When Medill freshman Deontae Moore heard about a scholarship opportunity from Northwestern’s Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, he decided to apply on a whim.
Moore ended up winning a $500 scholarship, which he accepted at the 31st annual Alpha Phi Alpha Homecoming Scholarship Ball on Saturday at the Magnificent Mile’s Doubletree Chicago.
“It’s definitely an honor and a representation of what the Alphas are about,” Moore said about the scholarship. “It symbolizes African-American males getting involved and making a difference amongst the community.”
This year, Alpha Phi Alpha awarded scholarships to one male NU freshman and one male high school senior from the Chicago area, said Alpha Mu chapter Vice President Adam Thompson-Harvey, chair of the Scholarship Ball.
The ball, titled “Reflection and Reshaping Our Focus,” lasted for more than three hours Saturday night and included chartered bus transportation, dinner, a guest speaker and dancing. The free event attracted more than 200 students, faculty and alumni and aimed “to give black Northwestern students an opportunity to see Chicago while celebrating scholarship and the empowerment of education,” Thompson-Harvey said.
This year’s speaker, Dr. Pete Thomas, an Alpha who appeared in CNN’s “Black in America 2,” discussed social justice and minority group issues, event attendee Monique Brown said.
“The speaker was great,” the SESP sophomore said. “He added to the nice, elegant, classy atmosphere.”
Thompson–Harvey said Thomas, a medical doctor, provided a different perspective from the businessmen, lawyers and political activists who have spoken at the event in recent years.
“He sees patients, instead of clients, which puts a new spin on things,” Thompson-Harvey said. “His medical experience was a metaphor for the community, since you have to look at problems in the community and prescribe specific solutions. People really liked his talk, and I know it made a couple people cry.”
Organizing the ball proved especially difficult this year, Thompson-Harvey said, because there are only four Alpha brothers on campus-the lowest number in the chapter’s history.
“We had to use our resources to the highest capacity,” Thompson-Harvey said. “It was scary to be planning the event while still raising money.”
Despite the small size of the chapter this year, attendee Kirsten Kennedy, a SESP sophomore, said the best part of the ball for her was seeing the brotherhood between the Alpha members.
“There was a nice sense of community, especially between the Alphas, who went out on the dance floor together and sang and did a stroll,” Kennedy said. “Alphas from other schools also came out, and even if they didn’t know each other, they got together like they were brothers.”
