PHILADELPHIA—The Philadelphia Graduate Chapter of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship sponsored a bus trip for junior and senior high school students to participate in the HBCU experience while visiting Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania and Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Trip organizer Khary Atif, president of the Philadelphia Graduate Chapter, told The Final Call the tour has been happening for six years and its goal is to expose inner-city youth to specifically Black colleges and universities. “We think Black colleges and universities represent the essence of our striving as a people under trying and difficult circumstances. It lets us know we can have some measure of self-reliance in doing for self.”
The Grove Phi Grove fellowship represents an alternative to mainstream Black Greek Letter fraternities. Founded at Morgan State in 1963 it has as its goal to serve Black communities and pledges to support endeavors that project positive images of Black American men and help to move them forward.
| (l) Students from Philadelphia visited Lincoln University, an HBCU in Oxford, Pa. (r) Dennis Thomas, international president of Groove Phi Grove Social Fellowship. |
According to the organization’s international president, Dennis K. Thomas who met the group of students at Morgan State, “The men of Groove Phi Groove has accepted the challenge and recognize that our future success depends on our ability to serve as positive role models who will instill positive moral values in our children.”
Young high school students have to understand the importance of higher education, he explained. “You cannot do anything unless you understand that you must expand your mind. We are just doing our part to inspire and expose them to something that can positively impact their lives,” said Mr. Thomas.
Fainese Morris, a senior at the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School, said this to The Final Call about the college tour: “I felt like I was on a road trip with my family. I will be attending Morgan State University come September.”
