Featured Image: Member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Landon Dukes gives a powerful presentation about the fraternity at the Divine Nine: Legacy, Unity, and Impact event on Feb. 12, 2026, at the Boling University Center in Martin, Tennessee. | (Pacer Photo / Kaniya Anthony)

Dr. Mark McCloud addressed a gathering of students, campus leaders and distinguished guests at the University of Tennessee at Martin on Feb. 12, 2026, highlighting the enduring legacy of the Divine Nine, historically Black Greek-letter organizations.

McCloud framed the event as not just as a celebration of Greek life, but as a tribute to the resilience and leadership forged during times of exclusion, racial violence and limited opportunity. According to McCloud, these organizations “have shaped not only college campuses, but the very fiber of American history.”

Reflecting on his own journey with Kappa Alpha Psi, McCloud described how fraternity life provided mentorship, lifelong brotherhood and opportunities to serve the community.

“Brotherhood is deeper than the letters across your chest. It’s your relationships—the things that truly make an impact in your life,” said McCloud, encouraging attendees to carry forward that legacy. “Individually you can be great, but together you can be even more powerful. We’re not going to make excuses. We’re going to make a difference.”

Evan Street, representing Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., described the organization’s founding in 1906 at Cornell University.

“[Alpha Phi Alpha] was created to support Black students… and to build a lifelong brotherhood that they could live in and serve in,” Street said. He also emphasized the fraternity’s motto, saying, “We shall transcend them…It’s a daily reminder of the responsibility to lead.”

Braleigh Casey, representing Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., spoke on the sorority’s founding in 1908 at Howard University and its commitment to scholarship and service.

“Alpha Kappa Alpha was established by service to all mankind,” Casey said. She described the sorority as “more than just an organization… it’s a legacy of excellence, resilience and purpose.”

Speakers also highlighted the role Divine Nine organizations played during the civil rights movement and their continued influence today.

Chayil Watkins, representing Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., said the founders believed higher education should “do more than produce degrees … they produce men who would challenge injustice, serve the communities and lead social progress.”

Watkins also quoted historian Carter G. Woodson, saying, “Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.”

Terriann Ray, speaking on Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., said “the organization was founded by women who refused to accept injustice as normal.” Ray closed with a quote often credited to Shirley Chisholm: “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.”

Organizers said the presentation was designed to educate the campus community and honor the Divine Nine’s lasting influence on campus and beyond. Speakers emphasized that while the organizations were born out of exclusion, their legacy continues through leadership, service and unity. As the program closed, presenters encouraged students to not only learn the history of the Divine Nine, but to recognize how its mission still shapes communities today.