Alpha Phi Alpha hosts Civic Engagement Forum
One local fraternity is challenging issues in the community by hosting a forum against drunk driving.
The local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated are tackling the severity of drunk driving, leading a civic engagement forum here at the tradition campus of William Carey University. Terry Davis with Zeta Mu Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha said, “In lieu of what’s going to happen for spring break, you know, students are going to leave the university go off and be with their families and their friends and travel far and wide to go enjoy their festivities for the week. And we saw this as an opportunity to talk to them about not only the dangers of drinking and driving, which is what Alpha Phi Alpha will be touching on with regard to what we call the Cannon-Dozier project. There were two members of our fraternity from North Mississippi who were killed by a drunk driver in May of 2008.”
Former Chief of Gulfport and Harrison County Constable Alan Weatherford spoke about his daughter, who was killed by a drunk driver. He tells us about the moment he knew to take action. “My grandbaby you know, said Papa, you can fix everything. And that was the driving force after this happened. I took it some months later, when he said, Papa, you can fix everything to go out and share our story. We can make a difference in one person’s life or prevent another tragedy from happening. Then we have accomplished something.”
The Civic Engagement Forum also shed light on local nonprofit organizations, American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity, to discuss community service opportunity for students. “But along with that, we wanted to give students an opportunity to see okay, if I am being responsible, what else could I do during my spring break, to engage the community in a way that’s productive and positive for the place that I live.”
American Red Cross Executive Director John McCarty said, “What’s important about it is we’re making sure that they’re aware, aware of the opportunities so we have a wide variety of ways that students can come in and be a part of the Red Cross. Red Cross invests in their community. So, we need donors. We need volunteers to invest in us to help us do our mission.”
