SAN ANTONIO – Marlon Anderson will be graduating high school this year. He plans to join the military before joining his future fraternity brothers in college. Anderson has got some big ambitions thanks to the Guide Right initiative.
Kappa Alpha Psi adopted the program in 2013.
“What we really want to do is help enrich these young men’s lives to perform better in school, be a productive member of the community and basically be a better person in life,” said Sean Seay, the Director of Guide Right.
His son, Vincent Seay, is the current president of Kappa League. He and Anderson help lead the group twice a month in business meetings and community service.
“When I first joined Kappa League, I was really quiet. I didn’t talk to anybody. I had an afro. I was a chunky kid. Being in Kappa League really helped me open up as a person," Anderson said. “Being around other brothers, like other African-American males, helps me open up a lot and be more aware of my community.”
Community Service is a big part of the Guide Right Program. The young men are involved in everything from the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner to park clean up on the East Side or Morgan’s Wonderland.
Being involved in the community is something Anderson said he always wanted to do and the program showed him how.
“As a kid, all I wanted to do is just give back to the community, to give back to San Antonio. I wanted to be a politician. I wanted to do great things for the city, because ... I was raised here,” Anderson said.
Another big part of the program is investing in the young men’s future through tutoring and college tours.
Seay said many of the Kappa League members have gone on to big name schools and historically black colleges and universities. The program also works to set good examples for what these men can achieve.
“We have a program called GPS (get your priorities straight). It’s a program to basically show them what they can do in the world, how social life is not just in their little community here, but how does it affect them nationally? How is it going to affect them in the state? How has it been affecting them locally? And it basically gets them to start thinking about how what they’re doing right now will have an effect later on,” Seay said.
The fraternity’s Education Foundation is hosting a “Kappa Kasino” night to raise money for scholarships and their Make-A-Wish partners. Click here for details.
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Editor’s note: This is the third year of “Creating Black History in SA”, a segment for Black History Month that showcases people who are making a positive and lasting impact in the local black community. The episodes below, from 2018 and 2019, were created specifically for our KSAT TV streaming app on your smart device.
Episode 1: Meet the young men behind ‘Suit Up’, A woman caring for children who lost a parent to gun violence, ‘Sistas in Business’ who promote literacy, And SAAACAM.
Episode 2: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and their ‘Fatherhood Initiative’. Alpha Tau Omega keeps black history alive. Jackie Washington: the face of ‘Rolling Readers’. Buffalo Soldiers teach about the history of African Americans in the military.