PRAIRIE VIEW ALPHAS ARE TOP SW REGIONAL AWARD WINNERS

The Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Eta Gamma Chapter at Prairie View A&M University and Epsilon Tau Lambda Chapter in Prairie View are celebrating its three-peat win of the Charles H. Wesley Brotherhood Award at the Southwest Regional Convention, held in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 24-27, 2022.                           
                                                        The chapters’ win was based on their participation in the organization’s national programs and special Initiatives, to include support for Project Alpha (male mentoring), A Voteless People is a Hopeless People (voter education), Go to High School, Go to College, Brother’s Keeper (service for widows/senior Alphas), Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the March of Dimes at the university and the in the community at large. Representing the Texas Council of Alpha Chapters for the fourth straight year was icing on the cake for the Brothers who also won the National Award in 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The Chapters will compete for the National Award in July. 

In addition to the Wesley Award, members the Eta Gamma Chapter won the Scrap Book Award and 1^st Runner-up in the Collegiate Scholars Bowl (James Jones, Stannarj Knowles, Bryan Robinson and Ryan Turner), with Brothers Ryan Turner as 1^st Runner-up with the Brother with the Highest GPA and Wiston Ocoro winning 2nd Place in the Belford Lawson Oratorical Contest, respectively. Brothers James Jones and Ryan Turner received 2^nd Place in the Hobart Jared Debate Contest. 

The Alumni Brother of the Year Award went to Frederick V. Roberts for his service to the fraternity and community at large.  The chapters and Brother Roberts will compete for the National Award in July.

Aside from the Awards, the convention provided several opportunities for brothers to enhance their leadership development, chapter management and program development in the various workshops.  The Brothers also participated in a visit to the local middle and elementary schools and the historic Black Wall Street District and the National Museum of Tulsa in the Greenwood District a bustling cultural and economic haven for Tulsa’s Black residents, home to a theater, restaurants, banks and doctors’ offices. On May 31, 1921, a white mob turned Greenwood upside down in one of the worst racial massacres in U.S. history. In the matter of hours, 35 square blocks of the vibrant Black community were turned into smoldering ashes. Countless Black people were killed — estimates ranged from 55 to more than 300 — and 1,000 homes and businesses were looted and set on fire. Several initiatives are taking place to help restore some of the business and to provide compensations to the families who lost their families and properties in devastation.

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity is the first fraternity for Black college men was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. 

Stannarj Knowles is president of Eta Gamma Chapter and Jarrick Brown is president of Epsilon Tau Lambda Chapter.  For information on the Prairie View Chapters, visit epsilontaulambda.com.