Two of these men, Elder Watson Diggs and Byron Kenneth Armstrong, had previously attended Howard University and had come into contact with men belonging to the only national Black Greek-Letter Fraternity currently in existence. Realizing 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.
![kappa alpha psi founders kappa alpha psi founders](https://blackamericaweb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/01/kappafounders2.png)
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.
![kappa alpha psi founders kappa alpha psi founders](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/etLdcwf5X2Y/maxresdefault.jpg)
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. Thus, the name acquired a distinctive Greek letter symbol and KAPPA ALPHA PSI thereby became a Greek letter Fraternity in every sense of the designation.Kappa Alpha Psi®, a college Fraternity, was born in an environment saturated in racism. This change became effective April 15, 1915, on a proclamation by the then Grand Polemarch, Elder Watson Diggs. The Constitution of KAPPA ALPHA PSI is predicated upon, and dedicated to, the principles of achievement through a truly democratic Fraternity.Ĭhartered and incorporated originally under the laws of the State of Indiana as Kappa Alpha Nu on May 15, 1911, the name was changed to KAPPA ALPHA PSI on a resolution offered and adopted at the Grand Chapter in December 1914. It is a fact of which KAPPA ALPHA PSI is justly proud that the Constitution has never contained any clause which either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin. It was the vision of these astute men that enabled them in the school year 1910 - 11, more specifically the night of January 5, 1911, on the campus of Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana, to sow the seed of a fraternal tree whose fruit is available to, and now enjoyed by, college men everywhere, regardless of their color, religion or national origin. It is the beautiful realization of a vision shared commonly by the late Revered Founders Elder Watson Diggs, "The Dreamer" John Milton Lee Byron K. Kappa Alpha Psi, a college Fraternity, now comprised of functioning Undergraduate and Alumni Chapters on major campuses and in cities throughout the country, is the crystallization of a dream.
![kappa alpha psi founders kappa alpha psi founders](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/69/47/f9/6947f90c69bbcdd9f7bf89e628e3f2a5.jpg)
![kappa alpha psi founders kappa alpha psi founders](https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.timetoast.com/public/uploads/photos/6116963/kappa.jpg)
Sorority and Fraternity Community Event Cancellations.Giving to Sorority and Fraternity Engagement.