The shirt the baby boy wore last week when he and his mother returned to Syracuse University to celebrate Greek Unity Fest said volumes about his future.
"My mom's a Zeta."
"It's like it's his destiny," said Jason Jackson, president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council that hosted the event. "From the time he's little, he'll know that he's going to be a (Phi Beta) Sigma, because they do a lot with Zeta (Phi Beta)."
And so, the next generation is brought up to inherit the traditions, history and heritage that are so much a part of the NPHC fraternity and sorority chapters that call SU home.
The traditionally-black NPHC was founded in 1906 at Cornell University with the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity to help increase unity among black students. It now includes nine nationally recognized fraternities and sororities. Six are represented at SU.
"They were formed at a time when (black students) weren't allowed to be a member of a historically white organization," said Don Sawyer, assistant director in the Office of Greek life and Experiential Learning and advisor for NPHC.
{...]
... Each of the NPHC chapters is affiliated with a graduate chapter in the Syracuse area, where AKA or Alpha graduates can continue to participate in the national organization, even after their undergrad days are through. Alumni members are very involved in their undergraduate houses, Jackson said.
"Brothers come through the chapter and are still involved after they graduate," Jackson said. "It's a lifelong commitment."
[...]
While some Interfraternity Council chapters have alumni that still live in the Syracuse area and have a hand in the chapter's life, most have lost their alumni until Homecoming or major sporting events roll around.
"We really don't have a lot of support ... something that really wasn't instilled in older alumni is that it's sort of a lifetime responsibility," said Chris VanDeWeert, IFC president, of his own experiences in Sigma Phi Epsilon. He added, though, that recent graduates are becoming more involved as life-long members.
What is YOUR chapter doing to keep members involved after graduation? What is being done at HQ?
A family affair: Heritage, family and traditions help NPHC grow - The Daily Orange - News(subscr. reqd.)
