is now the father of a healthy baby boy and girl. Flanigan’s personality is that of a man who is sincere and authentic, a brother with whom all brothers feel safe and comfortable within his presence. Brother Johnson, the eldest of us, is an analytical man. He is a proud father of two sons and a daughter and the humble husband of a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. I have come to know him to be a “brother’s brother.”

He is deeply committed to his values and to accomplishing his goals.

The best way to pronounce who we are as a group of neophyte brothers is represented in our choice to introduce ourselves in our “Coming Out Show.” We adopted the traditional formal look by wearing tails, but in our tails we incorporated all of the calisthenics, steps and dance moves traditionally performed by college initiates. We were intentional in this because we believe that in order for the fraternity to continue to grow and prosper, a little of the old as well as the new is appropriate.

Now 25, I am the chaplain of my chapter. I also served as chairman of host-chapter activities at the recent Georgia District Conference. And, come spring 2013, I am slated to chair the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet. All this during my final year of pursuing my seminary degree at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. One thing I’ve learned as a neophyte: there is always something to do, some way to lend a hand in Alpha Phi Alpha and in the communities in which we are so privileged to serve. H Summer/Fall 2012 H THE SPHINX

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H

Henry Arthur Callis

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

LEADERSHIP DIRECTORY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Acting General President Aaron Crutison, Sr. president@apa1906.net

H

Charles Henry Chapman

Regional Assistant Vice President Southwest Gilbert C. Cutkelvin southwestavp@apa1906.net

Immediate Past General President Darryl R. Matthews, Sr. drmatthews@apa1906.net

Regional Assistant Vice President West LiQuan M. Hunt westavp@apa1906.net

General Treasurer Hyacinth C. Ahuruonye generaltreasurer@apa1906.net

General Counsel Demetrius Shelton counsel@apa1906.net

Comptroller Steven Sims comptroller@apa1906.net

Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer William Douglass Lyle edcoo@apa1906.net

Regional Vice President - East Sean L. McCaskill vicepresident@alphaeast.com Regional Vice President - Midwest Elgie R. Sims midwestvp@apa1906.net Regional Vice President - South James L. Crumel southvp@apa1906.net Regional Vice President - Southwest Roderick L. Smothers, Sr. southwestvp@apa1906.net Regional Vice President - West Aaron Crutison, Sr. westvp@apa1906.net Regional Assistant Vice President East Brandon R. Johnson eastavp@apa1906.net Regional Assistant Vice President Midwest Sharron R. Anderson midwestavp@apa1906.net Regional Assistant Vice President South Jeremy C. Kirk southavp@apa1906.net

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APPOINTED OFFICERS Historian Robert L. Harris, Jr. rlh10@cornell.edu Editor-in-Chief The Sphinx Ricky L. Blalock sphinx@apa1906.net Interim Director of General Conventions Van Strickland director.conventions@apa1906.net Archivist Jerome Offord, Jr. jeromeofford@aol.com GENERAL CONVENTION OFFICIALS Parliamentarian Anderson C. Elridge III aelridge1906@aol.com Chaplain William E. Flippin, Sr. srpastor@pineygrovebapt.org Sergeant At Arms Ron Russell ronstony@hotmail.com

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Eugene Kinckle Jones

GENERAL CONVENTION COMMITTEES CHAIRMEN RULES & CREDENTIALS Eric Clark eclark1906@yahoo.com AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENT Herman Clifton Johnson jklift@bellsouth.net GRIEVANCES AND DISCIPLINE Hervery B.O. Young, Esq. pathfinder1906@juno.com STANDING COMMITTEES CHAIRMEN CONSTITUTION Ricky L. Blalock rlblalock@aol.com ENDOWMENT & CAPITAL FORMATION Robert L Wright rlwright@sentel.com BUDGET & FINANCE Frank Humphrey fhumphre@voyager.net ELECTIONS Thomas A. Phillips thomphilli10@aol.com MEMBERSHIP, STANDARDS & EXTENSION Melvin M. Stroble, Sr. mstroble@msn.com PUBLICATIONS James W. Ward ward_jw@tsu.edu HISTORICAL COMMISSION Norman E.W. Towels betasigma7@msn.com PUBLIC POLICY Tyson King-Meadows kmcgrp@aol.com HUMAN RESOURCES Antonio I.M. Johnson, Esq. ajohnsonesq@gmail.com

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George Biddle Kelley

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Nathaniel Allison Murray

H

Robert Harold Ogle

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Vertner Woodson Tandy

RACIAL JUSTICE (COMMISSION) Derrick Pope, Esq. dapope@bellsouth.net

COLLEGIATE SCHOLARS BOWL James “JI” Irvin JIrvin06@nemesispromotions.com

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS Zollie J. Stevenson, Jr. zstevenson06@gmail.com

31st General President Harry E. Johnson, Sr. hej@flash.net

COLLEGE BROTHERS AFFAIRS (COMMISSION) Maurice D. Gipson mdgipson@gmail.com

HOUSING Jerryl E. Bennett jbennett91@mindspring.com

POLITICAL ACTION Arthur Vaughn avaughn@spsu.edu

30th General President Adrian L. Wallace alwallacea@aol.com

HEALTH & WELLNESS Michael A. Smith mas1906@aol.com

RECLAMATION Bradley D. Thomas phdsocialwork@hotmail.com

29th General President Milton C. Davis tuskmcd@aol.com

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES Jamil Omar Buie jamil.buie@gmail.com

PROJECT ALPHA Byron D. Gautier projectalphacoordinator@apa.1906.net

28th General President Henry Ponder ewilsonp@aol.com

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Memorial INTERNAL FUNDRAISING Frank Russell, Jr. frj41@bellsouth.net

RITUAL & CEREMONIES Russell E. Flye phantom1906@charter.net

27th General President Charles C. Teamer, Sr. cteamer@cox.net

SENIOR ALPHA AFFAIRS Vacant

26th General President Ozell Sutton 1640 Loch Lomond Trail, SW Atlanta, GA 30331 (404) 344-0370

BUSINESS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (COMMISSION) Cecil Howard, Esq. cehoward2@comcast.net LIFE MEMBERSHIP Charles P. Loeb III cploeb@sbcglobal.net SPECIAL COMMITTEES CHAIRMEN ALPHA PHI ALPHA GOES GREEN INITIATIVE Sacoby Wilson wilsons2@mailbox.sc.edu ALPHA LITERACY INITIATIVE Vacant AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY Anton C. Bizzell antonbizzell@aol.com ALPHAS IN THE ACADEMY M. Christopher Brown mcb2@unlv.edu BELFORD V. LAWSON ORATORICAL Gregory L. Bailey gbailey@literacyaction.org BIG BROTHERS & BIG SISTERS Dale H. Long dale1906@verizon.net BOY SCOUTS Verdree Lockhart verdreel@aol.com BLACK AND GOLD PAGEANT Andre Prospere prosperea@bellsouth.net COLLEGE LIFE TO CORPORATE LIFE Nicholas B. Fletcher Nick.Fletcher@kellogg.com

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Andre A. Moss aamoss@batelnet.bs LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Brandon Tucker btucker921@aol.com MEDIATION & ARBITRATION Edwin D. Givens, Esq. egivens@scsu.edu MILITARY BROTHERS Langston D. Smith ldsrcdoc@verizon.net MEMBERSHIP INTAKE TASK FORCE Walter Kimbrough wkimbrough@philander.edu MIS / TECHNOLOGY Wendell D. Ferguson alpha3bebc@aol.com NATIONAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES ADVISORY COUNCIL Darryl Bell darrylmbell@gmail.com NEW FRATERNAL PROGRAM INITIATIVES Ronald J. Peters rpeters20@comcast.net

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Audrey L. Mackey amackey@austincc.edu

25th General President James Williams 1733 Brookwood Drive Akron, OH 44313 (330) 867-7536

TIME AND PLACE Maurice Jenkins jenkinsmaurice@bellsouth.net WALK AMERICA-MARCH OF DIMES Wilbert L. Brown wlb72@aol.com WORLD POLICY COUNCIL Horace G. Dawson, Jr. hdawson@howard.edu

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Corporate Office 2313 St. Paul St. Baltimore, MD 21218 (410) 554-0040 (410) 554-0054 Fax www.apa1906.net

FOUNDATIONS CHAIRMEN Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Jewel Founders

EDUCATION FOUNDATION Waldo Johnson wejohnso@uchicago.edu BUILDING FOUNDATION Robert “Bob” Leandras Jones II leandras2@aol.com PAST GENERAL PRESIDENTS

Henry Arthur Callis Charles Henry Chapman Eugene Kinckle Jones George Biddle Kelley Nathaniel Allison Murray Robert Harold Ogle Vertner Woodson Tandy

32nd General President Darryl R. Matthews, Sr. darrylmatthews@apa1906.net

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P E RS P E C T I V E : T H E L A S T P A G E

Media Matters: Why Journalists Must Demand the Truth From Politicians

By Rudy Williams

Arguably, messages win elections. They are what hundreds of political strategists spend every moment crafting and delivering to the public on behalf of politicians.

The 2012 presidential election showed us that messages can change minute by minute. What’s the media’s role in the process? It is the conduit of these transmissions. For journalists, this function makes it extremely important that they do their due diligence in making sure elements of those messages are factual.

Politicians don’t have to tell you the truth and many will admit they often don’t unless they are pressed to do so.

The media and politicians will always be bound together. Journalists must cover political affairs.

Politicians need media exposure to get winning results at the polls. Journalists should anticipate manipulation by candidates, especially during election years when a candidate’s endgame is winning office and the journalist’s is truth.

Being held to honesty seems unexpected with politicians in this era of 24-hour cable news, where programming often slants toward either the liberal or conservative agendas. But in those moments when a politician is taken to task by the media on a comment that may not ring true, ethical journalism is taking place.

Newsrooms are challenged every single day to get the story right. As journalists, we have a social contract with the public to demand the truth from the men and women seeking votes. In today’s modern election cycles, the media’s job is no longer to simply report what politicians do and say. The job calls for checks and balances: fact checking.

The public turns to the media for the answers, and our code of conduct requires we demand the most accurate information from our sources and in turn provide it to our audiences. That truth is the same whether the person is running for dog catcher or president of the United States.

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Political transparency is critical to any civilization.

Government is composed of men and women possessing the power to impact our lives for better or for worse. A majority vote translates into the public’s trust in a politician to protect the freedoms of our loved ones, present and future. An elected official’s word is the message sent to the voter’s nerve center, triggering a ballot cast in his or her favor. That message was, more than likely, delivered by a media source with the time, resources and responsibility to press the politician for truthful responses. H

Brother Rudy Williams is the primary evening news anchor at KTVE-TV NBC10 in Monroe, La. He was initiated in 1989, at Epsilon Mu Chapter at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala., from which he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

The S U M M E R / FA L L 2 0 1 2 alpha phi alpha fraternity, inc.

2313 St. paul street baltimore, md 21218-5234

www.apa1906.net

Coming in the next issue Mark S. Tillman is inaugurated 34th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha. The new “investment” in Alpha begins on the riverfront of Detroit, Mich.

ALSO AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW From “no house” to the White House: former Alpha Assistant Vice President Michael Blake reveals how a poor kid from New York went on to help elect the first African-American president twice.