The Divine Nine refers to the nine historically African-American fraternities and sororities that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council. On Marquette’s campus, only three of the nine are active. However, when these three active organizations had the chance to show off their organization’s culture on an NBA stage, they did not skip a beat.
Two Marquette students from Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated and one Marquette student from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated performed at the Milwaukee Bucks’ second annual HBCU night Jan. 31.
Adiya Ingram, senior in the College of Education and president of the MU Beta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, and Tim Horton, senior in the College of Arts & Sciences and president of the Delta Kappa chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporate and Christian Golden, junior in the College of Communications and member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated performed at the event.
HBCU refers to the nearly 100 historically Black colleges and universities in the United States.
HBCU schools set up tables outside the arena to showcase their programs and offer information to prospective students.
The night was capped off with a halftime strolling performance from the Divine Nine.
Strolling is a cultural tradition that Black Greek Life chapters practice. It’s a rhythmic sequence of motions and chants that are often performed at events and is often a uniting activity for these organizations.
“A lot of our calls, hand signals and strolls show a unity between the nine organizations,” Ingram said. “I could see anyone on the street and if she was wearing the same letters and colors as me we could do it back and forth with each other.”
Christian Golden, junior in the College of Communication and member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, said this was not his first time on the Bucks stage. He was recently announced as the Bucks’ inaugural Urban Scholar fellow and has had three weeks under his belt working for the team.
“Knowing that the Bucks have now had my back in so many different ways is a great feeling,” Golden said.
The students are hoping that the night served as a starting point for Black Greek Life organizations to flourish on campus.
“What people may not realize is that many of these organizations were founded over a hundred years ago,” Horton said. “I know when I walk around campus with my letters on or when I carry around my cane, some students may not know what my organization means or is.”
The cane Horton is referring to is called a Kappa Cane which has been carried by members of his organization since 1911.
“For us, the Bucks are setting the standard for the visibility we want for our organizations on our campus,” Horton said.
Marquette is a predominantly white institution, and Ingram said she wishes visibility for their chapters was promoted better on campus.
“I think Marquette has been trying to take certain steps, for example, our chapter won a service award last year through Marquette which was a really big honor because we were the first D-9 organization to win that award on campus since 1999,” Ingram said.
Ingram said she thinks in small ways their organization is pushing and striving to be more visible on campus, however, she said it would be great for Marquette to also be supporting them more.
Horton said he agreed with Ingram and said his chapter feels like the “catalysts” to promote their organization and hopes that if he comes back to the university in a few years, he sees the Delta Kappa chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated still flourishing.
“I joined in a unique experience,” Horton said. “I brought my chapter back to Marquette’s campus. My chapter was inactive for three years due to COVID-19 because our former members had graduated.”
Horton is also the President of the Marquette National Pan-Hellenic Council, which oversees the Divine Nine. He said that what sets the Divine Nine apart is that members have a lifelong affiliation with their organizations.
“The service never dies,” Ingram said.
This story was written by TJ Dysart and Julia Abuzzahab. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected]
