Tyson King-Meadows:
i Winner of the Outstanding
^ Graduate Faculty Advisor Award
n By Titia Shelton
k Stakf Wkitkh
yson King-Meadows, one of the most visible leaders of the
Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center, was recently given
the Chancellor's Committee on Creek Affairs Outstanding
’ Graduate Faculty Advisor Award.
I King-Meadows said he felt concerned that often in the fast-paced
University community, accomplishments and day to day contributions
* by many hard-working people in the BCC and African-American com-
^ munity go unnoticed.
^ As a member and advisor to Alpha Phi Alpha P"raternity, and a
political science teacher, King-Meadows has been a symbol of what
the African-American male could aspire to be. King-Meadows has
spent his undergraduate as well as his graduate years helping his
peers and the community as a whole.
Kver since he attended middle school in Brooklyn, New York, he
lias had a hard-working and challenging mind. He participated in an
accelerated program which allowed him to complete the seventh and
eighth grade in one year and also the tenth and eleventh in one year.
King-Meadows graduated from high school with 21 college cred
its, and at the age of 16, went on to pursue his college career at North
Carolina Central University.
His decision to become a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha frater
nity in the spring of 1991 was a decision that continues to positively
influence his life. He said that he wanted to be a member of a fraterni
ty that knew education was essential to uplifting the African-
American community.
VVlien King-Meadows researched this fraternity, he found that
many of the great leaders of the 20th century had been members of
this organization. Great African-American leaders such as writer and
educator W.E.B. Dubois; David Dinkins, the former mayor of New
York City: former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; promi
nent lawyer and North Carolina Central University Chancellor Julius
Chambers; and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. He said that
these influential people especially Dubious inspired him to “...want to
be a part of the movement changing African-Americans now—the
movement for empowerment.”
Being a part of this fraterni
ty was also important to King-
Meadows because of his love for
politics. Alpha Phi Alpha started
the drive to encourage African-
Americans to vote with the slo
gan, “A voteless people are a
hopeless people.”
He said that this organiza
tion puts him, “in the position to
do some good, be in touch with
powerful people and lend some
energies to helping the commu
nity.” He has tried to lend these
energies in his four years at the University.
Under his leadership, Alpha Phi Alpha has started a scholarship
drive collecting money from parties and other fundraising events.
Adopt-A-Highway, Morrison Sleep Out, and voter registration drives
were other events that this group sponsored.
Two activities that King-Meadows said he thought were very
important services to the African-American community were Habitat
for Humanity and the Nubian Princess Luncheon. He said, “building
houses so that African-Americans have land gives African-Americans a
building foundation to pass on [to future generations].”
Another activity that the fraternity sponsored was the Nubian
Princess Appreciation Luncheon. King-Meadows said he believed that
brothers need to show Black women that men acknowledge that they
came from women and that they appreciate women. “We need to
reclaim Black women as partners in the struggle,” he said.
As well as these significant activities , the UNC Mu Zeta chapter
has won many awards during King-Meadows tenure as an advisor. One
such award was theN.C. Chapter of The Year. In 1995, Malcolm Logan
also won the statewide Brother of the Year Award.
Because of his accomplishments and his service to the commu
nity, King-Meadows won the Chancellor’s Graduate Faculty Advisor
Award. This award was designed to honor a person who helps fraterni
ties add something to life at UNC. It acknowledges that advisors facili
tate the fraternity growth process and reflects that fraternities can’t
accomplish everything on their own without help, he said.
King-Meadows received no money for his advising position. As a first
year teacher of “African-Americans and Politics,” King-Meadows struggled
to balance time and resources. Despite these obstacles, he continues to
persevere and he said he feels he adds a “unique aspect” to Alpha Phi Alpha
because he is the only advisor who is a member of the group.
“I’ve been through the same things these guys are going
through and I’ve tried some of these same things,” King-Meadows
said “So I have the ability to say ‘I’ve done this and it’s not going
to work.’ I am very thankful for this award because I felt my work
was appreciated.”
Trivia Contest
Informs and Entertains
By Star Spencer
Stakk Writer
Answering questions rang
ing from issues of pop culture to
politics, junior Hugh Davis,
sophomore Shanta Morrison,
and junior Shani Foy won prizes
in the Black
History Month
contest held by
the Sonja H.
Stone Black
Cultural Center.
Rodney
Sanders, a sopho
more and chair
man of the Black Student
Movement Education Committee
decided to celebrate Black
History Month by organizing a
black history trivia contest.
Davis, Morrison and Foy
won first, second and third places,
respectively. The first and second
place winners received tickets to
“Les Ballets Africains”, an upcom
ing musical in Chapel Hill.
The winning contestants
said that they entered the contest
with basic knowledge of history.
Hugh Davis said, “I really enjoyed
doing the trivia, it was fun to be
able to see how much knowledge
I was able to retain.... It was
great finding out what questions
I missed to determine my
strengths and weaknesses on
Black history.”
Few people attended the
awards ceremony. The lack of
supporters led Morrison to say
she felt that there was a lack of
interest in the contest. She
said, "Participation was really
needed, especially among the
black students.”