By Makenna Hall, News Editor
Phi Beta Sigma welcomed four new members into brotherhood at their 2019 Probate where the initiates showcased what they learned throughout their initiation process, on April 6 in the Degenstein Theater.
The students were presented wearing masks to disguise their identity that was revealed at the end of the show. The initiates were sophomores Israel Collazo-Luciano and Moshood Animashaun and first-years Justin Darden and Emmanuel Toussaint.
“At this event, the new members of Sigma reveal all the information they have been studying for the last several months and this acts as their final initiation. This the most important Sigma event each year,” Phi Beta Sigma member Donovan Gayles said.
The initiates shared the fraternity’s history including its conception at Susquehanna in 2008, founding members and first initiation, and the three pillars of the organization: service, brotherhood and scholarship.
Toussaint told the Quill about what he wants to do with service having joined the fraternity.
“One thing that really stuck out to me as [a freshman] is that Susquehanna, even though from word of mouth I’ve heard it’s gotten better with diversity…it’s really lacking in a lot of aspects. I see a lot of things that need to be worked on,” he said.
Having seen what is lacking at Susquehanna, Toussaint explained how he hopes to make a difference on campus.
“To even talk about any difference on this campus people look at it as such a taboo and I wanna make it so we can have open, free discussions that can, amongst solving problems on campus, do actual service work,” he said.
Darden explained how one of his goals having joined Phi Beta Sigma is keeping The Divine Nine culture alive at Susquehanna. The Divine Nine refers to the nine historically black Greek organizations that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
“It’s a small frat so we wanna try and keep it alive as much as possible and hopefully I can use that as a platform to get some ideas out that I may wanna do in the future with the school, as far as culture-wise and socially,” Darden said.
When the initiates completed their final initiation each one was given a flag to celebrate their heritage and shared who they are, why they joined and what it means to them to now be a member of Phi Beta Sigma.
“I think that final moment right before you take off your mask and reveal yourself, in that moment you’re just thinking about all the hard work you did just to get to this moment, all the time and effort and dedication you put into this moment,” Darden said.
Collazo-Luciano shared a similar sentiment about the probate.
“Once we got there it was exciting because you get to show how much work you put into practice and then everyone gets to see you up there performing and it makes you feel very proud of all the work you did and makes you wear the letters more proudly,” he said.
Throughout the process of initiation, Darden shared that he learned a lot about himself.
“I learned what my strength are, what my weakness are. I definitely learned how to communicate and work well with others,” he said.
In terms of joining the fraternity, some of the new members shared that they felt a sense of family with their brothers.
“I feel like a family when I’m there. Cause when you’re a person of color at a [Predominately White Institution] you feel so outed sometimes… You always stick out like a sore thumb wherever you go,” Toussaint shared. “When I’m with the Sigmas, I feel, like, a piece of home.”
Toussaint explained how the sense of brotherhood seems to be deeper within his fraternity than others.
“My brothers and I know everything about each other, we actually care about each other, we know our strengths and weakness, we always hang out, we’re always together, we’re inseparable,” he said. “That probate was just a physical demonstration of how we feel on the inside.”
Animashaun explained his own reason for joining: “I knew a lot of the brothers beforehand because I lived in the house during the semester and I got real close to them and I got to realize everyone is pretty distinct and I was trying to figure out what kind of brings them together.”
The four new brothers are hoping that Phi Beta Sigma can continue to make an impact on campus all year long through activities and events. The implementation of more service projects was also a common theme the brothers discussed.
Toussaint also explained how he wants the organization to be viewed as more than just “the black frat” or “the fun frat.”
“I want people to, when they hear our name, they can associate that with scholarly and academic. They can associate with us good hard work and have high morals and ethics,” he said.
Aside from work ethic, the new members explained how Phi Beta Sigma accepts people of many different types of ethnicities, backgrounds and cultures. Toussaint described the fraternity as a melting pot.
“Yeah, we’re historically black that doesn’t mean we’re only black. We accept anyone regardless of race,” Darden said.
