FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 110
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MAY.
0503S.02I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapter 9, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to Kappa Alpha Psi Week
in Missouri.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 9, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1
one new section, to be known as section 9.409, to read as 2
follows:3
9.409. 1. The week in which January five falls each 1
year shall be known and designated as "Kappa Alpha Psi Week" 2
in Missouri. The citizens of this state are encouraged to 3
observe the day with appropriate activities and events to 4
commemorate the founding of the fraternity. 5
2. Kappa Alpha Psi was founded on January 5, 1911, at 6
Indiana University, in Bloomington Indiana by Elder Watson 7
Diggs, Byron Kenneth Armstrong, Guy Levis Grant, Marcus 8
Peter Blakemore, Ezra Dee Alexander, John Milton Lee, Henry 9
Tourner Asher, Edward Giles Irvin, George Wesley Edmonds, 10
and Paul Waymond Caine. 11
3. Founding member Henry Tourner Asher was an educator 12
and instructor at Lincoln Institute , now known as Lincoln 13
University of Missouri, in Jefferson City. 14
4. Kappa Alpha Psi is the second oldest existing 15
collegiate historically Black Greek -letter fraternity and 16
the first intercollegiate fraternity incorporated as a 17
national body. The fraternity has over two hundred fifty 18
thousand members with seven hundred undergraduate and alumni 19
chapters in nearly every state of the United States, and 20 SB 110 2
thirteen international chapters in Nigeria, South Africa, 21
Bermuda, Bahamas, U.S. Virgin Island s, Panama, United 22
Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Abu 23
Dhabi, Canada, and Japan. 24
5. Through its worldwide prominence, Kappa Alpha Psi 25
has had a global impact on events that affect our local 26
communities and places around the glob e. Local chapters of 27
Kappa Alpha Psi participate in community outreach activities 28
to feed the homeless, provide scholarships to young people 29
matriculating to college, serve as mentors to young men, 30
participate in blood drives, and serve as hosts of se minars 31
for public health awareness, to name a few. Nationally, 32
Kappa Alpha Psi has provided summer enrichment camps and 33
funds for St. Jude Medical Research Center to assist in the 34
fight against childhood catastrophic diseases by raising 35
more than one million dollars. Internationally, Kappa Alpha 36
Psi members have answered the call to service by proudly 37
serving our military in wars since WWI and raising funds to 38
assist those in need following natural disasters worldwide, 39
including hurricanes, torna does, typhoons, and earthquakes. 40
6. Kappa Alpha Psi proudly boasts members who 41
epitomize the essence of "Achievement in Every Field of 42
Human Endeavor". Some of these members include Ralph 43
Abernathy, Wilt Chamberlain, Montell Jordan, Benjamin 44
Jealous, Oscar Robertson, Cedric the Entertainer, Arthur 45
Ashe, Mike Tomlin, Gayle Sayers, Adrian Fenty, Robert S. 46
Abbott, Bennie Thompson, Donald Byrd, Johnnie Cochran, Ed 47
Gardner, Smokie Norful, John Singleton, Tom Bradley, Bob 48
Johnson, John Conyers, Alc ee Hastings, Lerone Bennett, Jr., 49
Kwame Jackson, Bill Russell, Tavis Smiley, and Marvin Sapp. 50