2024 Great Lakes Regional Conference Souveneir Journal

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2024

Greetings to my brothers of the “Greater” Great Lakes Region.

On behalf of our 36th International President, Bro. Hon. Chris V. Rey JD, and the Great Lakes Regional Board, it is my honor and distinct pleasure to welcome you to our 98th Regional Conference in the great State of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis, “The Racing Capitol of the World”.

This year’s theme is “Racing Toward Greatness”. As we conduct business for our Region, I encourage you to set high standards, stay focused on our vision“One Sigma”, and remember that the journey to greatness is just as important as reaching the destination. Additionally, we hope that you find time to explore, take in the sights, and enjoy this remarkable city.

Director Brother Willie

C.H. Garrett- Conference Committee Chair, Brother Chuck Scott, State Director Brother Karl Williams, and the entire Conference Committee for their hard work and tireless efforts to

Our region’s position and membership are stronger than ever, and it’s because of your engagement, leadership, and dedication to Sigma. To serve thee e’re in joy and pain, in sorrow or in strife, we’ll still proclaim, in loud refrain, “Phi Beta is the life!”

Brothers, let's continue the work of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.. As your 32nd Regional Director, I

Yours in service, Charles L. Jones

32nd Great Lakes Regional Director

FROM THE 32nd REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Dear Brothers of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.,

As the Conference Chair of the Racing Toward Greatness Conference 2024, I warmly welcome each of you to the vibrant city of Indianapolis, IN. This conference is poised to be an event of immense significance, and I am delighted to have you all join us for what promises to be an unforgettable experience.

I must express my heartfelt appreciation to the host chapter, Xi Sigma for their dedication and efforts in organizing this monumental event. Their commitment to excellence has brought us together, and we are truly grateful for their work.

To our International President, the Honorable Bro. Chris V Rey, JD; our International 1st Vice President, David Turner; our Regional Director, Charles Jones; and all elected and appointed officers, delegates, alternate delegates, and the entire brotherhood of our region, I extend a sincere welcome. Your presence here underscores your unwavering commitment to the principles and values of Phi Beta Sigma, and my honor to have you here.

I also extend my gratitude to our external and internal sponsors, the businesses participating in the career fair, the host hotel, and its staff for their invaluable contributions to this conference's success. Your support has been crucial, and we sincerely appreciate your involvement.

Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge and thank our sisters of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. for their continued partnership and support. Your presence enriches our fraternity, and we are privileged to have you as sisters, the ONLY Constitutionally-Bound Brother and Sister Organization.

As we come together for this conference, let us seize the opportunity to reflect on our past achievements and chart a course for the future of our region. I am particularly excited about the tailored track and activities designed for our collegiate brothers, which are sure to inspire and empower them.

Brothers, let us make the most of our time together. Let us engage in meaningful discussions, cultivate new connections, and strengthen the bonds of brotherhood that unite us. Remember, it is our collective efforts that make our region genuinely great. Together, we are ONE SIGMA, ONE REGION!

Once again, welcome to Indianapolis. Please know that I am here to support you in any way possible to ensure your weekend is seamless and enjoyable. Let us seize this opportunity to learn, grow, and have a fantastic time!

It has been my pleasure to serve as your Regional 1st Vice Director and Conference Chair.

Here to serve,

Dr. Willie C. Howard Garrett

Regional 1st Vice Director 2024 Regional Conference Chair

FROM THE REGIONAL 1st VICE DIRECTOR

Hello to my Brothers of the Great Lakes Region,

I am Ashton Franklin, a Spring ‘23 initiate and current chapter President of Alpha Epsilon Alpha (Indianapolis Citywide). Being a part of something so large, newly into the brotherhood, has been a great honor and opportunity to continue fostering my personal and professional growth.

During this time, I have learned more about what Sigma means and how I can best support my brothers and the beloved community I am choosing to build over time.

To my collegiate brothers, I assure you that the greatest minds throughout the Great Lakes have planned this regional conference. I challenge every one of my brothers to attend and participate fully. Accepting the responsibility and loving the challenge makes our foundation solid.

Creating the Collegiate Leadership Committee provides you guys with an enjoyable and extremely meaningful experience. We have a plethora of workshops and other activities to equip you all with something you can bring back into your chapter, university, city, and society. Taking the initiative to empower your chapter and other brothers around you is an excellent step in the right direction. However, consistency in the willingness to learn and fostering a culture of total empathy and compassion will unlock the individual.

Our generation has needs, desires, and goals that sometimes can be difficult to maintain while fulfilling our daily responsibilities. So, once again, I encourage you to read over this toolkit, register yourself and others, and join me in a new era with brothers looking to make a difference and shape what we want the Great Lakes Region to be.

Best wishes,

GOMAB

Bro. Ashton Franklin Collegiate Representative 98th Great Lakes Regional Conference

Racing Toward Greatness!

The Brothers of Xi Sigma Chapter, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated welcome you to our city. We are humbled and privileged to serve as your host chapter - honored to receive you in the spirit of Sigma as Brothers of the greatest fraternity in the world! With a deep sense of brotherly love, honor and respect, we say to you,

“Our Cause Speeds On.”

April 6, 2024

Dear Regional Conference 2024 Attendees:

On behalf of the Xi Sigma Alumni Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, we say welcome to the great city of Indianapolis, IN, and the 2024 Great Lakes Regional Conference. This conference, a peak experience for our region, is designed to equip you with the knowledge, skills, and connections necessary to continue your involvement in Sigma. We work tirelessly throughout the year to assemble a conference worthy of your time and expense, aiming to make the week enjoyable while taking the responsibility of seriously bringing you a world-class experience. With this in mind, we have assembled our most impressive affair yet. We hope you agree!

Indeed, we are a brotherhood of conscious men, serving God, our families as fathers/husbands, and the community as leaders for over eighty-five years. Our collegiate brothers play a significant role in achieving our mission for this conference, as they are the lifeblood and future of our Fraternity and communities. We are looking to improve their life experiences with the idea that they will stay involved in the work of Sigma beyond their undergraduate years and remain loyal alumni to Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity after attending this conference and the career fair.

We are also grateful for the support and partnership of our city's three Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. alumni chapters. Brothers, we are so excited to have you in our hometown and cannot wait to serve you, Hoosier Hospitality.

I speak for the local team; we are eager to see you all on day one!

Vic Oditah Jr.

President

Xi Sigma Alumni Chapter

Charles “

Chuck” Scott

Immediate Past President & Xi Sigma Conference Chair

Xi Sigma Alumni Chapter

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated

Xi Sigma Alumni Chapter

Dove Sponsor

Phi Beta Sigma History

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. was founded on January 9, 1914, in Washington

D.C. by three young African-American male students: Honorable A. Langston Taylor, Honorable Leonard F. Morse, and Honorable Charles I. Brown. The founders aimed to create a Greek letter fraternity that would truly exemplify the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, and service. They wanted their fraternity to exist as part of an even greater brotherhood which would be devoted to the “inclusive we” rather than the “exclusive we”. From its inception, the Founders also conceived Phi Beta Sigma as a mechanism to deliver services to the general community. This deep conviction was mirrored in the Fraternity’s motto, “Culture For Service and Service For Humanity”. Today, Phi Beta Sigma has blossomed into an international organization of leaders. Members of the Fraternity have been instrumental in the establishment of the Phi Beta Sigma National Foundation, the Phi Beta Sigma Federal Credit Union and The Sigma Beta Club Foundation. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, founded in 1920 with the assistance of Phi Beta Sigma, continues to thrive as our sister organization.

Xi Sigma Host Chapter History

The Xi Sigma Chapter was originally established in Welch, W. Virginia in the Spring of 1925 by Fleming A. Jones but became inactive and was later reassigned and chartered December 14, 1938 in Indianapolis; The Charter Members listed are Reginald Henson, Andrew Curley, S.S. Stephenson, Hulet Buford, Ralph K. Smith and B.G. Smith. The Xi Sigma Alumni Chapter of Central Indiana is the largest Alumni chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. in the state of Indiana and the Second oldest chapter in the Great Lakes Region. Xi Sigma was instrumental in chartering 2 Indiana Chapters. One year after John Barksdale III came through the Grad chapter (2/27/1971), he founded Epsilon Iota at Indiana University (1/3/1972) with Dr. Joseph J. Russell (Director of Afro-American Affairs), Jimmy Ross (Office of Scholarship & Financial Aid), and 19 Crescent Club members known as the "M.E.A.N 19" in the Spring of 1972. Then in the Spring 1995 April 15, on the campus of Butler University, in Indianapolis, the F.A.T.A.L F.O.U.R formed the City Wide Chapter of Indianapolis, now known as Alpha Epsilon Alpha (AEA) at IUPUI. Willard Todd Nailon a member of Xi Sigma and James Merritt president of Lambda Beta at Ball State brought in these four men who all played football at Butler University: Arnold Mickens, Jr. (Xi Sigma President 2011-13), Adell Means, Jeffery Cooks and Kevin Morris.

Pictured 2011: Dr. Kenneth Ackles (Xi Sigma 1974)

"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."

Bro. John Lewis (2/20/1940 - 7/18/2023)

The Circle City

Indianapolis is one of the most populous cities in the world not located on navigable water, although it is a hub of road, rail, and air transportation. These facilities and the city’s position in the midst of the Corn Belt, near large coalfields and consumer markets, have combined to make it an important commercial, financial, and industrial center. Pharmaceuticals and chemicals, machinery, plastics, wood and paper products, and transportation and electrical equipment (including televisions and audio equipment) are major products. It is also a regional distribution, retail, and health care center, and tourism has grown in importance.

A major educational and cultural center, Indianapolis is the seat of Butler University (1855), Christian Theological Seminary (1925), Ivy Tech State College (1963), Lincoln Technical Institute (1946), Marian College (1851), Martin University (1977), and the University of Indianapolis (1902). Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (1969) includes Herron School of Art (1902) and an internationally renowned medical center. The hub of the city, Monument Circle (1901), is the site of the 284.5-foot Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. The Indiana War Memorial Plaza (1927) is a five-block area just to the north that honors the state’s war dead and includes the American Legion National Headquarters building. The State Capitol (1878–88), just west of the circle, is constructed of Indiana limestone and has a central rotunda 234 feet high. Hilbert Circle Theatre (1916), home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, is adjacent to the circle, and Clowes Memorial Hall (1963), on the Butler campus, is a center for the performing arts.

The city has a convention-exposition center (1972) and a museum of art (1883). The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (1926) is the largest museum of its kind in the world and is one of the most frequently visited museums in the country. White River State Park, west of downtown, contains a number of attractions. The Indianapolis Zoo (1988) and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (1989) are located there, as are the main offices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its Hall of Champions Museum (2000). The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum (1952), adjacent to the track, exhibits racing cars dating from 1909.

Beginning in the 1970s, Indianapolis worked to make itself an international center of amateur sports, an effort that produced considerable economic growth. In addition to the NCAA, the city attracted such organizations as the National Institute for Fitness and Sport, a center of sports-physiology research. Other amateur venues include the Indianapolis Tennis Center (1979) and the Major Taylor Velodrome (1982), a bicycle-racing track. Lucas Oil Stadium (2008) is home to the Colts professional football team, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse (formerly Bankers Life Fieldhouse) hosts the Pacers (men’s) and Fever (women’s) professional basketball teams.

The Indiana State Fairgrounds, with more than 55 permanent buildings, including the Art Deco-style Pepsi Coliseum (1939), is a focus of trade and social activities. The annual state fair (August) attracts large crowds, as do the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration (July) and the Indy Jazz Fest (June). The Indianapolis homes of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (1875) and poet James Whitcomb Riley (1872) have been preserved as museums. Other prominent city residents have included Charles Warren Fairbanks (vice president under Theodore Roosevelt), authors Booth Tarkington and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery.

(credits: written and fact-checked by the Editors of Britannica, last updated February 20, 2024)

Madame C. J. Walker Legacy Center

Indianapolis Canal Walk

NCAA Hall of Champions

Eiteljorg Museum

Indianapolis Zoo

White River State Park

GLRC 2024 Host Hotel

Indianapolis Marriott Downtown

Circle Center Mall

downtown indianapolis

Patrons

Daryl Parks Tau Xi Sigma

Jeff Keels Zeta Nu Sigma

Dr. Tyree Brinson Omicron Alpha Sigma

Rob Ellis Iota Phi Sigma

Dr. Justen V. Seay Beta Xi Sigma

Demetrious Monroe Omicron Alpha Sigma

TyWaunne Hill Rho Eta Sigma

Brady Talley Tau Psi Sigma

PBS Impact Foundation

US Fish & Wildlife

Cook County Juvenile Detention Center (IL)

Solid Rock Church of Toledo

Gold Sponsor

Silver Sponsor

Royal Blue Sponsor