The Kappa Foundation builds an advocacy group of educational experts to focus on closing the educational opportunity gap for boys of color

RISE OF THE KAPPA EDUCATORS

How Kappa’s Educators are uniting to address the systemic issues in the American Educational System.

In 2013, National Guide Right Committee Chairman L-Mani S. Viney began the development of an alliance network of all educators and youth advocates who were members of Kappa Alpha Psi.® This would become known as the Kappa Educators and Youth Advocates Alliance or KAP-ED.

Three years ago National Guide Right Committee Chairman LMani S. Viney was reviewing the data of Guide Right programs across the country. In nearly every category from graduation rates, college acceptances and scholarships, the young men in the programs were out–performing the national statistics. Still something was amiss.

“By itself, Guide Right’s impact on young men of color was amazing. That said, at our best we are only impacting 14,000 youth. That’s a small drop in the bucket of the young men who we need to impact,” stated Viney.

What he and others realized was that a more effective way of impacting a larger population of youth was to build an alliance among those who worked with them on a daily basis: educators. Within Kappa Alpha Psi it is estimated that there are approximately 5,000 members in education. A very powerful number. In 2013, Viney began the development of an alliance network of all educators and youth advocates who were members of Kappa Alpha Psi. This would become known as the Kappa Educators and Youth Advocates Alliance or KAP-ED.

Originally established as a working group, the concept caught on quickly. By June 2015, the original working group formed a think tank. Its first meeting was held at Morehouse College, at the invitation of Dr. Bryant Marks, director of the Morehouse College Men’s program.Thought leaders included: Brothers Ron Walker, CEO of the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC); Dr. Jerlando Jackson of the University of Wisconsin; Mitchell Payne, Vice President of Business Affairs for the University of Louisville; Dr. Christopher Johnson of the National Educational Association; Dr. Maurice Ingram, child psychologist; L-Mani S. Viney; Dr. Marcus Jackson, principal and Leroy Hughes (then interim CEO of Concerned Black Men). The objective was to develop the mission, goals and objectives of KAP-ED.

“The men of Kappa Alpha Psi must lead the way to transform the way education is delivered.” — Dr. Christopher Johnson

SETTING GOALS

What came out of the two-day meeting was that KAP-ED’s mission would be to utilize the network of Kappa’s educators in K-12, higher education, policy and youth advocacy to address the structural and systemic inequities in education impacting children of color. To accomplish this KAP-Ed has set three specific goals: 1) recruit and in many cases reclaim members of Kappa Alpha Psi who are in the educational and youth advocacy sector to join the alliance; 2) increase the number of Black males entering the education profession through the recruitment of Kappa’s undergraduate members; and 3) encourage leading educators to collaborate to create policy proposals to bring to Capitol Hill that addresses the educational inequities in our school systems.

Though an ambitious undertaking, many educators see this as necessary and vital. Dr. Christopher Johnson of the National Educational Association and vice chairman of the Achievement Academy stated: “The men of Kappa Alpha Psi must lead the way to transform the way education is delivered.”

This sentiment would later be acknowledged by the Grand Polemarch Thomas L. Battles, Jr. and Grand Board of Directors as the Kappa Educators and Youth Advocate Alliance would be formally recognized as Kappa’s first-ever committee of professional educators during the Grand Board meeting at the 11th National Founders Day in Mobile, Alabama.

With the opportunity to build a collaboration with some of the world’s greatest minds in education, who all happen to be members of Kappa Alpha Psi, only time will tell what impact Kappa Alpha Psi will have on America’s educational system. But from the outset, the future looks bright.