A historically black fraternity at the University recently won three provincial and national awards for service and merit.

One of the awards, the Jay Crosby Award, is based on chapter participation with Kappa Alpha Psi’s national social outreach program, Guide Right.

“In general, there are different undergraduate chapters within each province in each competition,” said Chima Mbadugha, a senior from Lithonia and member of the Zeta Iota chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi.

“Whoever is the best suited wins that competition,” he said.

The chapter submitted a petition for the award that highlighted service events the fraternity held throughout the past fiscal year, Mbadugha said.

One such event was “Kappa Alpha Psi-ENCE,” a project created by the Athens alumni chapter of the fraternity, which promoted science within Athens-Clarke County’s black community.

“We played a heavy part as mentors and helped conduct experiments and research to help children learn why things occurred in the experiment,” Mbadugha said.

The fraternity also won the Scrapbook of the Year Award, highlighting several networking and community service projects the fraternity has held.

“It’s very similar to any scrapbook you put together where you take pictures and write about what you did,” Mbadugha said.

The scrapbook includes pictures from a voter registration drive, two campus awareness programs about mental disorders and politics, and a program called “Meet Your Roommate,” which allowed students to find potential roommates.

“We try to stretch their Guide Right, or service, efforts by speaking at local high schools, giving an inspirational message or doing a step to get them excited about an upcoming test,” said Darryl Tricksey, a senior from Atlanta and the southeast provincial junior vice polemarch for the chapter.

Tricksey won the Guy Levis Grant Award, an individual award given to six undergraduates of the fraternity based on merit, service, leadership and academic achievement.

“I had to submit a 100-page petition that highlighted my personal accomplishments,” Tricksey said.

Among those accomplishments, Tricksey listed being a 2008 orientation leader, conducting research with the University’s Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities and his involvement in Without Borders, a local service work group.

Tricksey and Mbadugha said even though the awards don’t have monetary value attached, they don’t mind.

“It’s not important because it’s for the community, but when someone tells you their proud of what you do it feels good,” Mbadugha said.

“We consider ourselves serving the community.”