Dear ladies, I have read all of your responses and taken your words to heart. I certainly feel your frustration and your anger. I do understand that your issue is not with the sexual orientation of my fraternity or its members (for some of you), but with the perceived similarity between a few of our symbols. I am not trying to make this into such a discussion, since I am very comfortable with who I am and have no need to discuss/debate it. I am a bit perplexed, because in my capacity as Executive Director, I have had the pleasure of speaking to your Supreme Basileus, Norma White, with the office of the Executive Director, Betty James and with various other staff members of the Headquarters, all of whom have always been gracious, kind and cooperative. I have often sought their help many times on procedural and organizational matters, always with positive results. I have helped your national office and the national office of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., identify the corporate names of the men who imitate each respective organization. At no time, has the national office of Alpha Kappa Alpha expressed any displeasure with Delta Phi Upsilon or its symbols. I believe that is because as older, wiser women, they realize that being in an organization is not all about the external manifestations. It is not about wearing para, it's not about displaying symbols. The ivy and the pearl have a specific and unique meaning to AKA which is absolutely different from the meaning to Delta Phi Upsilon. If you and I were to look at these symbols, they would invoke totally different emotions for each of us. Ladies, it is not about the ivy, it is about what the ivy means... to you as an AKA... to me as a Delta. There are certain aspects like the founding date that did originate with a desire to imitate AKA. When we were founded, the leadership at the time, in an effort to mimic AKA, did cause certain events to occur on certain dates. In later years, certain members realized that the organization had the potential to positively affect the lives of gay men of color, and a movement began to implement a change. That change included a new name, shield, motto, etc., etc. etc. As we grew, we did still look to AKA as a source of information and inspiration. After 16 years of existence, we are finally at the point where every procedural endeavor is original. I have sat down and compared our shield to yours. Yes, they do share certain elements, but overall, the design is sufficiently different to pass copyright. We have not infringed on your trademark, as AKA_Monet states. And as far as anyone confusing the two symbols, well, if someone can't look at the two and see different letters, one with five stars, one without, one with a book/torch, one without, different greek phrases, then that person is either blind or stupid. Further, our organizations serve two completely different communities. Delta Phi Upsilon works solely in the GAY community and has no interest in serving the more mainstream black community, hence the "service to OUR kind" motto. To address AKA2D '91 who said "whatever happened to the RAINBOW?" the rainbow flag/symbol is used predominantly by caucasian organizations. Now, while certain traditions cherished by Delta cannot and will not change, such as the founding date, the ivy, the pearl, the motto and the shield, I assure you that there WILL be a revision to our stated purpose. I must tell you that I personally have never felt comfortable with it and will use this opportunity to mandate a change. I realize that this is a small compensation you most of you, but surely you understand the impossibility of changing our traditions simply because another organization has a problem with them. Such a change would affect the hundreds of men who have pledged lifetime loyalty to this fraternity and would only serve to invalidate that pledge.
Ladies, I thank you for your time and I hope that this animosity between us can be quickly resolved.
Trevor Charles
Executive Director
Delta Phi Upsilon Fraternity, Inc.
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