I graciously stand on historical context to carry on yet another year of life for the Mu Lambda Chapter. 86 years ago, our charter members saw it necessary to construct an advisory chapter to Beta Chapter seated at Howard University. Then, these dedicated and tenacious Brothers sought to advance the fraternal work through mentoring and community outreach. Today this still holds true.
At the time of Mu Lambda’s inception, the fraternal landscape in Washington, DC was still somewhat myopic. As organizations were beginning to develop, the Washington, DC atmosphere served as an incubator for the great creativity and wonderful imagination of African American men and women from all over the country. The fever of the roaring 20s had enveloped Washington and the euphoria surrounding the development of the fraternity was just beginning to take hold of emboldened young men and women of African decent, as they sought to define and refine their black experiences in the district.
Alpha Phi Alpha is unapologetically approaching its 103rd year of life. Chapters are an important component in doing the work that the fraternity has been entrusted to do. Our actions define our outcome, our rhetoric determines our support, and our brotherhood sustains our spirit. As we stand firmly to usher in another year, Brothers in Mu Lambda, let us remember that service is the hallmark of our fraternity.
At this, our 86th year, let us stand and be called; for we are servants of all….
Onward,
Brother Justin Davis
See you at the meeting on October 1, 2009
Inside this Edition:
• The Executive Message
• Alpha Wives Section
• Community Service Project
• Noyes Elementary School Honored
• Awards of Appreciation
• Black Facts
• Historical Moment
• Birthdays
• Membership News
• The Alpha House
• Photo Gallery
An Invitation To All Alpha Wives
The Alpha Wives of Washington D.C. Inc. cordially invites fellow wives of Mu Lambda other chapter wives to help The Alpha Wives of Washington during its 59th year of incorporation. Among Alpha Wives’ purposes are to support projects initiated by the Fraternity and to sponsor programs that include cultural, educational and social activities which meet the needs and interests of our members.
Dues are $35/year. For more information: Modestine Lowery (291-3129), Mary Murray (301) 588-4663, or Charlotte Douglass (667-3390).
Got books around your house? Some for kids? Don't read them? If the answers to these questions are "yes", then you can critically enhance a young boy or girl's educational opportunities in Africa.
Mu Lambda will be collecting old, new, and used books to donate to kids in Africa. Bring books for kids of all ages to each chapter meeting. We will then send the books to a few preselected villages in Ghana that so earnestly desire to read! You can make a difference by simply cleaning out your book shelf.
What: "Reading Across Borders" book donation project When: At each chapter meeting beginning at the September 3rd chapter meeting
Goal: 25 books per chapter meeting
Let's be those Alphas that make the world a better place!
The 23rd Annual AIDS Walk Washington takes place the morning of Saturday, October 3, beginning and ending at Freedom Plaza. AIDS Walk Washington is a fundraising 5K walk and timed run benefiting the HIV/AIDS programs of Whitman-Walker Clinic. Your participation and generosity will make a big difference in the lives of those most affected by HIV/AIDS.
MAAC Community Service Project Capital Area Food Bank 645 Taylor Street, NE Washington, DC 20017 Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 1pm – 4pm
Howard County College Fair:
Atholton High School will host the Howard County College Fair. Sunday, October 18 1pm-4pm.
Over 100 Colleges are expected to attend.
Membership News
Brother Wayne Ryan received the 2009 Humanitarian Award for Public Education Service presented by the Dwyer Cultural Center and the International Communications Associates during the 2009 CBC festivities. Bro. Ryan is principal of Noyes Education Campus, a 2009 National Blue Ribbon School. Other award recipients included Ambassador Curtis A. Ward and Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery. See Photo Gallery.
Brother Leroy Lowrey’s surgery was a success but he is still in a lot of pain. His telephone number is (202) 877-4429. Please call, but short conversations are encouraged to aid in his recovery.
Important Dates
Fall Staff Meeting
Lincoln University
October 09-10, 2009
Beautillion Open House
October 18, 2009
Location TBD
Lupus Awareness Month
October 1 - 31, 2009
Halloween
October 31, 2009
The 20th annual Taste of Bethesda, Bethesda's famous food and music festival, brings 50 restaurants and four stages of entertainment to Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle. Each year, more than 40,000 attendees sample the delicious restaurants, enjoy the live entertainment and visit the kid's corner for face painting and cookie decorating.
Admission / Tickets:
Admission to the Taste of Bethesda is free. Taste tickets will be sold on-site in bundles of four tickets for $5. Food servings cost one to four tickets.
Location:
The event is held along Norfolk, Fairmont, St. Elmo, Cordell and Del Ray Avenues in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle. Taste of Bethesda is located just three blocks from the Bethesda Metro.
The annual Taste of Bethesda is held in conjunction with Best of Bethesda Day, which also features Come Back to Bethesda classic car show and Rescue Day.
Noyes Elementary School Honored With Blue Ribbon Status
By Nelson Hernandez Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
More than a dozen public and private schools in Maryland, Virginia and the District earned one of the highest distinctions in American education Tuesday, as Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the 314 winners of the National Blue Ribbon School awards.
Duncan made the announcement at Highland Elementary School in Silver Spring, the only public school to win the award in Montgomery County this year, and a remarkable turnaround story that Duncan said he hoped would inspire similar success elsewhere.
"When I talk about turning around schools, this school is turning around," Duncan said. "It just put the lie in any myth about what children can't do."
The award goes to public schools in the top 10 percent of academic performance in their state -- private schools are judged by a national exam -- and to schools where at least 40 percent of the students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and demonstrate dramatic improvement.
Duncan and other officials said the school showed that with capable leadership, skilled teachers and parental support, any school can turn around, regardless of the socioeconomic disadvantages its students face.
Much of the credit for Highland's success went to Principal A. Raymond Myrtle, a longtime educator who left a more affluent school for Highland, rebuilding the staff and getting the students to toe the line. Duncan said more leaders like him are needed.
"The best thing I could do would be to clone Mr. Myrtle," Duncan said. "Then my job would be done."
At winner Corpus Christi School in Falls Church, a Catholic school where 90 percent of students' families receive some form of financial aid, Principal Laura Zybrick said that the school's diverse parent community helps support teaching. They recently purchased eight computers for the school's lab. The 445-student preschool-through-eighth-grade school is the most racially diverse in the Diocese of Arlington, with large Latino and Vietnamese populations.
Zybrick noted that in the Washington area, more private schools won the award than public schools, possibly partly because private schools tend to be smaller.
"You get to know everybody and their parents, and if you lay out what the expectations are, kids rise to that expectation. When you have a faculty of 200 people, sometimes that's a little hard to do," she said.
The local public schools to receive the award also included Hammond Middle School in Laurel, Southern High School in Anne Arundel County, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax, and the Noyes Education Campus in the District.
Other private schools receiving the award were Holy Redeemer School in Kensington, Our Lady of Mercy School in Potomac, St. John Regional Catholic School in Frederick, Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott City, All Saints Catholic School in Manassas, St. Agnes Catholic in Arlington County, St. Mary's School in Alexandria and the Trinity School at Meadow View in Falls Church.
Staff writer Michael Birnbaum contributed to this report.
Awards of Appreciation
Mu lambda chapter presented Awards of Appreciation to Michelle Rucker and Brother Wayne Ryan for their work in the educational arena. Ms. Rucker told the chapter that she is celebrating her 24th anniversary as a teacher and educator. She has worked very closely with Brother Geoffrey Johnson and Mu Lambda’s Project Alpha efforts. During her acceptance and gratitude speech, she told the story of a 15 year old African American male that had been failed by the system and could not read. With very hard and diligent work, that young man is now reading and thriving within the same system that had failed him years ago.
Brother Wayne Ryan is the Principle of Noyes Elementary school. Noyes has just received the coveted Blue Ribbon award by Arne Duncan, United States Secretary of Education. Brother Ryan can be credited with turning the school around. It was just 8 years ago that the school was targeted as a failing school by the Bush administration. Brother Ryan has started a “One Hour of Reading” program that partners with members of the chapter to assist the youth in their educational endeavors. Brother Ryan soon hopes to establish “Brunch with the Brothers” at Noyes: A program in which members of the chapter come to the school for lunch and mentoring.
Both Ms. Rucker and Brother Ryan were very grateful to be honored this way.
Walter Whitley
“Helping Hands Initiative”
Community Service Clean Up Project
On September 19, 2009
Harrison Rec. Center at 1330 V St. NW
Brothers cleaning up the neighborhood before U Street Festival
Brothers proud of their work
Photos by Brother David Scruggs
Distinguished men, check.
Good food, check.
Fun people, check.
Worthy cause, check.
DMCwD Brochure
DMCwD Chef Application
DMCwD Participant Form
Step away from your busy life to indulge your inner food cravings. The Distinguished Men Cookin' with the Deltas annual community fundraiser is just around the corner. Whether your favorite food is lemon chicken scaloppini, chocolate chip paradise pie, bruschetta al po modoro - or just good food in generalthere is probably a dish on the menu that exults its virtues.
WHEN
November 21, 2009 3pm - 6pm
WHERE
HowardUniversity
Amour J. BlackburnCenter 2397 Sixth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C.20059
TICKETS
Patron's ticket includes $25 charitable donation and recognition in patron's listing of onsite program. Return your Participation Form today to secure your tickets while space is available!
General $35
Patron $60
CORPORATE SPONSORS/ADS
Do you know of a company that might be interested in sponsorship or program advertisements? Please email leads to the DMCwD Chair and include the contacts company, name, title, phone and email.
BLACK FACTS
LITTLE KNOWN BLACK HISTORY MOMENT
Thomas Morris Chester Civil War Reporter
First Black Daily Newspaper, The New Orleans Tribune Founded October 4, 1864
The U. S. Civil War marked the first time that large numbers of reporters, artists and photographers followed troops into battle for Martin De Porres a firsthand look.
First Black Saint In The Roman Catholic Church, Born October 13, 1579
Richard Arrington Elected First African American Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama October 30, 1979
ΑΦΑ Tags for DC, MD & VA
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity licenses plates for Washington, DC are on the road!!! Brothers interested in acquiring DC tags should contact Bro Arthur King at aking536@aol.com or 202.744.6624.
For Maryland tags contact Brother Vernon Dorkins at (410) 664-0911.
For Virginia tags contact Brother Chuck Johnson at chrlzej06@gmail.
2009-2010 Beautillion Open House is October, 18, 2009. Please mark your calendars.
In 1865, when Union troops seized the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va. Philadelphia Press reporter Thomas Morris Chester was the only African American covering the Civil War for a major daily. The son of an oysterman and an escaped slave, Chester rode into Richmond with Black Union troops, who were fighting to win not only freedom for their race, but also recognition as patriots by their country. The sight of slaves greeting Union soldiers, Chester wrote, was “Not only grand, but sublime.”
Early on, Chester broke with his parents’ abolitionists’ philosophy to support the African colonization movement, championing Liberian settlement. During his stay in Liberia, he became editor of The Star of Liberia newspaper. He joined The Press when he returned to the United States in 1864.
After the war, Chester traveled throughout Europe advocating Liberia, studied law in England and later tried Louisiana politics.
In 1892, embittered and ill, he returned to his hometown of Harrisburg, Pa., where he died of a heart attack. He was buried in a segregated Harrisburg cemetery.
October Birthdays
2009 – 2010 Mu Lambda Housing Assessment
Isham Baker
William C. Childers
John D. Hicks, Sr.
Joseph. E. Seaberry
Tracey Warren
Robert M. Brown, II
Oct. 01
Oct.01
Oct. 01
Oct. 01
Oct. 01 Oct. 04
2009-2010 Beautillion Academy is just around the corner
William R. Ridley
Please mark your calendars
Daryll D. Butler
Albert L. Carr
Joseph K. Jones
Lloyd. T. McGriff
Lamar Arnold
Eric D. Herndon
Joseph Housey, III
Pernell V. Williams
Willie A. Flowers
James F. Walker
Shawn M. Callaway
Oct. 05
Oct. 05
Oct. 10
Arthur M. Freeman, Sr.
President
Vice President
Oct. 16
Oct. 16
Oct. 16
Oct. 17
Oct. 18
Oct. 18
Oct. 22
Oct. 23
Oct. 25
Oct. 26
Oct. 26
Please remember to pay your 2009-2010 Housing Assessment: $50 per chapter meeting (10 meetings) or $500 for the year. Remit to Mu Lambda Foundation, PO Box 4582, Wash., DC 20017-4582
The 2009-10 Executive Committee
Tim Fitzgerald
301-332-7507 timfitz06@comcast.net
Reginald Salter 301-379-6102 rsalterdds@aol.com
Recording Secretary Sean Bellamy 336-575-7677 sean.bellamy@dc.gov
Treasurer Mark Ross 202-422-8493 rossmarka@aol.com
Financial Secretary Arthur King 202-744-6624 aking536@aol.com
Corresponding Secretary
Joseph Housey, III 561-932-3599 joe3rd@hotmail.com
Chaplain William Hawkins 202-583-3211 whawk39564@aol.com
Historian Justin Davis 678-787-8344 jed55@cornell.edu
Archivist
Sergeant-at-Arms Emeritus
Sergeant-at-Arms
Mario Simpson Earl Root 240-493-6009 202-723-0770 simpson_mario@hotmail.com earl_root@yahoo.com
Darryl Chase 202-294-3383 dchase1906@yahoo.com
Associate Editor to the Sphinx Antwan Lofton 202-997-8498 antwan_lofton@yahoo.com
Editor of the Torch Walter Whitley 202-255-9258 walter.whitley@msn.com
Webmaster Larry Ware 202-621-3745 larryware@gmail.com
Director of Intake James Heck 202-5352605 jkcjh@aol.com
Director of Education Geoffrey Johnson 202-487-0785 noplga@aol.com
Parliamentarian Eddie Neal 301-440-4055 ewneal@hotmail.com
Member-at-Large Wiley Bowling, Jr. 301-218-3167 bowlingw@aol.com
Immediate Past President James McDonald 202-544-5026 macdee06@yahoo.com
www.mulambda.org
October Meeting Thursday, October 01, 2009 7:06pm School of Dentistry Howard University Campus
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Mu Lambda Chapter PO Box 1993 Washington, DC 20013-1993 ….Share the
