Welcome to the website of the Southwestern Province of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. The “Mighty” Southwestern Province is comprised of undergraduate and graduate chapters in Arkansas, Louisiana, Southern Mississippi, New Mexico & Texas who dedicate their lives to achievement in all our endeavors while making a positive impact in our communities and campuses. It is my highest honor to serve as the Province Polemarch and thank you for visiting with us. We invite you to view our service programs and rich history and stay informed by following us on our social media platforms.
The campus of Indiana University at that time did not encourage the assimilation of Blacks. The administration maintained an attitude of indifference as Blacks slowly matriculated and were likewise swiftly forgotten. The percentage of Blacks on campus was less than 1%. Blacks could go weeks without seeing one another on campus. Blacks were not allowed to reside in on-campus dormitories, were not afforded off-campus accommodations, were denied the use of all other university facilities, and were barred from participating in contact sports. Track and Field was the only sport in which Black students could demonstrate their athleticism.
In the school years of 1910-11, a small group of Black students attended Indiana University. Most of them were working their way through school. The number of places where they might assemble was limited. Realizing that they had no part in the university’s social life and were drawn together by common interests, they decided that a Greek letter fraternity would do much to fill the missing link in their college existence.
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. Their experiences at Howard gave rise to the chief motivating spirits that sowed the seed for a fraternity at Indiana University and crystallized the idea of establishing an independent Greek letter organization.
Consequently, eight other men met with Diggs and Armstrong for the purpose of organizing such a fraternity. The charter members were Elder Watson Diggs, Byron K. Armstrong, John M. Lee, Henry T. Asher, Marcus P. Blakemore, Guy L. Grant, Paul W. Caine, George W. Edmonds, Ezra D. Alexander, and Edward G. Irvin. The Founders sought one another’s company between classes and dropped by one another’s places of lodging to further discuss the means of formulating the fledgling fraternity in an effort to relieve the depressing isolation. They found that through these close interactions, they had common interests, and a close bond began to emerge. The organization was given the temporary name of Alpha Omega while they further developed the formation of the organization. Diggs presided as president, while Irvin was assigned as interim secretary of Alpha Omega. Alpha and Omega, the Greek alphabet’s first and last letters, correlate to Christ and the Founder’s relationship and connection to the church.
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. Their experiences at Howard gave rise to the chief motivating spirits that sowed the seed for a fraternity at Indiana University and crystallized the idea of establishing an independent Greek letter organization.
Consequently, eight other men met with Diggs and Armstrong for the purpose of organizing such a fraternity. The charter members were Elder Watson Diggs, Byron K. Armstrong, John M. Lee, Henry T. Asher, Marcus P. Blakemore, Guy L. Grant, Paul W. Caine, George W. Edmonds, Ezra D. Alexander, and Edward G. Irvin. The Founders sought one another’s company between classes and dropped by one another’s places of lodging to further discuss the means of formulating the fledgling fraternity in an effort to relieve the depressing isolation. They found that through these close interactions, they had common interests, and a close bond began to emerge. The organization was given the temporary name of Alpha Omega while they further developed the formation of the organization. Diggs presided as president, while Irvin was assigned as interim secretary of Alpha Omega. Alpha and Omega, the Greek alphabet’s first and last letters, correlate to Christ and the Founder’s relationship and connection to the church.
On January 5, 1911, the fraternity was originally known as Kappa Alpha Nu, possibly as a tribute to the Black students of 1903 (the Alpha Kappa Nu Fraternity) who preceded them at Indiana University. These men of vision decided Kappa Alpha Nu would be more than another social organization. It would be the only Greek letter organization founded with the concept of achievement. Kappa Alpha Nu began uniting college men of culture, patriotism, and honor in a Bond of fraternity. The fraternity was primarily founded under the efforts and leadership of the calm, methodical, and philosophical Elder W. Diggs and the critical and scholarly Byron K. Armstrong. Through their combined labors, the fraternity’s ritual and ceremonial forms, constitution, hymn, and motto were created, and insignia and emblems were fashioned. Taking careful attention to detail and ensuring the fraternity was rooted in authenticity, these Founder Diggs took courses in Greek heraldry and mythology and applied their combined knowledge to develop these articles. The idealist John Milton Lee also contributed significantly to the fledgling organization. For their work to establish the fraternity, Diggs was named permanent chairman; Lee was designated as secretary, and Armstrong as sergeant-at-arms. These three Founders are credited with guiding the infant fraternity through the most perilous years of its life. Each of the remaining Founders provided capable assistance by furnishing necessary sustenance to the embryonic group. Kappa Alpha Nu became the first incorporated Black fraternity in the United States once granted a charter by the Indiana Secretary of State on May 15, 1911.
On January 5, 1911, the fraternity was originally known as Kappa Alpha Nu, possibly as a tribute to the Black students of 1903 (the Alpha Kappa Nu Fraternity) who preceded them at Indiana University. These men of vision decided Kappa Alpha Nu would be more than another social organization. It would be the only Greek letter organization founded with the concept of achievement. Kappa Alpha Nu began uniting college men of culture, patriotism, and honor in a Bond of fraternity. The fraternity was primarily founded under the efforts and leadership of the calm, methodical, and philosophical Elder W. Diggs and the critical and scholarly Byron K. Armstrong. Through their combined labors, the fraternity’s ritual and ceremonial forms, constitution, hymn, and motto were created, and insignia and emblems were fashioned. Taking careful attention to detail and ensuring the fraternity was rooted in authenticity, these Founder Diggs took courses in Greek heraldry and mythology and applied their combined knowledge to develop these articles. The idealist John Milton Lee also contributed significantly to the fledgling organization. For their work to establish the fraternity, Diggs was named permanent chairman; Lee was designated as secretary, and Armstrong as sergeant-at-arms. These three Founders are credited with guiding the infant fraternity through the most perilous years of its life. Each of the remaining Founders provided capable assistance by furnishing necessary sustenance to the embryonic group. Kappa Alpha Nu became the first incorporated Black fraternity in the United States once granted a charter by the Indiana Secretary of State on May 15, 1911.
Kappa Alpha Psi®, now comprised of functioning Undergraduate and Alumni Chapters on major campuses and in cities throughout the country, is the crystallization of a dream. It is the beautiful realization of a vision shared commonly by the late Revered Founders that enabled them 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 a fact that Kappa Alpha Psi® is proud that its Constitution has never contained any clause that either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin.
Kappa Alpha Psi® is the 2nd oldest existing collegiate historically Black Greek letter fraternity and the 1st intercollegiate fraternity incorporated as a national body. It is the first Greek letter organization to establish its Alpha Chapter on Indiana University’s campus. The fraternity has over 250,000 members with 700 undergraduate and alumni chapters in nearly every state of the United States, and thirteen international chapters in Nigeria, South Africa, Bermuda, Bahamas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Panama, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Abu Dhabi, Canada, and Japan.
Through its worldwide prominence, Kappa Alpha Psi® has had a global impact on events that affect our local communities and places around the globe. Local chapters of Kappa Alpha Psi® participate in community outreach activities to feed the homeless, provide scholarships to young people matriculating to college, serve as mentors to young men, participate in blood drives, and serve as hosts of seminars for public health awareness, to name a few. Nationally, Kappa Alpha Psi® has provided summer enrichment camps and funds for St. Jude Medical Research Center to assist in the fight against childhood catastrophic diseases by raising more than $1 Million. Internationally, Kappa Alpha Psi® members have answered the call to service by proudly serving our military in wars since WWI and raising funds to assist those in need following natural disasters worldwide, including hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, and earthquakes.
Kappa Alpha Psi® proudly boasts of members who epitomize the essence of “Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor.” Some of these members include Ralph Abernathy, Wilt Chamberlin, Montell Jordan, Benjamin Jealous, Oscar Robertson, Cedric the Entertainer, Arthur Ashe, Mike Tomlin, Gayle Sayers, Adrian Fenty, Robert S. Abbott, Bennie Thompson, Donald Byrd, Johnnie Cochran, Ed Gardner, Smokie Norful, John Singleton, Tom Bradley, Bob Johnson, John Conyers, Alcee Hastings, Lerone Bennett, Jr., Kwame Jackson, Bill Russell, Tavis Smiley, Marvin Sapp, and Colin Kaepernick to name a few.
Beaumont TX Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi® Fraternity Inc.
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