Gadsden [AL] Alumni Chapter

Charter Date: December 7, 1951

Nine young men, thirsting for the same bond of fraternity that they once enjoyed on their respective college campuses, decided that the bond should exist here in the city of Gadsden, AL. Brothers Preston Proctor, Joseph Robinson, Percy Weatherly, Lawrence Presley, Edward Presley, Walker Alexander, Onzelo Adair, Theodore McAlpine, and Quimby Berry would come together and sow the seeds that on December 7th, 1951 would become the Gadsden Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

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The chapter began to grow and saw a great deal of achievement among it’s members. In 1967, the chapter had the pleasure of hosting the 17th Annual Southern Provincial Meeting. After a stretch of inactivity, the chapter was revived by Brothers Edward Bonner and Roger Watts in 1969. Both of whom became prominent leaders and educators in the city of Gadsden. The role of educators was and remains quite common among members of the chapter. The most noted among them was Brother Herman L. Shaw. He was awarded the Southern Province Achievement Award in 1980, and was an assistant superintendent with the City of Gadsden School System. Our other early educators include: Joseph Robinson (high school principal), Walker Alexander (teacher/coach), Lawrence Presley (high school coach, principal, and Etowah County’s first black county commissioner), Edward Presley (teacher/elementary principal), Percy Weatherly (teacher/coach), Onzelo Adair (coach), and Ernesto Johnson (marketing educator). All of the above brothers are deceased.

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Here is the Gadsden [AL] Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. as it stands today: