Kappa Alpha Psi – ep.127

The brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Samuel L Dacus II, Charles Lockard and Trenton Goudeaux share the organization’s commitment to service and excellence through brotherhood.  

Founded on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University-Bloomington, Kappa Alpha Psi Incorporated is recognized as one of the oldest intercollegiate fraternities in the world. With the motto of “Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor, the organization emphasizes academic excellence and leadership through its commitment to participating in global community outreach. 

Melyssa Barrett:  Welcome to the Jali podcast. I’m your host, Melissa Barrett. This podcast is for those who are interested in the conversation around equity, diversity, and inclusion. Each week I’ll be interviewing a guest who has something special to share or is actively part of building solutions in the space. Let’s get started.

Take a journey with me this week as we learn about Kappa Alpha pci. I am joined by Chuck Lockard, Samuel l Decas and Trenton Gudo, and we are going to hear from them some of the rich history of Kappa Alpha pci, what it means to the community and the service they provide, what initiatives they work on, and what their own experiences were like, why they chose Kappa Alpha Sci. It’s a great conversation because we have multiple generations here. Chuck being the first to speak, you’ll hear him talk about his experience and then we have two younger individuals who recently crossed and their perspective. So I think it’ll be fun for you to listen to this episode and just learn about Kappa Alpha Sai. Remember, we had other interviews with some of the Divine Nine and other black organizations, the N-A-A-C-P, as well as the Prince Hall Masons. And I just want to make sure people are aware of the organizations, what they do, the impacts they have on the world and how they serve our communities. Please join me. All right, so I am again excited to talk to my friends with Kappa Alpha Si, and I’m just so excited to have Chuck Lockard here along with Samuel deas II and Trenton. So thank you all for being here and joining me on the Jolly Podcast.

Charles Lockard: You’re welcome.

Samuel L Dacus II:  Thank you for having us. Thank

Charles Lockard:  You for having us.

Melyssa Barrett:  Yeah, I am excited. So last year I started this kind of conversation with some of the Divine Nine, just to try to help celebrate what it is that you all do that the Divine nine does in the world. I think that’s a lot of people that don’t know, and I’d like to use the platform to educate people on what it is, what it means. There’s lots of people that know what Greeks do, but they don’t necessarily know what the Divine Mind does. So why don’t we start with you all, educate me a little bit about Kappa Alpha side.

Charles Lockard:  All right. Basically, just to kind of give you a little background, we were founded in 1911. Okay. 10 illustrious men under one dream. The dreamer. We got together out of struggle, and the reason we got together out of struggle, there was a lot of racism and a lot of different things that were going on in Indiana. We were founded at Indiana University and Elder Watson Diggs had a dream. They got together with the nine, with our other nine illustrious founders and laid out a blueprint for success that has developed some of the most educated, some of the most dynamic men this country has ever seen.

CAPA is not for everyone, though it is truly an honor and a privilege to be a member of Kappa Alphas fraternity. Incorporated for myself, it changed my life. I was familiar with the organization and it started, my journey started when I was a freshman in college. I was picked to escort a young lady for the Miss Capa Dream pageant. When I was a freshman. I was a scholarship athlete when I was attending Lexington University, and when you first come out on the yard, you see all the different Greeks. They all come out and they’re stepping and having tables, but I hadn’t seen the brothers yet. And I was like, okay, I’m looking around. Okay. And that night when we escorted, we escorted all the young ladies that were in the pageant and we were standing there and the lights went down, the red light came on and these brothers came in all white ts with red trim, with canes and top hats.

And I said, oh, that’s me. I said, that’s me. I’m done. I was done. I was too through. And then I started looking. I started talking to some of the brothers and I started seeing some of the activities and some of the leadership positions that they were involved in on the campus. And I was like, oh, they a little heavy. This one was in student life, this one was in government. This one wasn’t this, this one wasn’t this. And the way they carried themselves on the campus, they separated themselves by how they walked, how they taught, how they looked. They were always very polished, very clean, very dapper, very smooth. And I was done, transferred home, transferred home and was attending Hayward. And we only had one brother. We had brothers, a few brothers on the yard, but there was one particular brother on our yard.

His name was John Landry, and we called him the Lone Nuke because he was the only one running around on campus. Our chapter was charted March 4th, 1989, the New Sigma chapter. Chapter that shows, of course no sympathy because we, the Brian chapter, because we got a little extra up here. And in here, the first line that was chartered, the charter line was the Five Miracles of Matthew. And there were five brothers on that line. Larry Atkins, John Brown, who recently just passed away and went to Chapter Invisible, Randy, meaning Jean Nez Machine, Gilbert Vila, Vince Borderline, and Diamond Duke, Brian Cobb. Those were their big brother names. They chartered the chapter. And my line was Philippians four, which was Bob Davis, Lorenzo Hall, Charles Murphy, and myself. We were the first line to cross into the New Sigma, the New Sigma charter in 1989. It’s been, for me, a life’s work and a life’s journey.

And I will continue my journey even beyond death, because even when you die, you still go to heaven. You’re going to be with the Lord, but I’m going to be with my brothers too, seated at the table. So through the fraternity, I met my wife. My career enhanced by meeting brothers and just the knowledge that I was able to receive from some of my mentors changed my life. And it’s just an experience that people see us, what they see us do on the yard, but they really don’t know the amount of work that it takes for us to do what we do as far as what community service, all our, we give all the money away on scholarship and mentorship, and we are in the business of changing lives and enhancing others. So that’s kind of what we do.

Melyssa Barrett:  Sam, what has your experience been?

Samuel L Dacus II:  So just to kind of piggyback off that, my organization, like you said, that they were always so polished, so put together, but one thing that for me really made them stand out was they were true to themselves. Every now and again, you can get around some groups and some other organizations, and it seems like they will change depending on the people that they’re around. And just for me, the noose were just always the same type of person, inconsistent with their character. They may be a little bit more animated when they’re around their brothers, but their character never changed and it never seemed like they was just trying to do things. This is what everyone else was doing. It was just always like, oh, well no, this is just an aspect of my life that I also enjoyed to be in. But it never seemed like they was trying to put on a show. Even though we do put on a show now, we do go ahead and ask we stuff to help ’em out, but we put on a show. But like I said, we’re true to who we are and it’s like we’re men of achievement. And so we’re never satisfied, never satisfied, never content, always thirsting and hungering for more, for greater, for to be more successful. And that was just some ideals that I just could really relate to.

Melyssa Barrett:  Yeah, you all have, I mean Chuck I know has been in for a little while,

Samuel L Dacus II:  Just a little bit. So I was in spring 17, initiated the new Sigma chapter at California State University East Bay.

Melyssa Barrett:  Fantastic. And Trenton, what’s life been for you? Why did you choose Kappa?

Trenton Goudeaux:  I was a spring 19 initiate. I joined my freshman year of college. My older brother’s, also my opport fraternity as well. He’s also my chapter, our chapter, the new chapter. But let’s say it really kind of would piggyback off what both of my brothers said. It was the dapper of my fraternity that really drew mine initially. I like to be cleanly dressed, keep myself clean cut as well. And I felt like that really drew my attention from the brothers of Capital Alpha, alpha side. That’s one of the main things I’ve noticed. And also like what Sam said, the character of the brothers. Everybody’s very brotherly in this fraternity. We show a lot of human tolerance and understanding with each other. We take care of each other and we love each other. And it’s very apparent from the outside looking in. And when I was young and being around brothers of K Alpha FSI for quite a few years, even in high school from just being around my brother, I was able to see that and I was able to see other fraternities as well, such as all the other ones, and weren’t giving what Capari was giving to me at that time.

Yeah, so that’s really what kind of led me to do. So Alicia joined this fraternity and then as well, once I kind of got into the fraternity and got to meet older brothers and other brothers as well, it was seeing the achievement and the brothers, that’s one of the main monikers of our fraternity achievement. And to see those brothers with stand at and keep that instilled with their lifestyle, and it was amazing to me, so to speak. Coming from the background I came from, I haven’t really seen much of that out of a lot of black men. So it was amazing to me to say the least. And that’s pretty much what drew me to the fraternity.

Melyssa Barrett:  That’s fantastic. So let’s talk a little bit about some of the foundational principles. You all have talked about achievement, but I know there are others that guide the fraternity over the past century. What other types of foundational principles do you all focus on?

Charles Lockard:  One of the things that we do is, the main thing is, as my brother said, I don’t well achievement in every field of human endeavor. So that means every field, any science and the arts and everything you do, we’re never satisfied. We strive to be the best within ourselves and we strive to be the best as far as uplifting each other. We like to inspire service in the public interest. That’s definitely what we do. We have to give back. WEB Du Bois said, we are all in Divine nine, the talented 10 as a pillar of our race. That is a great responsibility. And when you become a member of capi, you are made aware of what your responsibility is, not just to yourself, but to your brothers, to your race, and to your community and your family. I live Kappa Kappa is not something where I just have letters on my chest.

I live it. I live my shield and I live my creed, the way I deal with my family, the way I raise my children, the way I’ll carry myself when I’m at work, when I was at work, the way I even treat my wife, you have to have a certain heir and a certain character. To be a member of Kappa Alpha side, you have to have a certain level. You have to be intelligent, you have to be polished. And one of the things that we strive to do is like say, be the best that we can be. And we have a long lineage of brothers since 1911 who have displayed these particular characteristics and achieved in every field of human endeavor at the highest level in sports, will Chamberlain and basketball Will Chamberlain and Bill Russell, you got Penny Hardaway and Alan Houston and the Red Tails, the Tuskegee Airman, chappy the Colonel, he’s my brother.

That’s why we call him the Red Tails and government, Tom Bradley. Look what he did for the city of Los Angeles. Unherald attorneys, Johnny Cochlan is our fraternity brother. I mean, the list just goes on and on and on. Not to mention, without a shadow of a doubt, Samuel DCUs II Gade and myself, Charles Lock, we cherry that passion and we carry that leadership porch, not separately, but on one accord, because we’re not individuals. We are one body, one mind, and one flow, and that’s what makes us special. I can call any brother at any time. My brother, as Trenton said, his brother or my younger brother is also a member of Kapp Alpha facade. He was made at New Chapter Spring 96, as well as my other brother, Carlos, who was also spring 96. So it’s just something that we do almost like you hear him say the chat, Melissa, it’s just something in the air got to be debonair. There must be a cap in the atmosphere.

Okay. Okay. I, and we’ve all healed in our times When we were at Hayward, like when I was at Hayward, I was president. I served on the President’s Council, which was a very unique group of individuals. Everybody could not do that. And we helped develop policy and procedure and we worked hand in hand directly with not just the administration, but with the president of the school. We had meetings, and of course we worked with the other Greeks as well. We had brothers that were president of the different clubs for business, and I believe it’s N for Nava and different, just anything we could get our hands on. We said we tried to get involved and we were going to lead. We gave scholarships as undergrads where most undergrad or most young people, and looking for the next party or the next fund to go to.

We were working early days and long nights when those who are playing, we may play, but we work while we play because you can’t achieve and do things without work because a man without a plan is like a man with a plan to fail. So we’re constantly planning, we’re constantly working, constantly giving back, not just on campus, but in the community as well. And I can remember being on the campus and people asking us, they were like, you mean you guys are giving? You’re giving a scholarship. Yeah, we’re going through the first gospel concert had raised thousands of dollars, so we were able to give several thousands of dollars worth of scholarships to students and go to different churches and give scholarships in the name of brothers that were at those particular churches at that time, and you’re talking 19, 20, 22, 24, we were young, but as leaders, it was natural. This is what we do. And that tradition, I can honestly say as the first line to cross into the chapter of New Sigma, that tradition holds true with our chapter today in 2024.

Melyssa Barrett:  So Samuel and Trenton, how does that translate today in terms of community service and some of the initiatives that you all have going on these days?

Samuel L Dacus II:  I think it follows straight right in. So one of our campuses is to assist the aims and purposes of college of universities. As we all know, there’s an African-American achievement gap. So myself, and as far as other of the Divine line on our campus, we really took that charge and we organized a coalition to get ourself a resource center on campus, that resource center, the amount of work and effort and meetings that we had to go to in the higher ups. And we actually had a meeting with chancellor of the CSU to talk about why we need it and why we deserved the African-American Resource Center to be provided to us on our campus. And that was one of those dreams that I actually didn’t even get to realize. It was part of the jumpstart to get it moving, and it wasn’t until my frat brother Triton, he actually is able to use that same resource center that we were fighting to get.

And so that’s just one thing that, like I say, we just keep on that same focus and that same path and tradition, and then just we promote the moral, spiritual, intellectual of our members. We really care about each other when we say that we want to achieve in life and we’re never satisfied. That’s not just on an individual basis. I can never be satisfied for my brother. I can never just see my brother just being content and not pushing him to do better, not helping him do better, not walking with him to do better. We don’t just focus on everything going outside, but we have to do development within our organizations to keep that bond close because if you put too much focus on the needs of others and you ignore the needs of the people around you that you’re working with, then the goal is never realized with the magnitude and the gravitas that it could be if you guys were all on one accord and working together. Okay.

Melyssa Barrett:  Trinity, did you want to add?

Trenton Goudeaux:  Yeah, yes. I mean, brother Charles and Sam pretty much nailed it pretty much down. But if I could just add additional things other than just the community service we do. I would say as of right now, for an example, I am currently the editor in chief of my school newspaper. So it’s even such as keeping Brothers written in a good light. So whenever we have events or any black organizations specifically, well, I mean don’t get me wrong. We write events on all organizations and things of that nature, but typically black events are being held on campus. I do like to make sure that we cover those stories just so that they get the amount of attention and share that I feel like was needed. So even making sure that we’re writing all the brothers in a good light, even people that are not part of our fraternity, just keeping our people in a good light and keeping people interested in wanting to attend the events and keeping the ball rolling as far as caring involved

Samuel L Dacus II:  As

Melyssa Barrett:  Well. I’m glad you brought that up because I think a lot of times when we think about the Divine Nine, what do you think the impact has been for African-Americans specifically because of your fraternity?

Charles Lockard:  Well, one of the things that we try to do is we really try, we role model the behavior. As we said earlier, we’re the pillars in the community. So we have a responsibility and an obligation to reach back and go back and lead and pull the others with us instead of, okay, I got mine. Well, I’m trying to do this. I’m done. Let me move on. No, no, no, no. We go back to the high schools, we go back to the elementary schools. So they have something to look at. A lot of times, and I won’t go too in depth, but a lot of times with the media, with media as black males, we are pictured as animals. Hemps, hustlers, not polished, not professionals. They don’t show us in the best light drug dealers, hip rappers, things that are not polished in professional. So we have a duly responsibility to provide that light and be that beacon for others to follow. And we do that not by what we say, by what we do.

I can remember being at work, I worked 27 years in the probation department where I was a shift commander when I retired, and I can remember walking through the building and working with the kid and they would be like, Mr. Lockhart, I’d be honest with you. And I would be like, what? You kind of different, or I have, there would be people that I work with, see you kind of different. You just don’t want it average or you just don’t settle. So that drew children to me and it drew adults to me. And then once that happens, it allowed me to teach. It allowed me to turn on lights where there may be darkness or no light had ever been turned on at all. It gave individuals something different to look at or something different to learn from or someone different to follow. Leadership is something that is not given. Leadership is something that’s earned, and once it’s earned, you have to uphold that position for others to follow. And it’s not always easy. The hardest thing I tell people all the time, the hardest job I’ve ever had was not being silly. The hardest job I ever had was to be upstanding and to be right because there’s no room for error because you’re always under the microscope. You have to embrace it. Well with us, not only do we embrace it, it comes natural because it’s part of who we are and it is what we do.

Now I can say that, I can say that because looking at two brothers who when I was made in the fraternity, they weren’t here yet. So how can they uphold and how can they have the same values, the same principles, the same fire, the same vigor, the same leadership qualities that I had, and they weren’t even here and they stepped right in and the ball has never been dropped.

Samuel L Dacus II:  View. One of the biggest things, and this is also one of the biggest reasons why I decided to join, is that it’s our guide, right program with our CAPA leaguers. So that’s just middle school up from eighth grade up into high school. We have a mentorship program for young men. And a lot of us didn’t grow up with an older father, an older cousin, an uncle, a big brother. I had all of that except for a big brother. But I had male mentors in my life and I seen, and the difference between how I thought and how I acted and what I believed I could do versus those around me who didn’t have that same type of push and support and love around them and guidance. And so that’s one thing that my organization, I feel like our impact with the young people of America, that’s not something that you’re going to hear about. That’s not something that you can really quantify because there will people that go through that program that will never join capital, will never will never be Greek.

It’ll just be a moment in life, but it’ll be a moment that changed them, that made them better as a better person for themselves to help them get through life easier for themselves. That’s the impact we make, that we create because we’re so devoted to making sure that young black men and old black men are seen as successful positive role models and pillars in the community and not allowing what may be the most popular of examples be what dictates us. It’s like say it is more about who we are. We understand that we live in a fishbowl, that people are looking at us, and that when people are looking at a fishbowl, they’re lick because they want an example. They have an expectation of what they should see when they look inside this bowl. And us just knowing that and walking in the best way that we know how to is just one way that we impact the world in a positive way.

We have a national partnership with the St. Jude Hospital, which a lot of organizations do, but just like any organization that I would say partnership with St. Jude’s, you take away their contributions and how many kids are now suffering. So the impact we make may not be something that can be put on a billboard, and I could win an award for it tomorrow, something. You could write a paper about it and someone wants to read the whole book about how it happened. It may not be made into a movie, but the impact is something that is so large. I can’t personally quantify. I’m just glad I’m able to be a part of organization to create that space in the world. Love it. Anything you want to add, Trenton?

Trenton Goudeaux:  Yeah, like Sam said, it is pretty much nearly impossible to quantify the impact. But what I can say is that members of Cap Alpha Cyber we’re very substantial leaders. And examples of that is, like Sam said, Capoli. Capoli is somewhat of a club that we put together of young men from middle school to high school where we teach them to do things such as filling ’em out, a scholarship, filling out their FAFSA performance for financial aid, which a lot of kids like me are not aware of or were not aware of at a certain age of things like that. Job applications, things of that nature. So very important critical things that a lot of young men know is what we pretty much teach throughout our capital league and things of that nature. And then also, like Sam, Mitch, also, St. Jude’s, and even a more personal example, we have a brother in our chapter of the name John Norman, who has a nonprofit program called Raising Youth Resilience, which is based in Stockton, California, which is where I’m from, and I can attest to you right now and is very much so long of need in a program like this.

And basically raising your resilience at every single high school and nearly every middle school in Stockton, California. And basically it takes, I don’t want to use the word trouble students, but any students that are just having any kind of issues with whether schooling or personal life, whatever the case may be, and pretty much instills resilience. That’s kind of what the name comes from, raising youth resilience, instilling the resilience into the youth. And like Sam said, you can’t quite quantify the impact, but the impact is huge and never, nevertheless, I’ve seen it on my own eyes. I’ve seen my cousins, my actual blood cousins, they were part of this program as well, although they didn’t go to school, but I’ve seen how the program changed their life and how now they have pretty solid jobs for their age. They’re working hard, they have an apartment together, they’re doing pretty well for themselves, for their age. And to me, it seems like it’s very apparent that that program is pretty much what gave them that resilience to eventually live the lifestyle that they’re living right now and pretty much change their life. And that’s the kind of impact that members of Cap office I have on our communities. And like Sam said, if you take it away, would it change much? Probably not. But it’s our due diligence to our duty to still stand up and give our efforts to give that impact. Nevertheless,

Samuel L Dacus II:  We have Monte Jordan, so a lot of us wouldn’t be around because he caused a lot of baby making. So it was,

Charles Lockard:  Man, I’ll tell you a story. When we were in Los Angeles, we were doing a step show, real big LA step show in LA back in the day, long time, many moves ago. He actually was one, he stepped with us. We had won more competitions, step shows, and placed higher than the other campus in our western region in our province. And he actually stepped in our show with us many moons ago.

Melyssa Barrett:  Yes,

Charles Lockard:  Many moons

Melyssa Barrett:  Ago. That’s awesome. Well, and Trent, I was asking them earlier, I said, how did y’all feel when you saw Usher up there with some Kappas at the Super Bowl?

Trenton Goudeaux:  I thought it was pretty cool. Honestly, I’ve seen some brothers were a bit offended or things of that nature. I think it’s cool that we get that attention or we get that notoriety. There’s other Greek organizations. We’re not the only one that strolls The fact that each chose us, I thought was pretty cool. The brothers that were strolling, they were part of our fraternity, so it wasn’t like they were disrespecting or fra in any kind of way. So I thought it was pretty cool to see when they kind of jumped out there on the stage with the classic white scene, white cane. Yeah, it was nice. I

Melyssa Barrett:  Have to say I was shocked.

Trenton Goudeaux:  I was ply shocked as well.

Charles Lockard:  We asked this show, we helped usher, we gave

Trenton Goudeaux: Extra

Charles Lockard:  Extra.

Trenton Goudeaux:  You kind did a slight little sed in a slight, this all cool for us. He’s done a lot of hard work, and I think just the fact that he kind of brought us onto that stage with Tim was pretty cool.

Melyssa Barrett:  Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. Awesome. So tell me a little bit about you all’s personal story. Chuck Kind gave us a little bit of his, but I know you all are younger. You just crossed not that long ago. What has life been like for you all, having just, I don’t know, Trenton, are you still in college

Trenton Goudeaux:  Or, I just finished my last semester in December.

Melyssa Barrett:  Okay, fantastic. So tell me a little bit about you all and your journeys to get here to where you are today, now that you’re a capa.

Trenton Goudeaux:  Okay, so I’m born in 2000. I’m a 2000 baby, or I was actually born on Valentine’s Day. My birthday just passed a couple days

Melyssa Barrett:  Ago. Oh, happy birthday.

Trenton Goudeaux:  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, brother. So yeah, I was born in Stockton, California, which is where I also grew up at and graduated from. I graduated from Lincoln High School in 2018. And then after graduating high school, I went to college, went to Cal State East Bay, and that first semester was when I actually met my line brothers. And I knew a lot of members of the new SMA chapter already. As I said previously, my brother was part of New SMA chapter, Sam’s Line Brothers, so he crossed in Spring 17 as well with Sam. So I was aware of their whole line and a few other fights such as John Norman, which I spoke of with the nonprofit organization. So yeah, again, I got to college, met my line brothers. We actually had the same dorm together. We were looking at the dorms together and we joined our organization together our first year, which was a great experience.

I loved that I joined in at such an early age. I feel like I was able to soak in so much experience and although I came with a lot of struggles and a lot of stress being in the organization for so long at such a young age, but I felt like it was very beneficial for me in the long run, no doubt. So yeah, so eventually, yeah, I started off actually as a kinesiology major in college. I was a kinesiology major for two years, and then right before the pandemic hit, which was literally the semester before we went on lockdown, I changed my major to media productions. So boom, change my major. Then here comes the pandemic. So I’m literally in my second or third and pardon my fourth year in the pandemic on lockdown, I had to move back to home to Stockton, California, which was a bit of a struggle.

I never really noticed how much resilience I had in high school and how many distractions that were around me when I was in high school because when I got back to Stockton in college and at an older age, almost 19, 20, 21, at this point, I have my own car. I have a job at this point working at T-Mobile. So I make my own money in my pocket, things of that nature. So I was able to kind of live on, do what I wanted essentially. And being a student wasn’t very advantageous for me at the time, but I was able to get through it. Kind brought out some of that resilience that was instilled in me and was able to get through it, get back on campus, finish up my degree, and then right before I finished, I was granted the opportunity to become the editor in chief of my newspaper. So I took that opportunity as well. So that’s pretty much what I’m doing now. I’m just bridging the gap from working for my newspaper to getting into my career and media production right now. So yeah, that’s pretty much where I’m at right now as far as my life. Really.

Melyssa Barrett:  Fantastic. I love it. I love to hear all

Samuel L Dacus II:  That. Sam, how about you? Alright, well here we go. The honest truth, me. So I have a bit of an issue. My issue is that my mom and my dad told me that I could be whatever I wanted to be in life and I believed them. So I thought I could be him, and I became that. And so my issue was I never wanted to be just another person. And so selfishly in high school I was just like, alright, well cool. I’m going to have to be an athlete or be Greek, otherwise I’m just another somebody else. And like I said, selfishly just couldn’t be me. Just couldn’t be me. So going into college, I already had the mindset, alright, we going figure out this Greek thing because I have to maintain my popularity from high school. Like I said, that’s what I initially when Nly was, I didn’t actually join my organization for four years later.

So a lot of growth, a lot of changes, a lot of mindset, a lot of things happened. And the reason why I finally made the leap and made the decision to join my organization was because one, I had realized that a lot of things I had been doing in my life I was doing for other people. I have nine siblings. Oh wow. The oldest boy and seven of them are younger than me. Completely. So wow. Me was to say I always had a responsibility to be a positive example. So like I said, I always wanted to be an example. And so a lot of things I did in my life was just to be that example. It wasn’t necessarily because I wanted to do it, I liked to do it, I didn’t hate it. So it was like, let me just, I’ll be the scapegoat and I’ll go through it.

This is what you’re supposed to do. And then just going through college, I was just like everything that I wanted to be Greek for coming out of high school didn’t matter. I wanted to be popular. I couldn’t walk on campus without someone knowing who I was. Getting to class all the time was a struggle because I was always getting stopped connections. Well, I work with the housing department and work in student government, so I have people to write me letters of recommendation. I have connections. I don’t really need it for that brotherhood. I have nine siblings. I think I’m good on that. Maybe an older brother that was the only maybe driving force. I was the oldest I wanted someone else to look up to look up to and could mentor me, but I had everything coming. Four years later I hadn’t do I still want to do this? And the answer was yes. So that’s when I knew you’re doing this for yourself and this is something that you need to do. And like I said, I fell in love with CAPA because of who they are, what they represent of how they carry themselves, the work they put in.

Just everything about it was just like, that’s me. That reflects who I am. I’m not joining this to become like them. I’m not joining this to be around people like them. So people assume this is how I am. This is a mirror of who I already am. It only makes sense and also do something for yourself. That was the biggest thing really for me. Like I said, selfishly, I still wanted to meet the man because I was the first most photographed person in my yearbook. I have the yearbook and I actually pounded everybody’s names with the multiple numbers and I have the top, I’m not tied with nobody. It’s me, which literally just means I did too much in school and I didn’t get no sleep, that’s all. I mean, just because I never slept. Oh my goodness, that’s really my journey. And then just the love I felt from my chapter.

My grandma actually died while we was doing all the paperwork and the formal process of becoming a member and shape the join. And at that moment with my grandma being out, I didn’t want, I no longer wanted to pay for it, so I still wanted to be a kappa, but I could use this money for something else. At this point I’m in college and so even though that’s my grandmother, so I’m not really involved with the process of what’s going on and the finances of it, but I’m my dad’s oldest. So you carry that responsibility, he going to naturally just vent to me because that’s just my job, it’s my position. I’m the person he vents to. And so it’s like I know these things and so I was like, I could be using this for other things. I wanted to take a break from school, I want to go home.

My grandma was a big, big part of my life. And at that, it just seemed like it. She gave me her car right before she passed away and I knew that’s what she was doing and it was just the way she gave it to me. Then she passed away, then a week later the engine dies and I was just done. But my brothers, they weren’t even my brothers yet. They were just the men who were potentials aspirants with me. They just showed me so much compassion, love, understanding, and they didn’t know me. I was joining an organization to have this connection and to get it from people that don’t know me yet before we even get to the point to where unquote, we’re family now, you have to love your family. You don’t have a choice type thing. Even before we get to this moment where it’s just like, Hey bro, I don’t know if I want to do this no more.

They’re just like, yeah, you do. And just reminding me of who I am and what I wanted and what my desires was. Just my grandma wouldn’t have wanted me to quit. And but being there and not allowing me to just go through that tough time of my own, it’s something that I can’t, it’s invaluable because I wouldn’t have went to no one else just because of my personality of always having the responsibility to be the example comes to certain things. I won’t show certain emotions just because I feel like I’m protecting everyone else or I’m being the example of, it’s okay, you can get through it, you can be okay. So for whatever reason, I couldn’t allow myself to express that around my family as much as I needed to do to process. And my brothers allowed me that space. And so it was, like I said, I joined this organization, one of the best choices I made in my life, and it’s something I do over and over again.

Melyssa Barrett:  That’s awesome. I mean, that sense of brotherhood, especially in the black community, is often challenging. So it’s wonderful to hear stories like that because I think it just emphasizes how often you feel it when you have a fraternity like yours. So I mean, that’s awesome. Love to hear that. Alright, wow. Well, we are running out of time at this point, but tell me, maybe all of you can kind of end with something that you want to say about Kappa Alphas and kind of give us what some of your aspirations are. Or maybe you can talk a little bit about traditions and what you see, kind of the newer generations coming up. What kind of words of advice would you give to those out there that are seeking Kappa?

Samuel L Dacus II:  Okay, so I would just say for me, just do your research. Everyone has their own websites and that will tell you the basics of what the organization is. Be yourself and don’t be shy. I know it’s intimidating to come up sometimes because we’re such a tight-knit group that it’s almost feels intrusive sometimes to approach us. But please come up, approach us, show interest, and don’t be nervous. If it’s something that you really want to do, pursue it. And if it’s something that you find out that you don’t want to do, it’s not for everybody. Don’t feel like you’re a failure. Don’t feel like you’re missing out because not everyone has the best experience anyway. It’s really what you make of it. Just like what life is. Yo, yo yo to the nukes.

Melyssa Barrett:  All right.

Trenton Goudeaux:  Yeah. And I like to say pretty much like what Sam said, and he was 100% correct everything he said, but do your research when it comes to interest in any Greek organization. Also with doing your research when you are approaching Greek organizations that you’re interested, remember to stay discreet with things nowadays. Everybody wants to build a lot of things on social media and Instagram and Twitter and all that. When it comes to these Greek organizations, your interest with them, discretion is key. It’s a traditional thing that we all have for our founding members and, and it’s been around for a long time and it’s very important to us. So remember to stay discreet, stay humble. Nobody’s too cool for school, man. We all at the same school, we all taking the same, probably not the same classes, but you’re like, we’re all in the same place. So remember to stay humble, stay discreet, and like Sam said, man, don’t be shy, man. Do your research and when you are interested and when you feel like you’re ready to express your interest in any Greek organization, make sure you do it properly and do it properly.

Melyssa Barrett:  Awesome. Thank you for that. All right, Chuck, we going to give you the last word.

Charles Lockard:  Hey, I’m easy. Five new pie to the day I die. So smooth, so small. So Devin there, Melissa, you just had the nukes on your show. If we in the atmosphere, nothing else to say, but the crimson and trait with the crimson and Cream, everywhere we go, they dream, but some tribe, many are called. Well few are chosen. Hey, just want to uphold the legacy that was laid before us and be the best mayor that we can be to inspire service in the public interests, lead others, and do what we’re called to do.

Melyssa Barrett:  Alright,

Charles Lockard:  Just lead.

Melyssa Barrett:  That’s it. We’ll leave on that note. Thank you all so much again for joining

Samuel L Dacus II:  Me. Thank you.

Trenton Goudeaux:  Thank you for having us.

Melyssa Barrett:  It’s been a pleasure to have you all and look forward to connecting with you all in the future.

Charles Lockard:  Alright, I got to get on this floor before your sister get home. Alright, go ahead. How we say s in the house say?

Melyssa Barrett:  I hope that translates both in the audio and video. Well,

Charles Lockard:  Alright.

Melyssa Barrett:  All right. Thanks you guys. I appreciate

Charles Lockard:  It. You’re welcome. Thank your time. All. Alright. Hey Trenton, man. It’s good to see you, bro. Good to see you, you brother. To see you too. Thank you guys. Trent. Hey, I’m about to mop this floor and finish this dinner. I’ll call you after. I’m going to

Melyssa Barrett:  Get in trouble now. I’m

Charles Lockard:  Telling he going to

Melyssa Barrett:  Be in the dog now.

Charles Lockard:  Yeah, all good.

Melyssa Barrett: Take care of you guys. Bye. All right, bye-Bye.Melyssa Barrett:  Thanks for joining me on the Jali Podcast. Please subscribe so you won’t miss an episode. See you next week.

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