Senate Concurrent Resolution 578

(As Adopted by Senate and House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND SALUTING THE LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS OF KAPPA ALPHA PSI FRATERNITY, INC., AND DESIGNATING FEBRUARY 16, 2016, AS "KAPPA DAY AT THE STATE CAPITOL."

WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., was founded on January 5, 1911, on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The young, intellectual and talented 10 undergraduate college students herewith revered as the Founders were Elder Watson Diggs, Dr. Ezra Dee Alexander, Attorney Henry T. Asher, Dr. Byron K. Armstrong, Dr. Marcus Peter Blakemore, Paul W. Caine, George Wesley Edmonds, Dr. Guy Levis Grant, Edward Giles Irvin, and John Milton Lee. This was the first and only fraternity to this date that was founded on that campus and the third African-American college-based fraternity founded in the country; and

WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., has grown to include over 700 chapters and has initiated over 30,000 men and still maintains and lives by the motto from inception "Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor." The national programs which define the fraternity to date are the Guide Right Program, commonly known as the Kappa Leadership Development League, the Sunday of Hope Project which directly benefits St. Jude Children's Hospital and has raised over a Million Dollars, such that the fraternity will now have a wing at the hospital named in its honor, and the well-known Kappa Kamp held each year at Piney Woods Boarding School here in Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., chartered its first chapter in Mississippi on February 27, 1941, with the naming of the Jackson (MS) Alumni Chapter which is celebrating its 75th Anniversary. Mississippi now has 22 chapters with 12 designated as Alumni Chapters. They are Canton-Madison, Cleveland, Columbus, Greenville, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Holly Springs, Jackson, Meridian, Natchez, Oxford and Vicksburg. The remaining 10 chapters designated as Undergraduate Chapters are located at Alcorn State University, Tougaloo College, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Rust College, Mississippi State University, University of Southern Mississippi, University of Mississippi, Delta State University and Millsaps College; and

WHEREAS, state membership includes all professions such as architects, attorneys, businessmen, dentists, doctors, educators, engineers, pharmacists, etc. Noted Mississippians who are members of the fraternity are the Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, U.S. Congressman; the Honorable Carlton Reeves, U.S. Federal District Judge; Representative Credell Calhoun, Mississippi State Legislature; Senator Derrick T. Simmons, Mississippi State Legislature; former Senator Kenneth Wayne Jones, Mississippi State Legislature; former Representative Charles Young, Mississippi State Legislature; three past Presidents of the Metro Jackson Chamber of Commerce: Howard Catchings, Socrates Garrett and LeRoy G. Walker, Jr.; all of the Presidents of Piney Woods Country Life School from its Founder Dr. Lawrence Jones, to the current President Dr. Reginald T.W. Nichols; Dr. Charles Beady, Jr., first African-American Chief Executive Officer of Mississippi Food Network; Mayor Errick D. Simmons, first African-American male Mayor of Greenville; and the late Tellis B. Ellis, Jr., Head Football Coach of Jackson State University, who was instrumental in forming many of the fraternity's chapters in Mississippi and was a respected member; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we acknowledge the history of a respected service organization nationally and internationally in the State of Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize and salute the Legislative members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and designate February 16, 2016, as "Kappa Day at the State Capitol," and extend our best wishes on this auspicious occasion.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the Mississippi Chapters of Kappa Alpha Psi and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.