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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. There was not an empty seat in the Eastview Middle School auditorium as the Beta Alpha Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. honored over 300 African American high school students from Westchester for their academic achievement.
The honorees had to maintain a B grade point average and were from Woodlands, Port Chester, White Plains, New Rochelle, Ossining, Saunders, Alexander Hamilton, and Sleepy Hollow.
There were several other honorees present, including Roscoe Brown, an original Tuskegee Airman and the former president of Bronx Community College.
Brown, who served as squadron commander and received the Distinguished Flying Cross during World War II, told the students that they can achieve their dreams. He said that the Tuskegee Airmen were a special group of men because of their excellence, which is why they were able to persevere.
After retiring from the military, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. He served as the president of Bronx Community College from 1977 to 1993 and is now the director of the Center for Urban Education Policy at the Graduate School and University Center of CUNY.
The father of four is active in the Boys & Girls Club of America, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and Libraries for the Future. He is also a founding member of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Ency Alcin, who came to America from Haiti in 2009, received the Youth of the Year Award for his excellent grades at Woodlands High School in addition to the various groups that he volunteers for. He thanked God for the award and all that he has been able to accomplish. The junior told his fellow honorees that they can achieve anything and nothing should be able to stop them.
He said that living in Haiti was difficult because there is no respect for the law and as a result, he is planning on studying law enforcement in college.
Pennye Nash, the co-owner and executive director of Sancia Health Care Inc., in White Plains was named the Business Person of the Year. Her behavioral health organization specializes in out-patient mental health and substance abuse treatment.
She gave the students 11 tips on how to keep achieving in life. Nash told them to never forget the people that helped them along the way.
The Hon. Judge Walter Rivera received the Omega Citizen of the Year Award for his years of service. After receiving his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, he began as a law clerk for the New York State Court of Appeals. He climbed the judicial ladder as he was appointed an assistant attorneyeneral of the State of New York in 1981 and was a founding member of his firm in 1985.
He is admitted to practice in New York and before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the U.S. Military Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Hon. Dr. Andrew Ray was given the Grant Reynolds Lifetime Courage Award for his lifelong achievement in academics and work for the federal government. He earned a bachelors degree in Economics, three masters degrees, and a Ph.D. He has studied and interned at Yale, American University, Loyola, Wisconsin, University of Ghana, and the University of California.
He was selected as a foreign affairs scholar in the U.S. Department of State and a Presidential Fellow in the U.S. Congress in addition to many other honors in education and the community. Ray gave the keynote address and told the students that if he can come from a two-room school in Mississippi, then there is no reason why they cannot achieve their dreams.
Darrel Kid received the Omega Man of the Year Award because of his dedication to the Beta Alpha Alpha Chapter and in the White Plains School District. Kid moved to New York from West Virginia in 1977 and attended White Plains High School.
In 1983, he became a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Theta Psi Chapter, where he held the positions of Social Action Chairman, Pledging Organizations Representative, and Step Team Captain.
He became a member of the Beta Alpha Alpha Chapter in 1994 and started The Most Organized Brothers as well. He currently works for the White Plains School District as head custodian and is the site coordinator and van driver for the White Plains Youth Bureau.
*All information on the honorees was received by the Beta Alpha Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
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