'Did You Know' event for Black History Month

Last Thursday, the fraternities and sororities of the National Pan-Hellenic Council hosted an educational program for Black History Month.

It began at 7 p.m. in the Mendenhall Student Center.

The Greek organizations Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Sigma Gamma Rho, Phi Beta Sigma and Omega Psi Phi all got together to educate ECU students on facts about their organizations for Black History Month.

"It is Black History Month and we wanted to be able to educate students on our members in our different organizations that made a difference in the civil rights movement for African-Americans," said Rae Ann Pearson, president of NPHC.

Facts, games and competitions were brought to Mendenhall to better inform ECU students of the accomplishments of African-Americans throughout the years.

"Given knowledge on different African-Americans and their contributions got students to participate in all the fun," Pearson said.

The Greek organizations brought all this and more that night. Interesting facts were given first about different African-Americans who had contributed during the Civil Rights movement and the room split into to two teams for a trivia competition.

Questions such as who had invented the first ice cream scoop (Alfred L. Cralle) and who was the first African-American inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Ray Charles) were just a few things students where quizzed on.

"Events such as this help students realize that being Greek isn't just about having a good time. We're also all about community service, the civil rights, educating and coming together to help better ECU and our community," said Eric J. Anthony, vice president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Some of the most famous African-Americans involved in the civil rights movement participated in Greek life, including Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver, Arthur Ashe, Carter G. Woodson, Barbara Jordan, Zora Neale Hurston and Soror Hattie McDaniel.

This writer can be contacted at features@theeastcarolinian.com.