An Early History of Delta Delta Chapter PBS

[Matthews Wright]

A Short History of Delta Delta Chapter
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc,

During my sophomore year (1965) at Coppin State College, in Baltimore, MD I pledged a City Chapter; Delta Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. This was Dr. Guilbert Daley’s (English Professor at Coppin) attempt to get the fraternity on the campus and he truly had an eye for talent and leadership regardless of its stage of development. The Charter Line of Delta Delta Chapter consisted of; Charles Wright, Albert Roberts, George Lee, Hugh Robinson and Karl Johnson.

The first line of the chapter was the “Great Eight”; Kenny Allen, Isaac Brooks, James Webster, Michael Chambers, Matthews Wright, Clayton McNeill, Larry Hall and Earl Matthews made up the group. The line pledged for one full year and after one “hell” of a week, we were initiated into the fraternity on October 15, 1966. Right from the beginning we were lied to because the fraternity and its significance in our region had “tarnished” just like the brass of a retired soldier. We were never informed of the “fraternal slump”. Our band of neophyte brothers were energetic, feisty, rambunctious and basically, without a clue regarding the current standing of the fraternity. Our history spoke of the men that had gone this way before us; the illustrious founders; A. Langston Taylor, Charles I. Brown and Leonard F. Morse. Our leaders of African nations including President’s and Brother’s Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah and William Tubman were instrumental to the world and the fraternity. Along with Basketball Hall of Fame Willis Reed, scholar Alaine Locke and writer-scholar James Weldon Johnson, the fraternity enjoyed a rich and talented past; however those years had waned like the moon. The current undergraduate activities of the fraternity were basically non-existent. It was living on the past in the Eastern Region of the states. Right after being initiated into the fraternity, we planned a trip to, of all the places, Howard University’s Homecoming and unfortunately for us, we sat amidst a large number of Omegas. After an embarrassing moment at the game, we went on campus after the game to meet brothers from the school and the area. When we arrived at the circle where each group gathered to sing fraternal songs, we were met by older men and a few younger guys that had no sense of organization for the sing and couldn’t sing or step. The whole day was a let-down, however we pledged to ourselves that we would build this organization and will never take a back seat to any other organization as long as we were actively involved with the fraternity. We started that night with the party at the Alpha Sigma graduate chapter fraternity house on 14th and R Streets. We got there early met other brothers that hadn’t made it to the homecoming game and planned out the evening by getting invitations to the party to the female dorms on and off campus and the night was a hit. We were back on balance and ready to begin our trek to bring life again, back into Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

From that day forward we organized ourselves and traveled, meeting other Sigma’s with our attitude, we wrote new songs, brought in new steps and competed up and down the east coast. Soon the name Delta Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma grew and recognition came to us through our steady development. We became the first established fraternal organization on campus and during those early years, we never relinquished “the yard”!
The campus was ours and the city and region were our battlefields. Our personal motto was “the greater the diversity the stronger the chapter”! Regionally and nationally we became known as the “youth movement” of the fraternity.

We got involved with civic and political issues, recognized and rewarded the leadership of women on the campus, assisted in establishing Nu Gamma Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., ran for offices in on-campus organizations, recruited athletes, lured scholars, sobered up & brought in alcoholics and other reprobates to show them the way and, in many cases, they found their way and talents and brought much to the growth and development of the chapter. After about ten lines of brothers being initiated we began to recruit and initiate in large numbers.

We went to other campuses to develop relationships and we established chapters at Bowie State University, Baltimore City Community College (formerly Community College of Baltimore City), University of Maryland College Park and revived chapters at Delaware State, Morgan State University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore (formerly Maryland State) and Chaney State. Brothers in New York at the City College of New York related well with what we were doing in Baltimore and on many occasions during our college years, we were either in New York or they were here socializing and participating in our events.

We took multitudes of brothers to other campuses and traveling around the country was new for many of them but the experiences they received really had a positive impact; everyone wanted to actually be involved in some aspect of the chapter. We chartered two busses and traveled to Atlanta, GA for a four day weekend. A convoy of cars traveled to Bluefield State College for the local chapter’s Blue & White Ball and ventured to Tennessee A & I College for their homecoming and roomed with brothers that made up the majority of the football team and the marching band. Each trip was a rewarding experience and further galvanized brothers of Delta Delta Chapter and those interested in pledging Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

Delta Delta Chapter continued to develop its image as a progressive chapter in the fraternity and as we traveled, we were greeted, welcomed, and extended Brotherly Love everywhere we went. Being regarded as a breath of fresh air, eventually we were even able to get representation of younger members in the position of regional and national offices.

We developed a new graduate chapter in the Baltimore/Washington area named Zeta Alpha Sigma. Jerome Persons, Jr., Moses McAllister, Jr., Joseph Woodfolk, James Etheridge, Clifton Felton and particularly Robert Nelson, Sr. were very influential in the growth of the chapter and our annual fund raising event. These men, along with many other members of the chapter worked to raise the goals of Zeta Alpha Sigma Chapter and the principles of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Within this group of men I also discovered hidden talents, depth of character and dignity in simplicity that lent to the development of the members and the organization as a whole. The membership of this chapter grew at one point to over one hundred and fifty active members. Again, this chapter too was diverse and our, “out of the box”, ideas were highly regarded. We developed and created what became known as “Autumn Evening with Sigma” and during an eight year period, this thematic affair grew from an initial 500 guests to well over two thousand attendees. This social event was built on the premise that there needed to be entertainment available for every guest to enjoy.

It was multi-level using every available space in the three floors of the Coppin Student Center including art and fashion shows several music formats, magic and comedic acts, video gamming, a full-scale casino, food and drink on each level and the space for people to move about freely from activity to activity.

Moving through the seventies we were able to promote Charles B. Wright; my brother and my brother to the international level of the fraternity to become the 23 rd and youngest International President of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Godliness has Blessed His Soul for the arduous task attempted and the momentous goals he achieved. Charles ran the good race and now Rests in Peace.

I continued actively in the fraternity through 1992. My contribution of 26 years of continuous service in the development of a fraternity really assisted in the growth regarding new brothers with fresh ideas and a quantum amount of energy to drive social, civic and educational issues.
I am truly proud of the accomplishments of the fraternity and the chapters around Baltimore/Washington. I must also acknowledge that Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. came to the aid of The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan leader of the Nation of Islam allowing the International Headquarters of the fraternity to be the center of activity for the march when other national leaders and institutions in our community turned their backs on the Million Man March! Our link with history and the fraternity’s mission remains and “The Men of Sigma March On”.

[Senusret I]

Bumping because this is awesome.