The brothers of Kappa Aplha Psi took it upon themselves to break up the monotony of another regular Wednesday of morning and afternoon classes as the fraternity, and the sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma, put on the annual Kappa Karnival on the lawn in front of the Student Center.
"We're just trying to get the campus to interact more instead of just going to class, class, class," said Jonathan Watkins, senior and cane master for Kappa. "For people like this dude, he's probably going to walk to class get right back on the transit and go home, so were just trying to get people more active on campus."
The Kappa Karnival is part of Kappa Week, a weeklong event that features various events on and off campus such as a movie night in which Kappa rents out an entire screening room and charges participants a small fee that is donated to the St. Jude foundation.
"It gets our name out and lets us give back to the campus a little bit and let everybody come out and enjoy," said Ryan Johnson, junior, president and pole march of Kappa. "A lot of people don't really understand the African American fraternities, so it gives us a way, other than stepping, that we actually do give back and do a lot of other things."
Watkins said Kappa Week is a great way to bond with his brothers, while also getting the campus involved and giving back to the community with philanthropic fundraising events.
"You don't really see the brotherhood in a lot of the fraternities," Watkins said. "I know pretty much everything there is to know about everybody in this fraternity. It's really good to see us work together and come together in a common bond."
The week will wrap up with the "Bare as Your Dare" party at the Lexington Hotel at 10 p.m., an event that Johnson said attracts people from all over the South.
With all brothers lending a hand to coordinate the events and parties, Watkins said the week would not be possible without the strong brotherhood that embodies the spirit of Kappa.
"When you have a good group of people that want to make the fraternity better," Watkins said, "it makes everything run smoothly."
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