2016 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 109
BY SENATOR CARTER
A RESOLUTION
To commend the New Orleans Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi upon the occasion of its
eightieth anniversary.
WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity was founded on January 5, 1911, at Indiana
University and the Kappa Alpha Psi New Orleans Alumni Chapter was chartered on May
12, 1936, at Dillard University; and
WHEREAS, early in the twentieth century, African-American students were often
actively dissuaded from attending college and many campuses established substantial
obstacles to prevent the few who did enroll from taking an active part in extracurricular
campus life; and
WHEREAS, the exclusion experienced at Indiana University led eleven
African-American undergraduates to found a fraternal organization that would afford those
so often ostracized an opportunity to fully experience campus life beyond the classroom; and
WHEREAS, the vision of these young men to establish an organization to provide
the entire collegiate experience has developed into a national fraternal organization that
remains strong nationwide and continues to focus on its original purpose of achievement in
every human endeavor more than a century after its founding; and
WHEREAS, KAØ moved from this single chapter in 1911 to a national fraternal
organization available to and enjoyed by college men and alumni throughout the country
regardless of their color, religion or national origin; and
WHEREAS, ÊÁØ members are proud that the constitution of this organization has
never contained any clause that seeks to exclude or that suggests the exclusion of young men
on any discriminatory basis; and
WHEREAS, in an oak-lined area of New Orleans known as Gentilly, the New
Orleans Alumni chapter of ÊÁØ, the first graduate chapter in Louisiana, came into being
in 1936 on the campus of Dillard University; and
Page 1 of 2 SR NO. 109 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, the charter members of this ÊÁØ alumni chapter included two
physicians, two dentists, the principal of Southern University Training School, the dean of
Dillard University, a journalist and history professor, a pharmacist, a recent graduate of
Dillard and a senior at Dillard; and
WHEREAS, with achievement in every human endeavor as their fraternity's goal,
the New Orleans Alumni chapter of ÊÁØ celebrates and recognizes achievement annually,
honoring brothers, including community leaders, who embody the spirit of achievement; and
WHEREAS, the ÊÁØ chapter in New Orleans is included in the fraternity's
Southwestern Province, one of twelve nationwide, and it includes Arkansas, Southern
Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas; and
WHEREAS, Kappa Alpha Psi has maintained a history of community involvement
and service at the local, regional and provincial levels; and
WHEREAS, the New Orleans Alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity has
spent the last eighty years promoting, encouraging and recognizing the achievements of its
brothers in all areas of human endeavor and today moves toward a tomorrow of promise,
productivity, and influence.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend the New Orleans Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity on
the occasion of its eightieth anniversary.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
president of the New Orleans Alumni Chapter of KAØ, Brother John A. Brown Sr.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
Page 2 of 2