NEWS
Race for 34th General President Ends June 30
Alpha Phi Alpha Names Acting General President
Ballots to be Counted, Election Certified in July
33rd General President Mason’s Suspension Leaves Vacancy ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY appointed Brother Aaron Crutison Sr. its acting general president in April. The appointment was necessary to fill a vacancy created in the Office of General President on Sunday, April 21, 2012, upon the fraternity’s suspension of 33rd General President Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr. The fraternity Board of Directors suspended Mason’s membership for an initial period of 60 days, for violations of the fraternity’s rules and regulations. Suspension of a Brother Aaron Crutison Sr. member disqualifies him from participating in any and all fraternity activities, in any capacity, until restored to good standing. During the 60day period, the Board was to conduct an investigation to determine the full scope of and severity of the violations. Crutison, the Western regional vice president, assumed the interim post immediately upon his appointment by the fraternity’s past general presidents. H
IMDP Shows Progress
By Zollie Stevenson Jr. and Darren M. Morton
SPRING 2012 marked the second year of the three-year pilot of the Initial Membership Development Program (IMDP) Pilot. Implementation of the IMDP Pilot demonstrates the benefit of diverse thought and inclusive collaboration within the fraternity. The Membership Intake Taskforce, composed of college and alumni brothers from all five regions, incorporated changes based on the results of feedback from members and neophytes who participated in the IMDP Pilot and who responded to the evaluation survey questions, as well as input by cluster deans and
14 THE SPHINX H Winter/Spring 2012
THE TWO NOMINEES for office of 34th general president have spent a year crisscrossing the country in hopes of persuading Alpha brothers to vote for them. In July, the winner will be announced at the summer Board of Directors meeting in Atlanta, Ga. From the moment the nominees—Roderick L. Smothers, Sr. (first place) and Mark Tillman (second place)—were announced the campaign’s general-election cycle was underway. Tillman, the immediate past Midwestern regional vice president, began promoting his computer and information systems technology prowess. Smothers, the regional vice president of the Southwestern Region, launched a campaign centered on a theme to boost the fundraising machination of the fraternity, with his CAMPAIGN FOR ALPHA capital endowment plan to raise $25 million over five years. Each nominee made the rounds of all five regional conventions. Tillman used an oversized wooden key at each stump speech to emphasize and implore brothers to give him the “keys” to the General Office. He belted at the start of each speech: “I got my key!” Smothers chose to use the power of oratory and poetry, often citing excerpts of the poem “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by Brother Freeman Montaque. When the ballots are finally counted, the historic race will come to a close and the new era will begin. But it will not have come cheap. Both campaigns have raised and spent more than $65,000 each, not including in-kind donations of services and goods. Elections Committee Chairman Tom Phillips of Missouri said some 20,000 ballots were mailed to active brothers in April. All ballots must be postmarked by June 30. H
regional vice presidents were incorporated into IMDP for 2011-12. Some of the changes included tightening the schedule so that Sundays were excluded from the four-weekend process, tweaking some of the lectures and associated materials, replacing some of the transition ceremonies and specifying the participation schedule and role of sponsors. During spring 2011, clusters in 16 districts participated in the IMDP Pilot representing Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Mid-Atlantic, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Northern California, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rocky Mountain, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Tri-States and Virginia. Of the 220 who participated in IMDP during spring 2011, 191 became brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, compared with more than 1,200 candidates who became brothers through the old Membership Intake Process (MIP). Currently all of the districts in the Eastern and Southwest Regions are participating in IMDP, bringing the total of participating districts up to 21. During fall 2011 and spring 2012, the number of candidates who became Alpha brothers through IMDP increased, with 296 crossing in fall 2011 and 552 crossing in spring 2012. In comparison, 529 candidates became brothers through MIP during fall 2011 and 510 during the spring 2012. As regional vice presidents grant permission for additional districts to participate in IMDP and as they limit use of the MIP, the number of those who participate in IMDP will increase. H