Nearly 100 Philly students join Kappa Alpha Psi mentorship program

Mentorship and life-skill training, along with educational, occupational and social guidance, are the lessons being taught to hundreds of young Black males across Philadelphia, thanks to a group of dedicated mentors.

The Philadelphia alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., a historically Black collegiate fraternity, is making a difference in the community.  

The Kappa League leadership and mentorship program kicked off Wednesday, with 400 guests — including students, their families and fraternity members — attending the opening ceremony at Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School to welcome students into the program.

The group of 93 young Black youths range from seventh to 12th grades. Students come from 20 schools that represent different neighborhoods in and around the city of Philadelphia. 

For the induction ceremony, students dressed as required, in white dress shirts, khaki pants, dress shoes and holding ties around their arms as they walked proudly into Christo Rey auditorium. Family members applauded the group as they sat. That included mom Tiffany Jones, who was excited to see her son, seventh grade student Mikenzie Silver, being inducted.

Jones said Mikenzie is not the first family member to participate. 

“My oldest son was in this program, he started when he was in the ninth grade. This is a great mentorship program,” she said. “They taught him a lot about being a leader, about being respectful.”  

But Jones said it wasn’t always easy, and her older son had his doubts at first.

“Initially when he started the program, he didn’t even want to come,” she said. “So, it was something that I said, ‘No, I think this would be good for you. I think you need to go.’ And by the time he got to the middle of the 10th grade, I didn’t even have to say it’s time for the meetings. He just would go.”

Tiffany’s older son went on to graduate from West Chester University, and received a scholarship through Kappa League. He is now a finance professional who lives in Texas. Success stories like this are why so many parents and students want to participate.  The fraternity has become so popular that it has  grown from a dozen students meeting at the Kappa house, in Germantown, to relocating to Cristo Rey for monthly meetings, which include nearly 100 students. 

The program puts responsibility on the students before they even start. They must write an essay about what leadership means to them and why they want to be a part of the program. Kappa Academy meets every second Wednesday of each month. It also provides community service activities several Saturdays a year. The program runs through May 2025, after which applications for the 2025-2026 school year will be accepted.  

Kenneth Jones (no relation) is an 11th grade student at Carver Engineering and Science school.  Jones, who lives in West Philly, joined the program last year and returned again this year because of the impact the men had on his life.

“First of all, it’s the men here, they’re very put together, very well defined and they definitely are helping a lot of people here be the men that we really do strive to be,” Kenneth Jones said, adding that even though many of the students have positive Black men in their lives, it helps to have a network of mentors who can also be there for them when needed.  

“I feel as though I could go in there and ask any one of these mentors a really personal question and they’ll be able to help me through that [question] and guide me to where I want to be after that question is answered,” he added.   

Kappa League was established in 1992 in Philadelphia, but was founded in 1969 by the Los Angeles Alumni Chapter. The program became a great opportunity to put positive Black males from its fraternity in communities and schools, with a mission to have a positive influence on area youth. The mentors aim to help vulnerable students find alternative paths and opportunities to succeed in life.

“We want to go against the odds and the statistics, you know, statistics say these young men should be facing, you know, jail time, prison time, doing some type of crime,” said organizer and chairman Marquis Carter. “But these brothers, these young men, are doing something positive. They want to make sure they’re making an impact to the community and to their education. So it’s important for us to make sure we’re highlighting that.” 

Tiffany Jones agreed. 

“These are African American men that are successful and have gone to college and I just think it’s a good experience and good for our African American boys to see and to see that they can be something they can be successful and to also teach them to give back as well,” she said.

During the ceremony, students — assisted by their fathers, parents or a member of the fraternity — put on their ties as a symbol of the importance of dressing for success. They were also recognized if they maintained a 3.0 or higher GPA, participated in community service throughout the year, had good attendance and other accolades.

“We’re breaking the stereotype,” said Kenneth Jones, who hopes to see more young men join in the future. “Well, these men are breaking the stereotype by basically putting out the fact that they are here for us and whatever they learn, whatever they’ve gone through, whatever experiences or skills that they can bring to us, they really do break it down and help us integrate it to become the men that we want to be.” 

Approximately 700 students have participated and graduated from the program since it began.