12/16/2023 0 Comments Kappa alpha psi founders day 2015Realizing that they had no part in the social life of the university and drawn together by common interests, they decided that a Greek-letter fraternity would do much to fill the missing link in their college existence. The number of places where they might assemble was limited. Most of them were working their way through school. In the school years of 1910-11, a small group of Black students attended Indiana University. Track and Field was the only sport which Blacks were able to demonstrate their athleticism. Blacks were not allowed to reside in on-campus dormitories, were not afforded off-campus accommodations, and they were also denied the use of all other university facilities, and were barred from participating in contact sports. Blacks could go weeks without seeing one another on campus. The percentage of Blacks on campus was less than 1%. The administration maintained an attitude of indifference, as Blacks slowly matriculated and were likewise swiftly forgotten. The campus of Indiana University at that time did not encourage the assimilation of Blacks. However, few Blacks could remain longer than a year or so without having to withdraw in search of employment. Despite the growing hostility of Whites toward Blacks in Indiana, some Black students sought a college education at Indiana University, as it was a tuition-free university of the highest quality. This environment made day-to-day life for Blacks an arduous task and attempts to successfully achieve in school, nearly impossible. Vigilante lynchings of Blacks were commonplace. Their intolerance toward Blacks fueled the negative mindset of other Whites residing there. The state of Indiana became a stronghold for the Ku Klux Klan. Consequently, the few Blacks who took up residence in Bloomington in those early years were socially ostracized and encountered extreme acts of prejudice and discrimination. This city was largely populated by settlers from below the Mason-Dixon line and therefore found many sympathizers of the Southern cause. The state of Indiana became the 19 th state of the Union in 1816 and it founded Indiana University in Bloomington four years later. Kappa Alpha Psi was born in an environment saturated in racism. If you are interested in learning more about the Nu Chi Chapter, please reach out to Hayden Pendergrass and the chapter's primary advisor Mr. The Nu Chi Chapter currently supports a colony at Limestone University as well as our two new Wofford members who crossed in March 2023. He was also a member of the Board of Managers of the Columbia Community Branch of the YMCA.Wofford's Nu Chi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity, Inc was founded on Maby seven members. For eight years, he conducted a successful catering business in Philadelphia he organized and served as Vice President and Secretary of the Mutual Emergency Union, a mutual aid company in Philadelphia. Vocationally, he was engaged in several enterprises. He helped organize, and for several years was president of, the Fairview Gold Club, the first Negro Golf Club in Pennsylvania. His battery enjoys the unique distinction of having been the first battery of Negro Artillerymen ever to open fire upon an enemy. He enlisted in the 349th Field Artillery in March of 1918 and served overseas as a First Class Sergeant and Gunner. He later became a student at Temple University (1915) but was compelled to leave school because of a death in the family. John Milton Lee, born in Danville, Indiana, September 7, 1890, was graduated from the Danville High School in 1910 and entered the University of Indiana and there completed three years of pre-medical work. Diggs was instrumental in having the Indiana Constitution amended to permit Negro enlistment in the Indiana National Guard. After European service with the 368th Infantry, he became a captain in the Reserve Officers Training Corps. Upon America’s entrance into World War I, Diggs resigned his principalship to enter the Nation’s first Officer’s Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, and was commissioned a lieutenant. After his death on November 8, 1947, the name of the school where he taught was changed to the Elder Diggs School in his memory. For this and other outstanding contributions to the Fraternity, he was awarded the Fraternity’s first Laurel Wreath in December, 1924.Īn educator by profession, he taught in the public schools of Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was elevated to a principalship. He served as Grand Polemarch for the first six consecutive years of the Fraternity’s existence. Elder Watson Diggs (circa 1883-1947), born in Christian County, Kentucky, was a graduate of Indiana State Normal (now Indiana State Teachers College) and Indiana University, the birthplace of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
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