Title
To Honor and Recognize the 100th Anniversary of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc
Body
WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership and has never limited its membership based on color, creed or national origin; and
WHEREAS, the fraternity was founded on January 5, 1911 on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington by ten young black men in response to the ostracism African-American students faced while attending Indiana University; and
WHEREAS, the founders had a vision for achievement that would change the college experience for African-Americans for generations and sought a formula that would immediately raise the sights of black collegians stimulating them to reach accomplishments higher than they had imagined; and
WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi began uniting college men of culture, patriotism and honor in a bond of fraternity and subsequently, chapters spread in succession to the University of Illinois, the University of Iowa, and Wilberforce University campuses; and
WHEREAS, today the fraternity, Inc. has over 150,000 members with 700 undergraduate and alumni chapters in every state of the United States and international chapters in the United Kingdom, Germany, Korea, Japan, the Caribbean, Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Nigeria, and South America; and
WHEREAS, the president of the national fraternity is known as the Grand Polemarch, who assigns a Province Polemarch for each of the twelve provinces (districts/regions) of the nation. The fraternity has many notable members recognized as leaders in the arts, athletics, business, civil rights, education, government, and science sectors at the local, national and international level; and
WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi sponsors programs providing community service, social welfare and academic scholarship through the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation and is a supporter of the United Negro College Fund and Habitat for Humanity; and
WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi has continued to provide leadership in every field of the human endeavor, encourage honorable achievement, promote spiritual, social, intellectual and moral welfare of its members, assist the aims and purposes of colleges and universities and inspire service in the public interest; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council does hereby honor and recognize the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity as they celebrate their 100th Anniversary on January 15, 2011 in Columbus, Ohio.