Sarah Davis

Greek Life organizations gathered to support their second annual Next Friday event

Marshall’s second annual “Next Friday”– which is sponsored by the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life– welcomed students, vendors and community members to celebrate the upcoming football season on Friday, Sept. 1. 

The event also serves as an informational fair for students, according to Corey Cunningham, coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

“They need resources like where to get their hair done, where to get their hair cut, where to get some good food,” Cunningham said. “We got a lot of students that are not from West Virginia.”

Among those in attendance was the Eta Zeta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Black Greek letter organization founded in the United States. The chapter began at Marshall in 1972 and was recently reactivated on campus, according to Lynette Phillips, the chapter’s vice president. 

“Our motto is to be of service to all mankind,” Phillips said. “We’re just out here trying to spread awareness about D9 sororities that we have on campus, which are Black Greek letter organizations.”

LaKeisha Barron-Brown, president of Marshall’s Black Alumni, also tabled at the event. In addition to her role within the University, she is an author and clothing line owner.

Barron-Brown believes that events like this are vital to building community.

“I find it to be my purpose that, as I stand in these roles, that I must engage with students as well, so it gives me an opportunity to network with our current student body here at Marshall,” she said. “We recognize that our role here as alumni is to help recruit, help retention, help network and help make sure that our current students have an opportunity later whenever they graduate to have internship opportunities and job opportunities.”