A calendar produced by of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority indicates that 2015 is going to be a very good year, if for no other reason than the handsome images that illustrate it.
Each month bears a portrait, and biography, of the M.O.D.E.L. Men for 2015, a dozen community leaders whose accomplishments were celebrated on Sept. 20 when 600 people gathered for lunch at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center.
Proceeds from both the luncheon and calendar sales go to the sorority’s scholarship fund.
M.O.D.E.L. stands for Men of Distinction, Excellence and Leadership, and the includes five-time National Basketball Association All-Star Chauncey Billups; Eddie L. Koen Jr., an attorney and executive director of College Track Colorado; former public defender Lurix “Skeet” Johnson; Lonnie Porter, head basketball coach at Regis University and co-founder of the Porter-Billups Leadership Academy; and Dedrick Sims, founder and executive director of the Sims-Fayola International Academy.
Kanika Wilkerson and Jessie Harris chaired the fundraiser that chapter president Alicia Harvey described as an event that recognizes men who are “the best and the brightest that Colorado has to offer. They’re the cream of the crop.”
Economist and social commentator Boyce Watkins, also known as “the people’s scholar,” expanded on her remarks by noting that it wasn’t until he was invited to speak in Denver that he realized how rare events of this type are.
“The black man has an image problem,” he said, adding that all too often they are portrayed in the media “in a way that is not accurate.”
He went on to say that “For every Ray Rice, there’s a Chauncey Billups — and that’s an issue we have to address.”
Other M.O.D.E.L. Men for 2015 are Marcus Walker, athletic director/dean of students at Aurora Hills Middle School; Grant Jones, founder/executive director of the Center for African-American Health; Gregory John Crichlow, an architect and owner of Chocolate Spokes Bicycle Studio; Jeffrey Smith, a manager with TIAA-CREF; Kevin Marchman, founder/executive director of the National Organization of African-Americans in Housing; the Rev. Robert Woolfolk, senior pastor at Agape Christian Church; and Steve Jones, a community advocate and retired IBM manager.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
Dance the night away
Arc Thrift of Colorado honored its 2014 heroes at Born to Be Me: Dance Like Nobody’s Watching, a fundraising gala held at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center. Joanne Davidson has more about the event chaired by Tom and Cyndy Marsh in the Mile High Style blog: blogs.denverpost.com/style
