I moved with my new wife from Pittsburgh, PA to Boston, MA in 1971 to begin my new job as Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Boston University.  It had only a few years before this change of life that I had returned to my Alma Mater, North Carolina Central University (NCCU), to complete my undergraduate degree after being honorably discharged as a Vietnam – era veteran from the U.S. Air Force.  Upon arrival at NCCU, I was surprised to learn that the chapter into which I was initiated, Gamma Gamma Chapter, had become inactive. I, therefore, began the task of identifying several good men who might be interested in joining a revitalized chapter of Sigma.  After much work and with the support of our brothers at ETA Chapter (North Carolina A&T State University), a revitalized chapter, Gamma Gamma, rose from its sleep and has continued its work without interruption since its revival in 1969…

 

Shortly thereafter, I found myself at Boston University where there were sorority and fraternity chapters that were part of our National Panhellenic Council, but no chapters of Sigma or Zeta on its campus.  As I had done before at NCCU, I began the search for a “few good men” who might be interested in becoming a part of an organization that had a glorious history with outstanding men of character, professionalism, and dedication to the ideals of “Culture for Service and Service for Humanity.”

 

The following undergraduate men stepped forward and fulfilled my dream of having a chapter on the campus of Boston University: George P. Ganges, Jr., Charles P. Irving, Winston H. King, Aaron Lamont Mackley, and Charles C. Smith. In addition to this enthusiastic group of five undergraduate men was Craig Boatman who was a young graduate student whom we were initiated into Pi Beta Sigma Chapter to meet constitutional requirements (As a graduate brother, I was also a member of Pi Beta Sigma).  Bro. Craig Boatman was a very active asset for our new undergraduate chapter and thought of himself as a part of the membership of Zeta Chi.   It is for this reason we think of him as one of the founders of Zeta Chi.

 

These brothers proudly exhibited the spirit, behavior, fraternalism, and ideals of our fraternity.  The establishment of this chapter was one of the crowning moments of my life. Unfortunately, Bro. Charles Irving, a Vietnam Veteran who had seen experienced active duty service in the war was inducted into the Omega chapter shortly after receiving his bachelor’s degree.

 

As these brothers and others who had joined Zeta Chi began to complete their undergraduate degree programs, they began to reflect upon how they may continue the comrade and support that they had found throughout their undergraduate years in Zeta Chi.   It was at this point that we began to consider a graduate chapter in Boston.  Although Pi Beta Sigma Chapter had jurisdiction over the New England states, including Massachusetts, most of its members did not live in Boston any of the other parts of Massachusetts.   It was at this point that we saw the need to establish a graduate chapter in Boston, Massachusetts to grant graduate members from our undergraduate chapters and new professionals with no prior Greek letter experience an opportunity to participate in fulfilling our goals.  With the brothers of Zeta Chi taking and with advocates like myself working with the national, regional, and local chapters, Phi Beta Sigma, Inc. approved our petition for a charter to establish Zeta Kappa Sigma chapter.

 

The charter members of this chapter were:

• Richard K. Fields

• Cornel Davis

• Craig Boatman

• George Ganges

​

In July of 2013, Brother Archie James Powell became the 172nd member of the Distinguish Service chapter; The first member of New England to achieve this lofty goal.