Trenton fraternity prepares the youth to be the leaders of tomorrow

Kappa Alpha Psi is more than just a fraternity—it is a national organization dedicated to providing programs to promote community service, social welfare, and academic scholarship. This historically African-American Greek fraternity, founded in 1911 at Indiana University, is committed to helping the youth and community.

The Trenton Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi was chartered in April 1949, and for more than 70 years, it has continued to foster a positive change in Trenton and the greater Mercer County area. It is composed of a group of 50 members between the ages of 25 and 98 who are professionals and leaders in their respective fields, which include science, medicine, education, law, entrepreneurship,, and more. 

“The Trenton Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity remains steadfast in its commitment to uplifting the community through education, mentorship, and impactful initiatives,” Polemarch, Ryan Harris, said in a statement. Two programs, in particular, make up the core of its youth development initiative—the Kappa League program and the Guide Right program. 

The Kappa League is dedicated to helping middle and high school age students in Trenton and the surrounding area grow and develop their leadership talents in every phase of human endeavor. All of the Kappa League’s activities center around self-identity, training, competition, social/community service, education, economic empowerment, and college and career readiness. 

There are roughly 160 Kappa League programs spread out across the country, boasting a 98 percent high school graduation rate and an 85 percent college enrollment rate among students. Currently, there are about 72 students in Trenton and the surrounding areas involved in the Kappa League program. 

The Guide Right program, on the other hand, specifically focuses on informing and inspiring youth through educational and occupational guidance of youth, primarily inspirational and informational in character. Its reach extends to high schools and colleges alike. The purpose of Guide Right is to place the training experience and friendly interest of successful men at the disposal of youth needing inspiration and counsel regarding their choice of a life’s career, and to arouse the interest of the entire community in the problems of youth as they seek to realize lives of usefulness.

“What we want is for our youth within Trenton and Mercer County to understand that they can be whatever they want to be,” Allen Killiebrew, the director of the Trenton chapter’s Guide Right program said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter the trials and tribulations that you might be facing in the neighborhood that you’re a part of. It doesn’t matter the color of your skin.”

One of its biggest programs is a STEM-based initiative called Kappabotics, an eight-to-ten-week course facilitated through the Trenton Housing Authority and YMCA that provides students the opportunity to build their own robotic race cars from the ground up. Killiebrew explains that the goal of the Kappabotics program is to help instill lessons about the value of science, technology, engineering, and math. 

“We teach them what it means to face adversity, what it means to face a task, because I’m gonna be honest, it’s not easy,” he said. “They definitely put you to a test. It’s a challenge.” 

Similar to many of life’s challenges, the goal of the program is to help kids determine how to react when faced with such difficulties. For instance, how not to get upset, but to continue to try harder. 

To celebrate the accomplishments of high school seniors involved in the program, the Kappa League hosts a National Signing Day event.

“It’s just like if you’re a top basketball recruit and you’re signing with Kentucky or you’re signing with Duke University,” Killiebrew said. “We create that same experience for our young men, specifically our seniors. Some of them may be committing to a college on an athletic scholarship, but we want to let them know that whether you are or not, life is a lot bigger than just a sport and that you deserve to be recognized for the great things that you’ve accomplished as well.” 

He explains that some of the fraternity’s other flagship programs include training for leadership, college preparation, aviation, financial literacy, political awareness, public speaking, digital marketing, and community service.

Both the Guide Right and Kappa League programs help organize different community cleanup events within the Trenton area,

“Over the holidays, we were able to give about 15-to-20 families a turkey as well as a $100 gift card,” Killiebrew confirmed. “If you’re in need we want to be able to help our community. We want to uphold it and keep it clean.”

He said another big aspect of their community service is simply mentoring others to uphold a level of success and to be better prepared as the leaders of tomorrow.

Today, there are more than 160,000 Kappa Alpha Psi members across 721 undergraduate and alumni chapters in all 50 states and internationally, with chapters in the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Japan, the Virgin Islands, Nigeria, South Africa, and The Bahamas. 

To learn more about the organization and its programs, visit kappaalphapsi1911.com. 
For more information on the Trenton Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, visit trentonalumnikappas.com.