History

Fraternity History

Black-sponsored Greek letter organizations on the Indiana campus might well have begun in 1903, but there were too few registrants to assure continuing organization. In that year a club was formed called Alpha Kappa Nu with the purpose of the strengthening the Blacks’ voice at the university and in the city of Bloomington. The reason for choosing the Greek letter name is not known, but it is known that the club expired within a short time. There is no record of any similar organization at Indiana until the chartering of Kappa Alpha Nu in 1911.

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc was founded on the campus of Indiana University on January 5th, 1911. Originally chartered and incorporated Kappa Alpha Nu on May 15, 1911, the name was officially changed to Kappa Alpha Psi on April 15, 1915. The founders sought a formula that would immediately raise the sights of black collegians stimulating them to reach accomplishments higher than they had imagined. With achievement as its purpose, Kappa Alpha Psi began uniting college men of culture, patriotism, and honor in a bond of fraternity.

Chapter History

Under the advisement of Brother, Dr. Wadaran L. Kennedy, a Beta Spring 1926 initiate, the Alpha Nu Chapter was chartered on April 14, 1933 on the campus of North Carolina A&T College (now North Carolina A&T State University).

While under the leadership of Grand Polemarch, A. Moore Shearin, the Alpha Nu Chapter was chartered as the 36 th chapter in the fraternity, and under the leadership of Province Polemarch, Benjamin L. Goode, the third undergraduate chapter chartered in the Middle Eastern Province.

The chapter was chartered with eight men. Those eight brothers were:

Curl C. Griffin was elected the first Polemarch of the Alpha Nu Chapter. Brother Griffin majored in Mathematics and Physics while participating on the baseball, football, and debate teams. H.B. Short was elected Reporter.

One of the first pillars established in the chapter was the focus on academic achievement. The Kappa Scholarship Award was established in 1933. The scholarship provided a trophy and a financial award to students with high scholastic averages. The Kappa Scholarship later became the basis for the Alpha Nu Endowed Scholarship.

The Alpha Nu Chapter has produced many leaders within fraternity leadership. Local, Province, and the Grand Chapter levels, these brothers are:

In addition to stepping up in leadership, the chapter has a storied history of achievement at North Carolina A&T State University, the Middle Eastern Province, and the fraternity. Being the premier organization on campus is the standard at Alpha Nu, and at the 75th Diamond Jubilee Grand Chapter Meeting (1986) in Indianapolis, the chapter was awarded the Edward Giles Irvin National Chapter of Year Award. The chapter and its initiates have received numerous other awards, such as:

Another notable Alpha Nu initiate was, Dr. Alvin Blount, Jr., who was the Chief of Surgery for the 47 th US Army Combat Surgical Hospital in Southeast Asia during the Korean War (1952). In 1963, Blount was a litigant in Supreme Court case, Simpkins v. Moses Cone Hosp. Resulting in desegregation of hospitals throughout the south.

While Dr. Blount was breaking down barriers in the operating room, J. Kenneth Lee, was doing the same in the courtroom. In 1951, with the representation of future Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, Lee was one of four litigants who won McKissick v. Carmichael in the U.S. Court of Appeals to desegregate the UNC School of Law.