Kappa Kwotables
"Every College man ought to belong to some such movement as this. It broadens his horizon and brings him into vital touch and fellowship with college men everywhere. It perpetually preserves pleasant memories of college days and forms firm and abiding friendships that will rise to cheer him in after years when college days are done..."
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Elder W. Diggs, Founder
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In The Beginning...
The story of Kappa Alpha Psi is to a large extent the story of black students everywhere, whether organized or not, who attended predominantly white colleges or universities in America prior to World War II. The accomplishments of these first Black students is all the more noteworthy because typically they worked their way through college. Their determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable social and economic odds is the source of inspiration to less than full privileged students at white institutions of higher learning throughout America. To understand this is to understand the birth of college fraternities among Blacks. Black-sponsored Greek letter organizations on the Indiana University campus might well have begun in 1903, but there were too few registrants to assure a continuing organization. In that year, a club was formed called Alpha Kappa Nu with the purpose of strengthening the Blacks' voice at the University and in the city of Bloomington. There is no record of any similar organization at Indiana until the chartering of Kappa Alpha Nu, a forerunner of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, in 1911.
The Founders of Kappa Alpha Psi were christian, God-fearing men who shared common thoughts about the plight of the black student in the midwest during the early 1900's. One of the early meeting places of the Founders was the home of Miss Mollie Spaulding, in which two of the Founders (Marcus Blakemore and Byron Armstrong) were residents. They gathered at the home of Miss Spaulding regularly to discuss the organization of a fraternity that would be unique from other college-greek lettered organizations, and would raise the sights of black youths to a level which they might not have recognized otherwise. This discussion evolved into the establishment of Kappa Alpha Nu, of which Elder Watson Diggs championed the organization of the new fraternity.
The new fraternity was officially organized by the Ten Founders and the application for incorporation was submitted on April 15, 1911. Articles of Incorporation were filed in the office of the Secretary of State of Indiana on May 11,1911 for the incorporation of the Grand Chapter of Kappa Alpha Nu. The Fraternity was officially incorporated 4 days later, on May 15, 1911. |
