Where’s the main one hold on i can’t change my name man i gotta figure out how to do this oh i’m sorry we’re good mr pearson yeah we’re good i’m about to shout out the link now maybe won’t get it you need one second so all right yes we can start now okay
Good afternoon everyone my name’s shane and brooks and i’m a senior and i will be starting oh wait someone let me out okay hi everyone my name is shannon and i’m currently a senior and in the fall i’ll be attending the university of pennsylvania i’ll pass it on to my co-host aaron
My name is aaron i’m also a senior and i’ll be attending drexel university in the fall and thank you for everyone for coming to the democracy prep harlem high school ethnic studies black history month for the denying divine nine panhellenic council what is the divine nine since 1930 the national panhelleni hellenic
Hellenic council has served the premier organization for african american fraternities and sororities they are not historically black greek letter organizations that make up the panhellenic council collectively these organizations are referred to as the divine on what are historically black fraternities and sororities their organizations forum to create community awareness and action
Through educational economic and cultural service activities each of the nine nphc organizations evolved during a period when african-americans were being denied essential rights and privileges afforded others now introducing the divine nine So introducing our first um fraternity is alpha phi alpha the history of alpha phi alpha the first intercollegiate greek letter fraternity established for african-american men was founded on december 4th 1906 at cornell university in ethical new york by seven college men who recognize the need for a strong bond of brotherhood
Among african descendants in this country the mission of alpha phi alpha was to develop leaders promotes brotherhood and academic excellence while providing service and advocacy for our communities some of the notable members are marlin king the commercial jesse owens and ralph warnock i’ll be introducing alpha kappa alpha
Sorority incorporated also known as aka it’s a international service organization that was founded on the campus of howard university in washington dc in 1908 it is the oldest greek letter organization established by african-american college-educated women the mission of akas is to cultivate and encourage high school scholastic and
Ethical standards to promote unity and friendship among college women to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature to maintain a progressive interest in college life and to be of service to all mankind some notable members are coretta scott king tony morrison
Felicia rashad and kamala harris the next fraternity on our list is kappa al-fasad fraternity a predominantly african american greek letter fraternity was founded on january 5th 1911 on the campus of indiana university it is the first greek letter organization founded on founded the west of the appalachian mountains
The mission of this fraternity is to effectively manage and develop strategic relationships through international office with corporate partners and friends through these strategic relationships it is our pledge to promote the support and execute the national program in strategic direction of the grand chapter for the good of the kalpa alpha assad fraternity
As one kappa their notable members include colin kaepernick mark lamont hill cedric the entertainer and mike tomlin our next one is omega scifi the history of omega scifi it is the first international fraternal organization founded on the campus of a historically black college november 17th 11th omega sophomore was founded inside
Inside the science building later renamed dirk hill hall at howard university located in washington dc the mission of omega side fraternity was to bring about union of college men of similar ideals of of scholarship in manhattan in order to stimulate the attainment of ideas and ambitions of its members
Occupy a progressive helpful and constructive place in the political life of community and nation and foster humanity freedom and dignity of the individual and aid downtrodden humanity and its efforts to achieve higher economic intellectual status their notable members include langston hills steve harvey michael jordan and shaquille o’neal
I will now be introducing delta sigma data which was founded on january 13 1913 by 22 collegiate women at howard university these students wanted to use their collective strength to promote academic excellence and to provide assistance to those in needs the mission of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated is an organization of college-educated
Women committed to the constructive development of its members into public service with their primary focus on the black community some notable members are shirley chisholm cecilia tyson k michelle keisha knight pullum are you done all right the history of five beta sigma is was founded at howard university in
Washington dc january 9 1914 by three young african-american male students the founders of the honorable langston taylor honorable leonard m morris and honorable charles l brown wanted to organize a greek a fraternity that would truly exemplify the ideals of brotherhood scholarship and service the mission of the of the five beta sigma
As the as the are the fraternities most valuable research and strength they’re the primary they are the primary means by which the phi beta sigma objectifies will be achieved in order to accomplish their attorney’s objectives is essential that the systems are instituted effectively embody culture for service and service for humanity and promote
Brotherhood scholarship and service their notable members are george washington carver huey p newton john lewis and victor j glover i will now be introducing zeta phi beta sorority incorporated which was founded on january 16 1920 at howard university located in washington dc the claim was very active during this
Period and during this period in the harlem renaissance was acknowledged as the first important movement of black artists and writers in the us the mission is to foster the ideas of service charities scholarship civil and cultural endeavors sisterhood and finer womanhood some notable members is zora neale hurston burnett
Johnson selena johnson and tawanda braxton next we have sigma gamma rho sorority incorporated which was organized on november 12 1922 in indianapolis indiana by seven young educators the women of sigma gamma rho have built and sustained a well-known and well-respected reputation for leading positive change to help uplift the community through
Sisterhood leadership and service the mission of sigma gamma rho sorority incorporated is to enhance the quality of life for women and their families in the us and globally through community service civil and social action our goal is to achieve greater progress in the areas of education health awareness and leadership
Development our members affiliates staff and community partners work to create and support initiatives that align with our vision some notable members is georgia davis powers dan mary eugenia charles robin kelly arkham and carmelo carmelita the iota phi theta on september 19 1963 at morgan’s morgan state college now morgan state university
12 students founded what is now known as the nation’s fifth largest predominantly african-american social service returning the iota 5 theta as iodified data continues to grow and strengthen so its commitment to make beautiful contributions in society in general with particular emphasis with particular emphasis on the african-american community throughout america the iowa
Phi theta has become represented excellence on in all areas the fraternity is and shall forever remain dedicated to its founders the vision of building tradition not resting upon them its notable members are spencer christian terency carson kendrick javon dean and jason manuel olazabal now it’s time to introduce the panelists
Please introduce the in organization order and can you please state your name school and what organization do you represent all right my name is uh faith being boone i graduated in 2010 from indiana university i am a member of alpha phi alpha fraternity incorporated
Hi my name is kiefa i am a member of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated i attended st john’s university and i became a member in 2008. Okay sorry all right um cool so my name is imani wallace and i am a member of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated i attended syracuse university for undergrad and i became a member in spring 2016. my bad y’all we messed up the order slightly we definitely did it’s all right
Now you weren’t next i was asking eric to go i thought eric was going to go somewhere i was like i was like so there’s no character i know he was asking me back he was trying to follow the protocol um all right since i’m here my name is
Ryan samuels i graduated from buffalo state college in 2014 and i’m a brother of american sci-fi fraternity incorporated okay i’ll go um my name’s sev carrington uh my name is seth carrington i am a member of cap bible science fraternity incorporated and i graduated from the university at albany in 2011.
So i guess i’m just gonna assume they know who you are eric um um damian gates i graduated from the pennsylvania state university in 2012 i’m a member of phi beta sigma fraternity incorporated i’m a fall 2009 initiate and that’s all i’ve got for you guys right now
I’m james cornelius member of omega scifi fraternity incorporated a graduate of suny buffalo state college initiated spring 13. i think i’m next hi kings and queens my name is carlotta pope i am a member a proud member of sigma gamma rose already incorporated um i come from suny o westbury and
I’m excited to be here thank you let me just put out there that um the lady i was dating five beta sorority incorporated she’s running a little bit late because she had to finish up um some scholarship work that she was work that she was currently working on so she should be assuredly
So shannon you can go forth um you and aaron go off and um answer questions thank you for all your introductions i’ll be asked the series of questions that anyone can answer specific organization so yes anyone can answer any question anyone can answer any one of you can
Answer the questions um so it doesn’t have to be in any order shannon we ask you a question because it’s a little glitchy okay what made you join your specific organization hi this is kefa i guess i um i will go ahead and start with this question um it was actually
Uh can everyone hear me okay okay thank you i’m sorry um it was actually a very easy decision for me to choose alpha kappa alpha sworn incorporated simply because um a lot of the women that i looked up to as a child in high school even in college
Were um all members of valve kappa alpha sorority incorporated and it was an easy decision just because i wanted to be a part of that legacy and you know it’s been 13 years and i have not regret that decision so it was easy for me it’s not always easy for everyone else
Actually i’ll piggyback off of that one so i actually didn’t know uh what fraternity i wanted to be in until i actually got to penn state um all my life i kind of was told that i was supposed to be something uh like oh you look like an
Alpha oh you’re smart you should be an alpha or you should be something else um so i actually got to penn state thinking i was going to be an alpha like yeah i can’t wait you know um and then i went to the greek involvement fair and i met brothers from my chapter
Um i started to see like who was involved on campus where i could see myself fitting in ultimately i chose five beta sigma because i fell in love with my chapter and um i liked what they were doing on campus and i think for me the biggest thing was
Even though i was joining an organization i felt like everyone in the chapter was an individual and i could be myself and i think a lot of times when you make that choice to choose whatever organization you want to be in you would also want to make sure that it’s
The right choice for you not the most popular or whatever the case may be um so yeah um for myself um a few of my high school a few of my close high school friends um were already um you know brothers of a mega sci-fi and for me
I’ve always had this zeal of a friendship of wanting friendship i knew little to nothing about uh fraternal life lifestyle um of jamaican descent grew up in new york city so when i went away and i see my friends and i’m like oh wow like you guys
Are this and then me with you know just having my historical background and things of that nature i just want to say like the universe is kind of aligned for me you know just friendship and the idea of it surrounded with just me wanting to just be something important be a pioneer
Um of some sort if you will and um you know it just made it just made sense for me um and one plus two i mean excuse me one plus one equals two um for me my story was a little different i started off as a rower which is like the high school
Version of my sorority and it was like the definition of black girl magic for me it was seeing like positive um figures like my mentor today i still want to be like her and i aspire to be like her and we’re still connected right and i’m
That’s 15 years ago and for me once i got into college it was trying to figure out i was exposed to this at high school but things change is this still for me and i had to fall in love with my organization and something that damian said is not for
Popularity it’s like you choosing an org that’s perfect for you and for me my organization was perfect because like my founders were radical and i’m radical so it’s just the line for me it was like not trying to be cliche it was that divine connection from the age of 15 and still manifesting
Now so i think um you have to feel that and then that continues as you go to a different type of love and dedication to your organization uh pay you back or for her i have a similar story uh growing up in buffalo new york we have a
Mentoring program called omega mentor um most of my friends growing up were involved in it including my dean and two of my mentors still to this day um so i’ve got to see my chapter bros like through my whole life even though i wasn’t a part of the program i was
Always around it and i it always made me wonder like what is that why are they always so close or why they always doing something secretive and i can’t be around like so it triggered you know something in me to be like i’m gonna find out what it is and when i
Got to college you know after uh my football career was over you know i started uh seeking out omega and you know i learned more and more as an interest and then finally got down and developed more bonds and friendships over the years including one of my neos he’s cat but i
Still love him ryan but you know it just fell in line and i got friendships uh to this day that’ll last a lifetime sure i guess i can answer um i not i don’t want to be long-winded but i know that um for me it was also just a
Very easy decision everyone who um was in my life um growing up and um you know prior to college um all the powerful women that i looked up to were all the sigma theta sorority incorporated um and and that included my mother um and not saying that i only joined the
Organization because of my mother but knowing the the type of work and being influenced by the type of work that my mom has done as well as the other women in my life why i knew as mentors who were also douses knowing and seeing the work that they’ve done and the
Impact that they had on me by the time i got to my college campus um the chapter that i joined right it was at that time right it was the only chapter um that i saw on my campus that was actually doing good work and um and still does to this day
And so um i uh it was just it was a very um simple decision for me um and but to add an extra layer to it my i’m a chapter legacy so my mother was also um came through the chapter that i’m a part of as well and so
Um and so i always kind of was familiar with the the type of work that my chapter does and and my organization does and so in learning about the history and learning about the impact um and learning about the woman who i was surrounded by it it just encouraged me and influenced
Me to know that like these women in this organization can enhance the person who i am i already have to be that person before um before this organization but but the organization can enhance the person that i am and so that is what um you know that is why i joined my organization
Nice um a little bit different uh when i got the first got to college i didn’t know what fraternities or sororities were at all uh i mean i grew up in predominantly black neighborhoods but i had all white teachers so i wasn’t really talked about when uh in schools
And so i just remember going to my football player i went to the party with my football teammates and i was just wondering like who these dudes strolling around uh messing up uh messing up the party i know i know we’re strongest knew that was in sync and so
Fast forward a couple of years uh i met one of my pro fights now and we became real cool friends and he would always invite me over we play gang video games whatever and then be a bunch of him and his hit my now brothers over there but i would always have to
Leave and so i was just wondering like why they kicking me out and what’s going on this secretive and i just asked him one day and he told me he said apartment this fraternity and i just started doing my research and then uh alpha was the
The choice for me even though i went to a school where the the capitals were founded alpha was the choice for me okay um i think my journey was um you know i was actually a transfer uh at the university of albany’s uh university at old me i’m sorry and uh
You know one of my close friends uh he was actually a member already at the time and i kind of wind up becoming cool with the other members just like subconsciously because i was a transfer i didn’t really have any friends and you know long story short they kind
Of you know embraced me as they own i would you know very family oriented very brotherly as a transfer with like no friends in a new university so i kind of just naturally jailed with them you know like-minded individuals a lot of brothers from uh you know single parent households who kind of
Value brotherhood the same way as i do which is one of the main reasons that i joined the organization and they kind of took off from there you know they helped me with everything you know as far as like picking classes you know dormitory everything
A lot of stuff that they didn’t have to do uh we kind of built that connection based off you know how we gelled for you know me as a transfer and an organization and you know they had the informational and i just sought more information because i didn’t
Know much about uh greek life before i attended university at old man i actually uh attended a community college before then who didn’t have uh greek life so you know once i transferred you know we kind of built that connection and you know that’s how that kicked off
You know okay so i’m going to our next question um it is what what sets your organization aside from other organizations and makes it unique but yeah um all any of you can answer it’s fine you don’t have to speak you don’t feel comfortable but um we appreciate your response
There’s no order i could just speak if i want to um for the brothers i’ll say you know no to anyone or anybody else other organization i could just speak on us you know friendship is essential to us so we pride ourselves on friendship and um you know a scholarship our most
Important principle so those two things i would say is what will set us apart not saying other organizations are not you know scholars but you know when you see a bro no matter where you’re at in the world nine times out of ten they’ve graduated from college um
And most of the time 99 of the time a bro is going to speak to another bro if he sees them whether he knows them or not and that’s how we build our bro our bonds so that’s one thing i’ll say that so that’s the part
Hi it’s keith again i guess i’ll speak next um like i said i’m a member of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated and um i feel very strongly about my organization and the fact that we are a lit organization um we can’t hear you keeper you can’t hear me yeah you aka i know
You get louder than that don’t do that wow wow hold on hold on aka that’s in this room i’m showing i got her if she needs me to speak because i can support her because that’s what we do just in case if you guys can’t hear me
So keitha you can speak a little bit louder since the other cap since the captain of space didn’t think that you had it in you but if you would like to add i can’t support it i mean i can continue to speak but if you can’t hear me
Just a little bit louder for him just so you can prove that you got this to drown you out because we’re not going to do that today turn up your volume a little bit okay my organization i’m a member of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated i have been since 2008 and
The thing that i love most about my organization is that for me personally the love has grown um with the organization at the longer i’ve been a member of the organization the more my love for it has grown i don’t i can’t speak for anybody else in other organizations but
I know for a fact that a lot of my other sorority sisters can say the same thing it’s very rare that you joined something at 18 19 20 and then in your 30s you still agree with that decision there’s a lot of decision that i made in college that right now i’m thinking
Like oh my god what was i thinking but alpha kappa alpha is not one of those things um i feel like what sets us apart is the fact that we are we were first um when it comes to sororities so i feel as though our legacy um is a little deeper it’s a
Little richer than other other organizations some may disagree but i do not um i just love the fact that my organization has grown for 113 it’s not only grown it’s adapted to the times and that’s what sets us apart if everyone is done answering the
Question i would like to move on to the next one which is what opportunities did your fraternity sorority offer you as a member oh i could um i could jump in right here um i mean first and foremost i have brothers for life um you know i might have friends
That’s going to be at my wedding it’s going to be at my funeral um you know so there’s that i’ve also i’ve also had proverbial doors open for me before i even knew about it um upon graduating from upon graduating from college um you know i got referred by zeta
To work in the school and i’ve been a teacher for six years now um i’ve met brothers all around the world like literally um that i’ve been able to like hey you know i got a i got a relative that’s this or i got somebody that’s that
I’ve been a part of like community service events and just like uh you know i definitely would say that i would have been somebody regardless of my fraternity regardless of any fraternal organization but i mean i would not be the ryan samuels in front of you without
Um omega sci-fi especially uh phi e chapter i would never i could never be who i am so just that’s just a little um you know small talking to what um she has brought me oh i think i’ll go next on this one so i want to preface my my uh statement was
Saying that at different points in my life my organization has been able to provide me with something like a bit more than what i was expecting to get i think in college uh i joined an organization not looking for brotherhood at all like i was looking for community impact i thought that i
I joined my chapter because i thought that if i joined this chapter we could save the world i really believe that you know um is to a certain extent we are but you know i had like hoop dreams uh to to kind of think about overall big picture what
I think my chapter well what my organization taught me it was a level of professionalism i went to penn state uh first generation graduate single mother uh from the bronx a little little hood you feel me so i think being in a chapter being initiated in an organization understanding where
Robert’s rules of order is how to conduct a meeting i was the treasurer for three years you know uh it’s like i learned how to turn it off and turn it on how to act in a professional setting it opened it open doors for me to meet with high-level people at pennsylvania state
University um i was invited to a leadership conference with only the top student leaders at a school where there’s 50 000 students i was one of 20. you know um that’s what my organization gave me it gave me a level of professionalism that i don’t think i could have gotten from
Any any organization that i have i was a part of i was a part of naba the national association for black accountants there wasn’t a level of professionalism that you experience that you that you get at that collegiate level unless you’re in a fraternity i mean and that goes from
The nphc all the way to panhell um you have to be in the meetings you have to be able to learn how to run them so if you want some good business experience that’s that was my very first exposure to it i don’t know if i said this but i i do
Work in finance now so a lot of the skills i learned being in my chapter and being the treasurer has helped me in my career um i’ll go after him i’m olia i’m sorry i just came in late i actually had class before this scholarship is my first principle um
I’m a member of zeta phi beta sorority incorporated um and i think i i i wanted to go right after my brother phi beta sigma fraternity incorporated because um i feel i relate to him in every aspect um and i also want to add that my organization has
Uh basically allowed me to mold myself and the woman that i want to be and the woman that i choose to be in in my future and um i i feel like it is very important that we we we really tap into the idea of final womanhood that’s our fourth principle
For those of you who don’t know and those watching um and i i think it’s important that we as an organization tap into that because it allows you know individuals who are going into college 18 19 they don’t really know what’s going on in the world and then they get into organization like
Zeta and you know they’re able to find themselves they’re able to find out who they want to be what purpose that what what’s their purpose in in life and what what they want to do to support other individuals around them and um speaking on you know the
Leadership skills and all of that stuff i was also an individual who got selected um to go to a leadership conference and it kind of it opened my eyes to see how just different you know places different countries different states and all that stuff you know it takes
It’s all it all relates back to each other so um just being able to have that source of foundation is very important um and and all of these organizations not just mine um but just to have that foundation to be backed by brotherhood and sisterhood and
Scholarship and service um it all it all plays into account of who you are as an individual and i think that’s the best thing about the d9 is that we’re we’re sacred as a whole and um it allows us to be different from everyone else
For me i think what i’ve gained the most i just wanted to add my two cents for me i just wanted to um it’s it’s joining this organization has beyond the sisterhood behind beyond the professionalism because you’re on any committee that’s professionalism that’s hr um like ryan said i was gonna be someone
Anyway because i’m blessed for my mother’s womb however i think joining my sorority has given me so much perks like i had a quest um to travel 30 countries by 30. and when i would go in the airport i’m talking about basic things like getting upgraded to first class because
A member of imani’s sorority a delta sigma theta thought it was hey sis you were d9 let me upgrade you for free like things like that um learning about community and learning about my own identity i think those are the biggest things that i could have learned from my sorority thus far
And i hope to learn more because it’s something that is ever evolving you can answer the next question um as you guys know most people watching this including me and shin and we are in high school so we were wondering what are some of the programs you guys offer high schoolers
And how can we get information on your fraternities and sororities uh so i think everybody kind of talked about their heist their organization or most people talked about their high school their organization’s high school uh program so the sigma five bit of sigma’s is called the sigma beta club
If you are interested or you want to know the closest chapter i suggest you sign on you log into pbs1914.org and you can get all the information about your local sigma beta chapter there thank you um um next question is do you have to pay to be insured um so
Excuse me yes you have to pay in both fraternities and sororities um it obviously uh varies from organization to organization um some people may be put off at the initial amount in which you know application fees and things of that nature may cost however um what’s included
I can speak for uh my fraternal organization what’s included is um a couple of years of um financial eligibility if you will which which means that you are paying dues towards your organization you’re paying it towards your district you’re paying it towards your organization you’re paying it towards your chapter
Um for a short response uh could i just jump in um just backtracking to your previous question about how you can learn more about the organization so you all already um have institutions assured for sure attending um in the fall right so um so i would just go on your institutions
Website and see what organizations they have on their campuses um and then um you know look through their student affairs landing page and see like you know what’s actually even um offered um at those institutions and then um you know i guess do your research on those um
Uh those particular chapters right um if you were a little younger um there are programs like for my organization there’s programs like delta gems and delta academy but that’s literally when you’re like youth like between the ages of like 12 and like 18 or something like that um you all are like
Kind of like about to graduate from high school and be on your way so um if i were you all do that and then um as far as i paying uh ryan pretty much already said said that yes there is a fee but does it feed me in any organization
Um like i’m a member of new york urban league like we have to pay dues every year like there’s a fee even when you’re even when you’re in um even when you’re in college like there’s like when you join clubs and other things like that
Like i was on the step team for four years like we had to pay dues every semester like dudes just go towards like the the functional like funds the operating funds of that that organization so that you all can uh do things um so so yeah but um there’s always ways to um
I guess try to you know receive some sort of like help if like the the amount is like you know something that you feel like you is is immediately unaffordable um there’s ways to like you know try and find um you know help in terms of like
You know um acquiring funds or if you if you know that this is something that you want to do then you kind of like you know save up towards that or you know um plan for that so just be fiscally responsible when you’re in college because being fiscally
Responsible in general like even as an adult like post college it’s just an important skill to learn from from a younger age um don’t go to college and like blow you know all your money and not save anything and all of that you’ll you’ll end up in a really bad place yeah
Oh just to the point on the deuce piece right um i know like we all like it’s a like you know a fraternity sorority like they’re all social groups but we’re organizations everyone announced that their organization is incorporated we’re businesses so your dues are part of the organization’s revenue
It allows it to function right it allows your chapter to throw events it allows you to it allows you guys to have to throw uh community service engagement things like so what i will say in terms of how much it costs as uh ryan says it varies but you know we pay
For you you pay for you pay for everything in life uh that’s the first lesson i can give you as an adult every you pay to play right um and then from just thinking about it like a lot of people say use the term like buy your friends
Well i’m i’m actually a testimony to not buying your friends right because i i got on i had zero dollars i was working three jobs at the most expensive school in the country at the time and like i wasn’t turned away my my line brothers got up all the money for me
And i became a sigma for free you know essentially i had to pay them back but like i think that speaks more to like the bond of these organizations and i’m sure everyone else has a story like that and it brings back to my original point that
At a different time in my life my organization has been something for me that i needed at that time um so i wanted to touch back on the question of what do we offer high school students it all went so fast i didn’t get a chance to speak but
My organization is currently gifting the gift of education and we’ll be giving a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to a high school senior um and the application calls february 28th so um i guess if you guys would like more information about that you can email eric and i’ll send the
Information to eric and he can send it to you guys um okay um i’m gonna move on to our next question do all nine of your organizations ever come together for like a project or do you guys work together so is it just each majority fraternity and sorority or do y’all
You know enter tomorrow speak on that uh i know at our campus um we uh when we when i was on the yard we had a lot of collabs whether that’s with uh akas and we used to do this thing called alpha depot and so
Us and aka is partnering with a bunch of uh either uh sororities attorneys from other uh councils outside of uh uh npac and then and built a house for a weekend um sometimes us in the capitals we were part we had a a pool party every summer that we put together um
Us and the zetas we also partner partner a lot doing different um events throughout the campus whether that’s getting people registered to vote um handing out food to the homeless uh volunteering all those different things so i think it just depends on uh like at the beginning of the year
When you’re meeting at your chapter and you’re setting like those goals and what you want to accomplish and who you feel like uh will help you get those goals accomplished the best but there is a lot of collaborations throughout of the year um would anyone else like to add on i
Think for me um where i’ve seen like the most collaboration is like after undergraduate right so like undergrad there’s this rivalry and yeah we respect each other um but it’s kind of like you’re made to like be your own but when i went to graduate school it was nice to see how
The work still continues and as adults we’re really trying to change our community and i think that has been the most powerful thing for me and like the message that the work still continues after you leave in whichever way you choose to go about it so i think that’s has been the most
Beautiful thing and look at us being on this panel right we’re all here so this is a perfect example about how we are able to come together it’s like siblings you might not like them or whatever but eventually you love each other because you’re family um i think that this is the last
Question because i don’t want to go too much over time but is greek like just like how they showed in the movies and like tv shows wouldn’t even like to do i would like to i would like to um talk about that right so i like to say that
Greek life is a microcosm of black culture um and what i mean about that is you know rowan 65 you know 100 years ago to the origins of our organizations um black uh black and brown people men and women we were all we had right like you know
If there were a hundred black people on campus 99 of them would be in fraternities and sororities right we were all we had we were forced to collab we were forced to do all of those things um as black culture has gone away from gone away from that in in many facets
So has um our fraternities and sororities it’s not it’s not terrible but it’s also not where you’re not speaking myself um it’s not where we would like it to be but it’s not woe is me it’s crazy with that being said um you know let you know we can call a
Spade a spade there are some truths to what may be um shown on tv things of that nature but sometimes when people don’t know something um you know like uh mystery things of that nature might breed negativity and things of that nature and somehow some way
That what we know who’s all on this panel we may see it on tv and we’re like what the heck is that right um so i say all of that to say that um greek life is a microcosm of of black culture um but don’t always believe what you see on tv
Because it’s it’s television it’s kind of lied to your vision but i’m not ahead of um this is keepa i don’t know if you guys can all hear me um but i just wanted to say that yes greek life is kind of like what you see on tv
Um can you still hear me okay and at the same time it’s not you have to make the experience yours um you can’t just watch tv and expect like to just jump in and be like yeah that’s what i’m gonna do you have to make it yours and just like there are different
Organizations there’s gonna be different chapters different experiences you have to bring yourself out of it so if you are a social person and that’s what you like you like to go to parties or whatever there’s going to be an aspect of greek life that’s for you
If that’s not for you then you don’t have to be out there stepping and partying and strolling if that’s not what you do so if that’s what you’re looking for in greek life um is the social part that you see on tv or the parties that you see on tv
Then that’s what you can find but if that’s not what you’re looking for then you don’t have to be a part of that in order to be a member of the organization oh yeah i think that uh what i will say is i don’t really know too much about
What they post on tv or anything like that about greek life because i actually really live it but what i will 100 confirm for everyone is that greek life is what you put into it right like just like anything else it’s a hundred percent of what you put into it right so like
If you are lacks a digital person that puts in no work you will be that in your chapter you’ll be that in your organization if you’re a person that goes hard in everything you do you will be that in your chapter in your organization in your life right so
Just know that like this is not something that is it’s not something that’s easy not every day is a cakewalk but essentially whatever you want out of greek life you will need to put that same effort into it in order to get it back and that’s the best way i can describe
The experience so like you you work hard you play harder not to push anyone off but thank you for those responses yes aaron so before we close out does anybody else want to add we really do thank you from democracy prep for having everyone like as many representatives of the divine
Nine here this is super helpful and enlightening for our scholars as they start to embark their their college career and just making the right decisions and just always showing them that it’s not just about social that is about service and a lifetime wrong commitment so mr
Pearson and i we will share any of the scholarships or programs so that our kids know because some of these organizations all the fashion men say some all of the organizations although the representatives here offer great opportunities for our kids and their future and this is like how we support each other right
Um anybody want to say anything because we have one last video we want to share that kind of just brings us yeah i just want to say one thing uh just to everybody uh mr pearson has my information anybody who’s a first time college student in their family they’re looking for
Mentorship they’re looking for anybody like some help navigating uh going to a pwi uh that’s a predominantly white institution please uh feel free to reach out to me it’s it’s hard at first but you could figure it out and um you’re not alone so uh mr peace and please feel free to
Forward my information to anybody who would like to get in contact with me yeah that’s a great point i was actually going to say i as well so i um why my ring light keeps going out um i was gonna say i um as well advice college students um
For an organization called harlem children’s zone and so um if and i also am a product of two pwis right so um a lot of the work that i do specializes in um in supporting students of color uh succeed at pwi so uh if if any of you
Need um any further information advice guidance et cetera et cetera um i do this professionally so you can feel free to also reach out to mr pearson who has my information as well and i could just throw my email in the chat too just quickly i just want to say thank
You to all of the panelists today thank you for the host the panelists everyone coming out i’m supporting the market you see prep youth today um i know that all the questions will not be able to be asked and answered um i have like another 10 questions that they going to
Answer so we may end up trying to do a part two um to this have a series of it um just to continue the education um of the democracy prep students so i just want to say thank you to everyone again and now we’re going to show the video again
7 eyewitness news is celebrating black history month by uncovering unsung stories across western new york tonight we are talking about philanthropy’s role in black history for hundreds of years historically black fraternities and sororities have made service a way of life 7 eyewitness news reporter taylor epps spoke with nine local organizations
About their contributions to the Community nine organizations one common goal we’re here to make sure that we all make it to the next level together known as the divine nine historically black fraternities and sororities are making a difference here in western new york we provide over the last couple of years over 20 thousand dollars
To high school graduates we adopt a school every year and members go into the school to mentor the young men ages 12 to 18. we have voter registration drives we have canned food drives many consider joining greek organizations as an experience exclusive to college but for the d-9 joining a fraternity or sorority
Is a lifelong commitment and it’s not just something that i just want to do it’s something that i live i probably devote 40 45 of my time to alpha kappa alpha each organization comes with its own rich history we started on the campus of howard university in 1908 notable
Alphas that most people know are the reverend dr martin luther king thurgood marshall locally we have mayor brian brown who’s an alpha it’s the sisterhood it’s the scholarship and service and that’s what we’re pretty much built on but it’s not all business we step as a form of celebration
There was a promotion of our just our pride and our heritage and it’s it is so deep and so rich members of the d-9 say they take pride in coming together for a common purpose in our community sometimes our needs fall by the wayside that’s why giving back and making sure
That making sure the home is taken care of is so important taylor epps 7 eyewitness news again again i want to say thank you to everyone and thank you for everyone coming out today i don’t know where i have busy days and things that we need to take care of but
I’m bad for myself mr curry shannon and aaron and all of the dp um staff and scholars i just want to say thank you hope everyone has a good day a blessed day and has a good rest of your week everyone can sign out now and everyone
Take care thank you again and i will definitely um send out the information that you have provided in the chat to all other scholars here good afternoon brothers and sisters thank you bob stop live streaming thank you stop live streaming thank you
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