Burlington Alumni: “Welcome to Brotherhood”

The Burlington Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated has been active in 2013.  We have seen brothers in our Chapter become fathers, achieve at the highest levels of law enforcement, all while remaining steadfast in their commitment to the Fraternity.  These are but a few of the reasons why our Chapter has made such an impact, despite being one of the newest Chapters in the Fraternity.    

Kappa League Initiative: Karolina Diamonds

Our major Kappa League initiative, the Karolina Diamonds (“the Diamonds”) 15 and under AAU basketball team is off to an amazing start.  The team is coached by Burlington Alumni Polemarch and charter member, Brother Kevin Graves.  The team was such a dominant force as a 14 and under team last year that Brother Graves made the decision to allow the Diamonds to play up two age divisions (17 and under) during the 2013 Spring/Summer AAU circuit.  The Diamonds have been more than holding their own against rising high school seniors, despite being rising high school sophomores.  Off the court, they have displayed humility, civility and passion for others that well exceeds their youthful ages.  The Diamonds have also made an appearance on SportsCenter Top Ten Plays this summer.  If you would like to know more about the Diamonds, please visit their website at: www.Karolindiamonds.com. 

Diamond Day 2013

On Saturday, June 8, 2013, the Burlington Alumni Chapter hosted its first annual Diamond Day.  The program was designed as part of our Kappa League initiative with the Diamonds.  The day began with members of the Diamonds receiving speech coaching from a professional speech coach who has worked with many NBA and collegiate teams.  She spoke to the Diamonds regarding the importance of learning how to successfully respond to questions posed during interviews.  She also spoke with them regarding the ills of social media and how one false move can ruin or damage their reputations and ultimately their careers.  Immediately following her discussion with the Diamonds, she conducted mock interviews with each of the players.  This kind of professional coaching is usually reserved for high-level collegiate players or professional athletes.  This portion of the program was particularly important because many of the Diamonds will play on the collegiate level some day soon.  Some of them may actually play at the highest level of professional sports and their ability to respond to questions will be very important to theirs careers.

Immediately following the interviews, 7 members of the Burlington Alumni Chapter, who each represented a different profession met with the young men.  The professions represented were as follows: nursing, education, legal, law enforcement, business, professional sports, and communications.  The players were charged with speaking with the professionals and trying to determine what each person does for a living.  This session lasted about 45 minutes and the players and professionals each learned a great deal about each other.  Then, each professional spoke to the Diamonds about the role sports played in their professional careers.  The key objective was to help the Diamonds understand that no matter how great a person may be on the basketball court, he will eventually have a job where his ability to shoot or pass will not pay the bills.  Following this session, the Diamonds played two basketball games against Team Felton.  In game 1, the Diamonds faced Team Felton’s 14 and under basketball team.  In the second game, the Diamonds played Team Felton’s 15 and under basketball team.  The Diamonds won both games in typical Diamond fashion.  Certain players from the Diamonds and Team Felton participated in a dunk contest and three-point contest as well.  These competitions occurred before the beginning of the second basketball game.  Overall, the day was a major success and will become an annual Burlington Alumni event.

 

Captain Shon Barnes

One of our own, Brother Shon Barnes, has achieved an incredible feat yet again.  On April 30, 2013, Brother Barnes was promoted to the rank of Captain with the Greensboro Police Department.  He became the youngest African American Captain in the history of the Department.   Brother Barnes is a charter member of the Burlington Alumni Chapter and the current Exchequer of the Chapter as well.  The Chapter is very proud of Brother Barnes and we vow to continue to push each other towards “Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor.”

Other Summer Events

We are hosting our annual Seersucker and Sundress social in August.  We will also be sending a delegate to the 81^st Konclave in Houston, Texas in August.

 

To learn more about our events, please follow us on Twitter @BurlingtonNupes.

 

Peace