Rebuilding Community

SSU News

When he took on the task of inviting guests from around the country to a celebration he agreed to organize honoring Kappa Alpha Psi’s 30-year history at Sonoma State University, Malik-Charles Wade knew it wouldn’t be easy. After all, even though the international, predominantly African-American fraternity founded at Indiana University in 1911 has been on campus for three decades, Wade, a music major scheduled to graduate next spring, is currently the only member of Sonoma State’s Mu Omega chapter.Now he was taking the lead planning a three-day campus celebration and reunion scheduled to begin Friday, July 28 with a banquet in the Student Center for some 100 fraternity brothers, family members and friends. There is also a “Step N Stroll” contest and a guest DJ from Howard University the following night, a barbeque and other activities through Sunday. A centerpiece of the weekend will be a commemoration celebrating Leroy Worthy, who chartered the fraternity at Sonoma State and passed away a few months ago. Members say it was the first Greek organization on campus at the time.
No sooner did the organizing begin when some members coming from as far away as Georgia questioned why the celebration wasn’t being held elsewhere. The skeptics reminded Wade that only about 2 percent of the university’s current undergraduates are African-American. In Kappa Alpha Psi’s early years, they pointed out, the portion of African-American students on campus was more than twice as high.
“A lot of guys are coming back who have not seen the campus for some time,” said Eldrid Bryant, a former Sonoma State football player and 2001 graduate who now owns and operates an airport shuttle in and around Los Angeles. “We want to raise visibility and awareness because when you have a truly diverse community, it helps people learn more about each other than just failing into the ...

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