Fraternity Marches to End Violence

Micah Kamrass, Manley Burke, mkamrass@manleyburke.com

Over the last few months, college campuses have experienced a rebirth of a student activism. Students and student groups have organized demonstrations geared toward creating substantive changes at their schools. Most notoriously, the University of Missouri President and Chancellor both resigned after protests concerning the administration’s inaction to incidents of racism on campus.

The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity recently decided to extend this activism beyond campus, and into one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods. On November 21, 2015 nearly 300 members of the fraternity marched through a community that is the center of a gang war.¹ State Representative Elgie Sims, who is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha said “[w]e wanted to show that the community was not giving up… We wanted the business owners to know that we stood with them and we were going to be there making a statement, standing with them, … to encourage people to feel comfortable and safe in their community.”

Reverend Roosevelt Watkins, the pastor of a neighboring Church and also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha said the march was designed to “confront the violence on these blocks and to reinvigorate economic development…”

As the power of student demonstrations continues to grow both on and off campus, it is exciting to see fraternities and sororities take a leadership role.

1 Fraternity Marches Through Ongoing Gang War To End Violence In Chicago. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alphas-in-the-streets-march_565364c2e4b0879a5b0be458?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000056.