District Director's Message

Brothers, as I sit here reflecting on our 2006-2007 fraternal year, I am filled with immense pride in the numerous accomplishments that were attained across the District. We successfully wrapped up our Centennial Celebration with a successful District Conference that was held in Tallahassee. Brothers came out in large numbers as the Beta Nu, Iota Delta and Gamma Mu Lambda chapters painted the streets of Tallahassee Black & Old Gold. Following the District Conference, Brothers Reginald Wesley and Terry Hatfield successfully reintroduced our Annual College Brothers Retreat. College brothers participated in record numbers throughout the weekend in events that included meaty workshops facilitated by college brothers, community service projects and opportunities to network with each other. I am also proud that during this past fraternal year we successfully initiated more than 100 new brothers without any major intake related violations. Finally, to top it all off, the Florida District lead by Delta Xi Lambda Chapter successfully hosted our 101st Anniversary Convention. Thousands of brothers from across the country converged on Orlando and experienced "The Florida Difference" The venue was exceptional, execution of the agenda was flawless, and the hospitality provided via various Florida events was top notch. What a year!.

Yet, as we collectively look at our successes with a critical eye, we must realize that there are opportunities for improvement. Let me offer a sample for your consideration:

Alpha Days on the Hill - Brothers, this is a critical program both in terms of raising Alpha Phi Alpha's awareness in the political arena and equally important in terms of public relations and "owning" our image. We have discussed this as a District during our annual planning sessions but we are not getting the level of participation from chapters that we need. We need to ensure that this event is on every chapter's 2007-2008 calendar with a desire to have a minimum of 2 brothers from each brother participating.

Southern Region Leadership Development Institute - After a one year absence, the Southern Region Sponsored the LDI this past year in Jackson, MS. I was disappointed that as a District we only had 1 person from the District participate in this program. Brothers, we are about developing America's future leaders. Therefore, its imperative that we significantly increase our participation in the program during this fraternal year. I am challenging the Alumni chapters throughout the District to ensure that we have 35 students along with 7 chaperones participate in 2008. To support this initiative, the District will appoint a District LDI Chairman to raise our collective awareness and facilitate a District Bus to Jackson.

March of Dimes Partnership - As you all know the March of Dimes is a National Partner with Alpha Phi Alpha. Generally speaking we have not done enough throughout the District to engage this partnership. Clearly we need to be working closer with the March of Dimes to support annual Project Alpha programs at the Chapter level. In addition, while we significantly increased our March of Dimes Walkamerica contribution this past year, we still missed our target. While I recognize that we have several Special Projects that we are trying to collectively support, I am asking chapters to pledge to do their part to help us meet our 2007-2008 Target .

Brothers, I look forward' to building upon the successes that were accomplished by Brother McCray and ask for your continued support as we light up the world implementing "The Florida Difference".

James Crumel
13th District Director
Florida Federation of Alpha Chapters (Florida, Bahamas, U. S. Virgin Islands)
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.