Actor Hill Harper is supporting a new national partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC),  Call to Service for St. Jude initiative, which launched earlier this month.

“NPHC organizations have deep roots in education and making a difference in the lives of our youth. Engaging this richly diverse membership through the Call to Service for St. Jude initiative will help raise awareness about St. Jude in the African-American community, while sharing the hospital’s mission of treating the world’s sickest children with the best care.”  Key messages: There’s still time for NPHC members, family and friends to support help St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital provide the best care to the world’s sickest children at no cost to their family by visiting stjude.org/nphc.

One reason this partnership is of such significance is because it is critical that we continue to educate communities about the importance of resources and treatment for pediatric cancer, sickle cell screening and treatment for the disease as well as research aimed at improving the quality of life for those living with sickle cell disease.  The NPHC is composed of historically African-American international Greek letter Sororities and Fraternities. Participating organizations include: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

The Men of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc, Zeta Rho Sigma Chapter, Amicae and our Sisters of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Omicron Omicron Zeta, Gamma Nu Zeta and Chi Rho Zeta chapters celebrated Black History Month by doing a Read-In at Wiggins College Prepatory Lab School in Camden, New Jersey.  Each Zeta and Sigma was assigned a classroom to read a book, discuss their career path, the history of their respective organizations and by engaging students in a literacy activity they were able to “ lift the words off the pages”.

This program was developed by Omicron Omicron Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., hosted by Soror Irene Richardson who is an educator at Wiggins.

]]> http://progressivegreek.com/organizations/phi-beta-sigma-fraternity-organizations/south-jersey-sigmas-and-zetas-celebrate-reading-black-history/feed/ 1 http://progressivegreek.com/news_events/undegrad/zeta-sorors-jasmine-johnson-vanessa-obafemi-finish-10th-season-as-teammates/ http://progressivegreek.com/news_events/undegrad/zeta-sorors-jasmine-johnson-vanessa-obafemi-finish-10th-season-as-teammates/#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:14:04 +0000 kevin1914 http://progressivegreek.com/?p=6943 Source

Jasmine Johnson and Vanessa Obafemi spend just about every waking moment together.

They’re roommates, Zeta Phi Beta sorority sisters, healthcare administration classmates and fellow Campus Activities Board members.

On top of all that, the two DeSoto, Texas natives are senior WKU basketball players in the thick of their 10th year playing the sport together.

“Besides sleeping,” Johnson said, “we’re almost always together.”

Johnson, a 6-foot-3 center, and Obafemi, a 5-foot-10 guard, began playing together as seventh graders at DeSoto East Junior High School.

The two went on to DeSoto High School, where they caught the eye of Head Coach Mary Taylor Cowles while leading their high school team to a 37-2 record during their senior season.

“Athletically, we knew about Jasmine,” Cowles said. “You typically find out about 6-foot-3 post players.

“And in recruiting Jasmine… is when we saw Vanessa and her ability to shoot the basketball, and that kind of opened our eyes.”

After being recruited by Cowles and former assistant Nikki McCray, Johnson and Obafemi both decided to come to WKU.

“We called each other,” Johnson said of the day they both committed. “We both really liked our visit and the atmosphere on campus… The academic part just really got our attention, too.”

Neither Johnson nor Obafemi saw immediate playing time for the Lady Toppers.

Johnson averaged 10.4, 5.6 and 10.4 minutes per game, respectively, in her first three seasons while playing behind star forward Arnika Brown.

Likewise, Obafemi averaged 6.4 and 7.2 minutes per game during her freshman and sophomore years.

But this year, Obafemi has started all but four games, averaging 6.9 points per game and hitting a team-high 37 threes. Meanwhile, Johnson has averaged 4.4 points and 5.1 rebounds a game, and her 35 blocked shots rank fourth in the Sun Belt Conference.

 “They had to kind of put in their time in their career. It wasn’t something where they walked in the door as freshmen and started playing and were in the lineup,” Cowles said. “They’ve both had to endure the process of being in college for four years.”

Through that college process, Obafemi said her friendship with Johnson has developed to the point where she “pretty much knows everything” about her teammate.

“I think our relationship just grew over the years from being around each other through basketball,” Obafemi said.

Johnson agreed, saying that her bond with Obafemi has developed into an on-court asset.

“We’ve been playing together so long, I don’t think I could find another teammate like Vanessa,” Johnson said.

Johnson and Obafemi will play their final career regular season game in Diddle Arena at 1 p.m. on Sunday against league rival Middle Tennessee State.

WKU currently has an eight-game losing streak to the Lady Raiders, with the Lady Toppers’ last win in the series coming in March of 2008, when Johnson and Obafemi were seniors at DeSoto High.

Both Obafemi and Johnson said Sunday, which will be their Senior Day, will be an emotional moment in their careers.

“We haven’t really been through this before other than high school on Senior Night,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be kind of different, playing in front of a different crowd, and it’s our rivalry team, so it’s like, ‘Oh gosh.’”

Joan McMillan Wickham, President of the National Hampton University Alumni Association and member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Alpha Beta Zeta Chapter gave the Founder’s Day Address for the university on Sunday, January 29^th.

Wickham spoke before an audience of enthusiastic Hamptonians to celebrate the college’s 119^th annual Founder’s Day ceremony. She told stories about the many pioneers who came before the current students, faculty, staff and alumni of HU.

“Are you walking in the footsteps of those who sat under that great oak tree in the cold in 1863 and heard the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in the South?” said Wickham. She spoke in reference to the Emancipation Oak tree where Mary Smith Peake, a freed black teacher, often held classes despite it being illegal to teach slaves how to read and write.

“Can you picture those days of African-Americans thirsty for knowledge knowing that they could be killed if they were caught, but yet they came…they came here to Hampton to learn and to be educated right here at our beloved Hampton University. They paved the way and they started the quest for knowledge,” said Wickham.

Throughout her Founder’s Day address, Wickham mentioned the outstanding contributions made by other great Hampton University pioneers like Booker T. Washington, one of Hampton’s most famous graduates.Wickham urged the audience to think about how they would like to be remembered by future students, faculty, staff and alumni of Hampton University.

“I challenge you to make your first step today…making the initial footprint to develop your footsteps, for others to follow at our home by the sea,” said Wickham, as she closed her speech.

Wickham has been a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., Alpha Beta Zeta Chapter since 1985 and at one time served as the National Appointee to the Educational Foundation for the organization.

She holds three degrees from Hampton University, including a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education, a Master of Arts Degree in Secondary Education and a Master of Arts Degree in Education Leadership, according to the event program’s biography. Her expected graduation date for the Doctoral Degree she is currently pursuing in the Education Leadership and Management Ph.D. program is May 2013.

Wickham is a music teacher and Director of Special Projects at Lee Hall Elementary School in Newport News, Va and a member of First Baptist Church in Hampton. She hails from Columbia, South Carolina, but has traveled around the world as a featured soloist with her Mezzo Soprano voice.

-Adrienne Bowers

Three organizations have joined forces for one common mission: to decrease the number of babies born prematurely in Harlem, New York. Harlem Hospital Center, March of Dimes and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. will launch the Stork’s Nest Program at Harlem Hospital Center auditorium on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Stork’s Nest is a national program of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and is sponsored by March of Dimes, a leader in the fight to ensure that all babies are born healthy. The program educates pregnant women about the link between prenatal care and delivering a healthy, full-term baby. It focuses on the importance of keeping monthly medical checkups, following the most up-to-date nutritional information and the benefits of taking pregnancy supplements such as vitamins and folic acid. Participants earn points that they can trade in at the program’s culmination for useful baby products.

A Stork’s Nest will reduce the number of premature births in Harlem, which has the highest rate in Manhattan, according to a 2009 New York City Department of Health study. East Harlem has a 12.7% rate of premature births, which is the highest in Manhattan. Central Harlem has the second highest rate of premature births at 11.4%, according to the same study.

Secondly, a Stork’s Nest will strengthen Harlem Hospital’s ties to the community as a trusted, medical provider. According to Dr. Edgar Mandeville, M.D., Harlem Hospital Center Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “Harlem Hospital is the hospital of choice for most Harlem residents, including women from neighboring shelters and temporary housing situations.” In addition, Harlem Hospital Center has provided a wide range of medical, surgical, diagnostic, therapeutic and family support services to the residents of Central Harlem, West Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood since 1887. Hence, Harlem Hospital Center is the ideal location for a Stork’s Nest.

Lastly, a Stork’s Nest at Harlem Hospital Center will help to maintain Harlem’s position by serving as a model program to demonstrate how credible organizations can pool their resources to create an even stronger entity. The Harlem community is respected as a groundbreaking, thriving community and is thus an ideal location for a partnership between the three institutions that creates a new community-focused entity. Harlem Hospital Center is currently a 286-bed acute care facility and a designated Level I Trauma Center, with a full spectrum of specialty services, including a burn unit, an adult intensive care unit, a neonatal intensive care unit, a pediatric intensive care unit and a cardiac care unit. Harlem Hospital Center’s website is www.nychhc.org.

March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide, and its premier event, March for Babies, March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com/ny or nacersano.org.

Founded January 16, 1920 at Howard University, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. is one of the nine historically black Greek letter service organizations. A non-profit organization, its principles are Scholarship, Sisterly Love, Service and Finer Womanhood. It has also chartered sorority chapters in the Caribbean and Africa. To learn more about the sorority visit www.zphib1920.org. The Sigma Nu Zeta chapter’s website is www.zphibsnz.org.

Kencle Satchell-McKoy, 212-939-1372, kencle.satchell-mckoy@nychhc.org

Ruby Wint, 212-353-8365, RWint@marchofdimes.org

Kim Green, 347-763-6327, kimgreen@kimgeepr.com

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In the wake of a college drum major’s death in Florida, a lawmaker from the state plans to introduce anti-hazing legislation when Congress returns in mid-January.

The bill would strip financial aid from anyone sanctioned by a university for hazing or witnessing hazing and failing to report it – including the victim, said Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson.

“Hazing is demeaning, dangerous and, sadly, deadly,” Wilson, a former school principal, told the Los Angeles Times, adding that the death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion warrants a federal response.

Florida has toughened the penalties against hazing, but Wilson said in an interview that, under her proposal, if anyone witnesses hazing – “including the victim, they will tell because they don’t want to lose their federal aid.”

Florida officials have ruled Champion’s death in November a homicide. The incident has drawn national attention and generated soul-searching on college campuses throughout the country.

Wilson, who has yet to draft the legislation, said she also wants the U.S. attorney general to set up a commission to examine ways to stamp out hazing.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005 signed legislation making hazing that results in serious injury or death a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, even if the victim consents. The bill, the Chad Meredith Act, was named after a University of Miami freshman who drowned in a campus lake while trying to join a fraternity in 2001.

Wilson said that, notwithstanding the new law, “we have had a plethora of hazing incidents,” but prosecutions have been difficult because “you can’t find any victims to talk.”

“We’ve got to take a tougher stance,” added Wilson, who said that she became known as the “haze buster” while serving as South Atlantic regional director for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. “It’s time to stop it.”

Congress has been considering legislation aimed at bullying, including requiring states to report bulling incidents and expanding programs for teachers, administrators and counselors on strategies to prevent bullying and harassment.

Newport News, Va. – Most people visit ‘The Alley’ for after work socials, to celebrate birthdays or for a night out on the town with close friends, but not the ladies in the royal blue and white.

On Saturday, December 17^th the Alpha Beta Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. helped transform the usual nightclub located at the Hampton/Newport News border into a local humanitarian capital for the Feeding 1,000 Holiday Feast and Community Celebration.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau of Labor and Statistics, there are 46.2 million Americans living below the official poverty line.

With the sorority’s motto being a community-conscious, action oriented organization they decided to battle against these statistics. They teamed up with Newport News Councilwoman Tina L. Vick, the aunt of NFL Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick, Andrew Shannon of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, The Alley Owner, Barry Davis, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc and a host of other high school, social and civic organizations to help feed a thousand people in need of a meal for the holidays.

This was the Alpha Beta Zeta chapter’s second appearance at this event, which is now in its fourth year. They participated in the feeding as a part of their Z.H.O.P.E (Zeta’s Helping Other People Excel) initiative, which holds a special place in their hearts.

About 50 members of the sorority participated in the event along with their youth auxiliary groups. Most of the supplies and items needed for the feeding were donated by members of community. The menu included macaroni and cheese, stuffing, turkey and gravy, bread, punch and cake prepared by the specialty cooking staff from the Alley.

Hampton and Newport News residents were entertained by a live DJ and local marching bands. After the meal, the volunteers and residents celebrated together on the dance floor with a few line dances. Those who received a meal got an opportunity to not only take their mind off of their economic hardship, but a chance to socialize with community leaders and friends at the nightclub free of charge.

Despite the hard work that goes into an event of this size, the chapter looks forward to it every year and plans to continue participating in the future.

The Feeding 1,000 Holiday Feast and Community Celebration marks the last event of 2011 for the Alpha Beta Zeta chapter.

In November 2010, I watched “HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and saw a piece on the hazing antics at several historically black colleges and fraternities. I took to Twitter to share my thoughts on the issue.

Much of the report focused on Southern University, and man, did the floodgates open as a number of students from the university angrily tweeted me back, cussing, yelling and screaming, with some defending hazing, while others were angry at the national attention focused on their university.

For hours we went round and round, and were joined in the discussion by members of several black fraternities, including my own Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. A number of these individuals actually supported hazing, or “pledging hard” and not becoming a “paper” member who “skated” into the fraternity.

Despite the anger and vitriol, I refused to back down, making it clear that getting beaten for being in a band or fraternity was absolutely dumb.

Here was a young man who went off to college, planning to earn a college degree while leading one of the nation’s most colorful and exciting bands, only to be returned home to his parents in Georgia in a coffin.

While hazing immediately was suspected, we could only speculate about the cause of the 26-year-old’s death. That is, until Friday, when the medical examiner released details of his autopsy, concluding that Champion “collapsed and died within an hour of a hazing incident during which he suffered multiple blunt trauma blows to his body.”

News of the death has rocked the Florida A&M campus, angering its students and alumni, triggering multiple state investigations and leading Gov. Rick Scott to call for the suspension of school President James Ammons. That prompted FAMU students to march to the governor’s mansion on Friday and camp out on his lawn, demanding he rescind the resignation call.

Champion’s death isn’t the first time we have seen individuals in a band or fraternity die. It is incredible that some folks have given their lives — literally — for just being a part of a student group.

State laws have been passed, organizations have been kicked off campuses and national fraternal and sorority groups have paid millions in settlements because of hazing, but we continue to see these stories.

“Why?” is a consistent question that is asked, and at the end of the day, it boils down to power and a desire to demand others kowtow to someone else’s demands in order for them to be accepted.

A decision not to follow through means you can be ostracized, ignored and marginalized. That’s the last thing any young person wants to experience when in an organization.

Every one of these organizations is overseen by adult leaders or advisers. But in truth, fellow students run the show. Normally in a band, a drum major sits at the top of the food chain, but Champion clearly had to bend to the band’s culture to be fully accepted as a member of FAMU’s “Marching 100.”

So what you have is a bunch of students between the ages of 18 and 22 calling the shots and making it clear who is accepted and who isn’t, who gets in and who doesn’t. You aim to please them and no one else. Oftentimes they are leading based on how they were led, and it has been indoctrinated into them that this is the way of life, take it or leave it.

These are powerful forces that can only be changed by peers. Hazing will only be brought to a close when members of organizations make it clear the vile hazing traditions will not go forward. No one today can be hazed if the student leaders make it clear that it’s unacceptable. Yet because of the natural turnover in student organizations, that mindset has to be created and passed on for it to succeed.

When I was about to pledge Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. in spring 1989, I met with my four other pledge brothers and made it clear: I’m not getting hit, I will never use alcohol and I will not agree to be hazed.

Even though my older brother pledged the same fraternity at Texas A&M two years earlier without any nonsense, I was making it clear that such shenanigans were idiotic. All five of us agreed and in the four weeks, two days, 16 hours, 38 minutes and 39 seconds I was on line (yea, having to recite such specifics was a part of our process), the behavior that we often heard was associated with pledging didn’t exist.

Yet because of that, we weren’t always as accepted by other fraternity members at other campuses. Our chapter was called soft; we were criticized as not “pledging the right way” and had to constantly defend our manhood.

Me, I didn’t give a damn. I would look others in the eye and say, “In the history of our chapter, only one brother has failed to graduate, and we do nothing with him. Are you guys on the six- or seven-year plan, and can you match our graduate rate?”

From my perspective, we were supposed to be in college to graduate, not to pledge. And if my fraternity was founded as a study group at Cornell University on December 4, 1906, why would we eschew academics?

Even though we pledged the right way at Texas A&M, that peer pressure was still unbearable for some. That summer at our national convention in San Antonio, hazing was on the agenda, and I made it clear I was going to speak. Some other brothers in my chapter pulled my coattails and said, “Don’t tell the brothers you didn’t take any wood (that’s being paddled).”

I yelled, “If we pledged brothers the right way, why in the hell are we afraid to say it?”

Since those days, I’ve never wavered from my anti-hazing position. It is deplorable and shameful to think that someone would beat another person for them to prove something. Prove what? They can take a punch? No. I prefer to challenge his mind, his intellect.

Our goal as fraternity men is to take young men and mold and shape them to be better men. It is not our aim to take young men and train them to be collegiate mercenaries, hellbent on inflicting as much pain as they got onto the first person they have control over.

Is there tremendous value in fraternities, sororities, bands and student organizations? Absolutely. The leadership opportunities are tremendous, and the lifelong relationships are vital.

But what has to be preached and preached and preached to every student, whether they are white, black, Asian, Latino, male or female, is that if they love that frat, sorority, drill team or band, they shouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it for the next person.

Do we need tougher hazing laws? Yes. Do we need universities to take punitive action, including kicking students out who break the rules? Yes. Do we need national organizations to ban chapters for years for egregious behavior? Absolutely. Should fellow student leaders turn in others who break the rules and haze? Of course. There must be a zero tolerance attitude from every state official, administrator, student leader and organization member. To hell with tradition, rituals and “the way we do things.” All that must end. Now.

But we also must raise a generation of young people who have enough confidence in themselves to say, “I will not take a beating just to be accepted by you. I’d rather not have your affection or support if it means putting my life on the line.”

And if that means other students calling you out or teasing you, fine. I’d rather you talk about me like a dog today than be hazed and have my friends search to figure out what to say at my funeral.

It is time to remit dues for fiscal year (FY) 2012!  NPHC, Inc. operates on a fiscal calendar of January 1 to December 31. Annual dues are to be remitted by January 31 of a given fiscal year.

Undergraduate councils are responsible for dues in the amount of $150, Graduate councils with 1-9 Chapters in the amount of $250,  Graduate Councils with 10-19 Chapters in the amount of $300, Graduate Councils with 20-29 Chapters in the amount of  $350.00, and  Graduate Councils  with 30+ Chapters in the amount of $450.

Members remitting dues after February 15 must include a $25 late fee with annual dues. (1) If a council has not been financial in the previous fiscal year that council is responsible for remitting dues for the previous and current year, as well as a $50 reactivation fee (Ex. Undergrad councils = $350.00; Graduate Councils with 1-9 Chapters = $550.00; Graduate Councils with 10-19 Chapters = $650.00;Graduate Councils with 20-29 Chapters = $750.00;Graduate Councils  with 30+ Chapters = $850.00); and (2) if a council has not been financially active within a five year time period, that council must be re-chartered.

Again, you are advised not to wait until the last minute to remit your dues.  Should you have questions or concerns as to your council’s financial status and/or account balance, please contact NPHC National Treasurer at  treasurer@nphchq.org.

Attached is the link to the remittance form http://www.nphchq.org/docs/2012Remittanceonline.doc

Also use this link if you would like to remit payment online  http://nphccouncildues.eventbrite.com