Next year, the Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, will celbrate 110 years on IU's campus. We serve as the oldest Black Greek Lettered Organization in the state of Indiana.
Founded Jan. 5, 1911, Kappa Alpha Nu, the fraternity’s original name, was founded on the primary principle of "Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor," which is our fraternity motto. This motto means we, as young, Black, educated men, should expect greatness out of ourselves in academia, the arts, athletics, the sciences, philosophy and any other field we put ourselves in.
As we require that from ourselves, we must recognize the tools we need to accomplish this task. A safe learning environment, a loving support system, a healthy place to study, eat and rest our heads.
However, as the years pass these tools are becoming harder to find for Black students on this campus. Since being initiated into the fraternity in May 2018, my four line brothers and I have made it a point to create a welcoming atmosphere for all of the students in Black IU. The emphasis on destroying any possible negative connotation of greek life in our culture, while simultaneously trying to unify the different subcultures of Black students here at IU, has been a goal since day one.
One crucial tool of achieving this goal would be to have a central gathering location for students to gather and relax. Not only are we a part of the Indiana greek life system, but we are the Alpha chapter of our fraternity.
We are the founding chapter of an organization with more than 721 different chapters worldwide. Not only would reclaiming our chapter’s house — now recognized as the IU Police Department station — be important for our organization, but it could be used as a location for the rest of the Black community to come to and enjoy themselves in the same way the majority of IU reek organizations use their spaces.
In the upcoming years at IU, especially in the era of racial inclusiveness, our hope is Black students will finally get the tools they need to succeed here in southern Indiana.
Whether it's the university actually punishing students who commit racist attacks or professors who make racist statements against our community, we demand change. Hopefully IU upholds their end of the bargain to our community and “fulfills the promise” to us, whatever that means.