What type of fraternity is kappa alpha psi

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. The Constitution of Kappa Alpha Psi is predicated upon, and dedicated to, the principles of achievement through a truly democratic Fraternity.

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Members of the student body, faculty, and university staff routinely denied housing to black students. They also limited dining options and enacted prohibitions on the manner in which black students were permitted to socialize. To address those concerns, many black students banded together, some organizing social clubs that mimicked the existing fraternities on campus. The following were some of the early attempts at the formation of social fraternities:.

Elder Watson Diggs, a native of Kentucky earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana State University in and enrolled at Howard University a year later to pursue graduate studies in education. His choice of institution may have been Howard's education program, coupled with his cousin, Lucy Diggs Slowe, a recent graduate, who remained in close proximity. In his second year, Diggs met Byron K.

Armstrong, a native of Westfield, Indiana, who was pursuing a bachelor's degree. In spring , Armstrong's cousin, Irven, had visited him from Indiana University. He and recruited his cousin to return home the following fall, which he did and Diggs followed suit. Diggs' decision to move was likely inspired by better prospects for teaching jobs in Indiana if he graduated from a school in state. Three years before he had arrived, the Indiana state legislature had authorized its board of education to establish a normal primary school system throughout the state.

In , Indiana University established its school of education, to which Diggs enrolled as a transfer student. He earned a masters degree in and holds the distinction of being the first African American to earn a degree from the graduate school.

Upon arriving in the fall of , Diggs rented a room at a local black-owned boarding house. For years, in order to safeguard the ritualistic secrets of the Fraternity, Diggs laboriously typed and bound the rituals. It was not until he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he met an old German printer in whom he had confidence, that he entrusted the esoteric materials of the Fraternity to a commercial printer. In the spring of Diggs wrote in a little blue examination book the first Constitution, which was adopted in with but a few revisions.

This edition remained in use until when it was supplanted by the codified edition jointly written by Diggs, J. Ernest Wilkins, and W. Ellis Stewart. In the Constitution again underwent major revision. Now substantially established and provided with a Constitution, Ritual, coat of arms, motto, and guiding hand in a dynamic Grand Chapter, the Fraternity was ready for expansion. Dickerson, President of the Old "Illini Club. Gamma Chapter later changed to Indianapolis Alumni Chapter was established on December 29, , followed by the establishment of Delta Chapter at the University of Iowa, on March 7, The latter was subsequently changed to Gamma Chapter, and the designation of Delta assigned to the Wilberforce University Chapter at Wilberforce, Ohio.

Epsilon Chapter, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, was established December 4, , as the first chapter in the East. Elder W.