Colors of tradition
Kappa Alpha Psi ball recognizes members’ work, Pan-Hellenic colleagues
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. chapters around the country sponsor a yearly Black and White Ball, a tradition that goes back decades, as evidenced by an online picture of a trio of young women from a 1953 ball in Los Angeles.
In Little Rock, the event is known as the Black and White Formal Scholarship Ball. The city’s alumni chapter hosted its 2015 incarnation Dec. 19 at the Metroplex in Little Rock. As usual, Kappas decorated their black-and-white attire with accents in the signature fraternity color, crimson.
Guests turned out in their holiday-season best — black, white and other hues — to be treated to a catered buffet dinner, invited to bid on a lineup of auction items highlighted by several flat-screen TVs, and dance to the sounds of the Synergy Band. The evening’s program featured recognition of a number of men who had excelled in the work of the chapter, including event chairman Willie Chapple; the Silhouettes — the auxiliary made up of wives of Kappas who’d helped enrich the chapter — and men who had been Kappas for 50 years or more. Members of other fraternities and sororities in the “Divine Nine” — the nine historically black, international Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities making up the National Pan-Hellenic Council — were also recognized.
A portion of the proceeds of the ball goes to benefit local college students. — Story and photos by
Helaine R. Williams