The Bermuda Alumni of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity have set their sights on financially helping local high school students attend the Bermuda College.

And the `brothers' have also reached out to teach adolescents at the Co-Ed facility.

Their latest achievement was a fundraising golf tournament to gather funds for their education scholarship awards. Other donations were made from several corporate sponsors.

The 12 `brothers' of this fraternity, by choice, have remained in the background. That is until now.

In May of 1980 two members of the fraternity returned to Bermuda from their respective colleges in the US, and they talked of establishing an Alumni chapter to continue the work of the fraternity in Bermuda.

As more `brothers' returned home from other universities they began to individually start projects to assist the community. The members then concentrated their efforts to work together with foster homes, schools, and community projects.

The members are involved in coaching, teaching, mentoring and further developing community programmes.

The Bermuda Alumni was able to fulfil the requirements to become a registered member of the fraternity's Grand Chapter in 1985.

One of the founders of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Bermuda Alumni Chapter, Nelson Bascome, said the funds will provide scholarships for local students who are having financial difficulties getting into the Bermuda College. "This is part of the national aims and objectives of our fraternity,'' he said.

The fraternity's local reporter Jamal Hart said application forms will be going out to all the high schools at the end of the month.

"There are four scholarships and we have a selection committee. The students must have the grades and certain other criteria mentioned in the application to be considered -- we are not just handing these scholarships out to anyone,'' Mr. Hart said.

Mr. Bascome added: "Basically we decided upon an educational scholarship because there have been quite a number of students in the community who have approached several members of the Kappa Psi Fraternity about the difficulty in obtaining the funds needed to go to the Bermuda College.

"We decided that this would be a good project to assist students who are in need of getting an education at the college.'' Mr. Hart said the fraternity has been in Bermuda for over 10 years and "we have been involved in several different community projects but they have been low key.'' Mr. Bascome added: "We haven't really promoted ourselves. We implemented a mentor and training scheme at the Co-Ed facility and we teach the adolescents about history and life skills.

"We also provide a mentoring programme to the children of adolescent men at the Youth Development Centre.'' Mr. Hart said with the increase in Alumni association membership "we are now able to spread our manpower around.'' The fraternity will be hosting a regional conference in the year 2000 and this will bring some 500 to 600 people to Bermuda.

"This is one of the first international regional conferences the fraternity has held outside the US.'' Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity was originally founded in 1911 on the Indiana University campus at a time when opportunities for blacks to receive an education were few and far between.

Those men who were on campus at that time formed an organisation to support each other and also to resist racial isolation.

The fraternity's ideals of uniting men to become achievers in every field of human endeavour spread to colleges and universities throughout the United States.

And as early as 1975 it captured the attention of Bermudians who attended those educational institutions. Far from the negative images often portrayed by college fraternities, it is recognised that they provide valuable services to the community as well as leadership training skills to the youth.

The Bermuda Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity consists of 14 members who are achievers in the fields of business, engineering, medicine, accounting, architecture and social development.

HELPING THE COMMUNITY -- Members of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Bermuda Alumni Chapter have been setting their sights on helping the community from school students to children of adolescent men. Pictured are some of the members (back row from left) Raymond Jones, Charles Daniels, Melvin Douglas, Troy Harvey and Gregory Jones (front row from left) Nelson Bascome, Jamal Hart, Anthony Hunter and Richard Scott. Missing are Dr. Richard Cann, Derek Dismont, and William Spriggs.

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