Members from the Alpha Alpha Beta Sigma Alumni Chapter presented Cleveland Browns star and fellow Sigma Braylon Edwards with their first annual Renaissance Distinguished Service Award. The award was presented at the Cruise 1 Finale Yacht Party at the Whitney Restaurant hosted by the Braylon Edwards Foundation.
 
Chapter members Kevin Davis – First Vice President, Julius Readus, and Jason Gilmore – President attended the star studded event to present the award to Edwards on behalf of their chapter. “Our chapter could think of no one more humble than or as deserving as the first recipient of this award as Braylon,” Gilmore says. “His unselfish dedication to addressing and meeting the needs of underserved youth is outstanding. As a Sigma, Braylon exemplifies the merits of our fraternal motto: culture for service and service for humanity.” The Renaissance Distinguished Service Award is presented to individuals who exemplify the merits of community volunteerism while achieving goals at the highest level of excellence.   more »

Black Greek Network has proudly partnered with the leading provider of Greek websites and web-based communication tools for Greeks! As a special promotion to launch this partnership, Black Greek Network will be giving away 10 free custom websites over the next 2 months.  To enter this contest you must fill out this online form and enter the discount code "BlackGreekNetwork".  Even if you don't win, your house is instantly eligible for a 10% discount just for entering.  Also, we promise that 10 sites will be given away and to verify this, the winners will be announced on this site along with a review from a few of the officers from the winning houses   more »

Albany State University has named W. Frank Wilson director of the Center for the African American Male.
 
Wilson, a graduate of William Bryant High School in Moultrie, will oversee the center’s day-to-day activities while developing collaborative relations throughout Southwest Georgia. His duties will also include developing programs that help to support the growth and development of young men in the university’s 26-county service area.

“Frank brings a great deal of experience in developing and managing programs to enhance the marketability of young people including his recent roles as a career counselor in    more »

Constance Iona Slaughter-Harvey, attorney and president of Elections Inc., will be guest speaker at a meet-and-greet elected officials dinner on July 21.

The semi-formal affair is sponsored by Meridian Alumna Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. “Empowering Communities for the Future” is the theme of the social action gala.

Slaughter-Harvey earned her bachelor’s degree (political science and economics) cum laude from Tougaloo College in May 1967. She was elected president of the Student Government Association becoming the first female to serve in that capacity. She was the first African American female to receive a law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1970.   more >>

Three suspended Southern Illinois University Carbondale students are suing the university and five of its employees for racial discrimination stemming from an alleged 2004 sorority hazing incident.

Monet Williams, Tequeira Johnson and Nakia Collins - members of the historically black Zeta Phi Beta sorority - claim the university disciplined them differently because they were black. The university, however, contends that no racial discrimination took place and referred to incidents where both black and white students in SIUC's Greek system were suspended.
 
The civil case was filed in 2005 and is before the U.S. Federal Court for the Southern District of Illinois in Benton. Richard Fedder, the Carbondale attorney representing the three women, said the trial date was postponed Thursday until the week of Sept. 17.

The claim stems from an alleged hazing that took place from Oct. 3 to Oct. 7, 2004. About a month later, SIUC student Chantal Conley filed a report with the university police department, claiming she was hazed and hit by a wooden paddle during Zeta's initiation process.   more >>

In 2006, a Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge ended up in the emergency room, his blood alcohol level a dangerous 0.49 percent -- more than six times the legal driving limit. The pledge recovered, but university officials rightly suspended Sigma Phi.

No one should have to die for such activities to stop. There has not been a hazing-related death at the Purdue unless you count the 1913 death that occurred during a "traditional battle under a water tank," according to Hank Nuwer, author of Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge-Drinking. But hazing can kill. In 2005 a 21-year-old man died during a fraternity hazing at California State University, Chico. Cause of death? Water intoxication, which caused the swelling of his brain and lungs.   more >>

It was a night for memories and new beginnings -- a night for coming of age, and for ping tribute to traditions, manners and social graces. The occasion: Zeta Phi Beta Sorority's annual Debutante and Masters Ball. Twelve young women dressed in elegant white gowns, each escorted by a tuxedoed master, made their bows to society at the Hilton Airport Hotel in Fort Lauderdale.

The affair is more than a dinner dance. During a nine-week period, debs attend workshops and seminars that address issues that include social and table etiquette, walking, curtsying, dancing, and succeeding in job interviews. Masters -- the term assigned to the young men who escort them -- also attend classes.   more >>

 

The Kappas are seeking donations for a Summertime Santa program to run through July 20. The fraternity wants to know how to contact a deserving person or family, why they deserve a July Christmas, and a "wish list" that would make life easier on them.

But there's another thing: The Kappas want Summertime Santa recipients to help other needy people.

"It's a two-fold thing," said Kappa member Glenn Nelson, 31. "We want people to nominate families, but we want the recipients to help others."   more >>

An Ohio man has admitted providing prostitution services at fraternity gatherings across the United States.

Kevin Murphy pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Toledo to five criminal charges, The (Toledo) Blade reported.

Investigators say Murphy used his ties to members of Alpha Phi Alpha, a fraternity that held its 100th-anniversary convention last year in Washington, to get business. Delegates were offered escort services provided by "Janelle's Sophisticated Ladies" and "Erotic Angels."   more >> 

 

Stepping is a known art form in black fraternities and sororities, but stepping also serves as a representation of Black History.

Senior Brandon Bartley, a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., places emphasis on how stepping has distinguished black culture for centuries.

"I think stepping is what separates us Black Greek-lettered organizations from other fraternities because it represents our past culture and the way we express ourselves as a race through song and dance," Bartley said. "That's what makes us unique."   more >>