Members of K-State's Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha helping organize Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Week at K-State

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Source: Brandon Clark, 785-532-5060, bclark@k-state.edu
Note to editor: Kedric Elmore is a graduate of Bishop Ward High School and Bryon Williams is a graduate of Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences, both in Kansas City, Kan.
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu

Thursday, January 11, 2006

MEMBERS OF K-STATE'S CHAPTER OF ALPHA PHI ALPHA HELPING ORGANIZE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. OBSERVANCE WEEK AT K-STATE

MANHATTAN -- From organizing events to raising money, students in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. at Kansas State University are contributing to events to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr.

K-State is celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Week Jan. 13-19. Members of Alpha Phi Alpha, of which King himself was a member, are sponsoring events including a candlelight vigil and showing of the film, "The Untold Story of Emmit Louis Till." In celebration of the fraternity's 100th anniversary in December 2006, K-State chapter members dedicated the site of a memorial bust of King outside K-State's Ahearn Field House. The bust will be installed Friday, Jan. 19.

The K-State chapter also has been working for years to raise funds for The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, a project spearheaded by the national fraternity, said Brandon Clark, the K-State chapter's adviser. The chapter plans various fundraising events throughout Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Week and in February as part of Black History Month at K-State, Clark said.

"Now that the memorial has gotten more recognition, we're hoping the campus and the community will be more willing and more understanding and help us in our efforts, knowing that the K-State and Manhattan communities are helping build the memorial," Clark said.

Alpha Phi Alpha members contributing to Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Week at K-State include:

From Greater Kansas City: William Harlin Jr., senior in food and nutrition-exercise science, David Hildebrandt, fifth-year senior in architecture, Dominick James, senior in kinesiology, and Emmett Smith Jr., senior in management, all of Kansas City, Kan.; Michael Riley, sophomore in political science, and AbdulRasak Yahaya, senior in civil engineering, both of Kansas City, Mo.; John Bridges IV, senior in marketing, Lenexa; and Jonathan Scott, sophomore in business administration, Overland Park.

From Manhattan: Kedric Elmore, junior in geology; David Griffin Jr., sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communications; and Bryon Williams, junior in economics.

Royce Haynes, junior in computer science, Salina; and Careem Gladney, junior in accounting, Wichita.

From out-of-state: Rathael Fambro, senior in architecture, Cape Girardeau, Mo.