Student Elected to Regional Leadership Team

VALDOSTA -- Ryan T. Brown was recently elected assistant district director-elect for the Georgia District of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Brown is the first member of Valdosta State University's Mu Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha to earn this distinction.

He will be sworn into office during an awards breakfast at the 80th Southern Region Conference in Raleigh, N.C. on March 27.
His position is the highest office that an undergraduate member can hold in the state. As assistant district director, Brown will help oversee the 41 chapters in Georgia and sit on the fraternity's Southern Region Board of Directors, which governs all chapters in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Brown's responsibilities include coordinating a state leadership conference at VSU this fall, planning an empowerment retreat for the southern region and assisting with the Georgia District Convention that is held once a year.

"This designation is like turning a vision into reality for me," Brown said. "I have several platform goals I would like to accomplish through Alpha Phi Alpha. As assistant district director, I can make suggestions for programs to be implemented throughout the district, such as the college tours I am creating for underprivileged high school students. Because of the hard work that goes along with this position, I have appointed my fraternity brother, also a VSU student, Caleb T. Johnson, as my chief of staff."

The assistant district director-elect was nominated for the position by Mu Omicron Chapter President Anthony Palmer and Dr. Jerry Hardee, a former district director. He was selected among two other undergraduate members, one from Emory University and one from University of Georgia. He said that he attributes his win to his campaign manager, Sirocus Barnes, and the financial support from his chapter.

Brown became a member of the Mu Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha in fall 2009. A Thomasville, Ga. native, he plans to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2012.

In addition to the fraternity, Brown is a member of the university's Planning and Budget Council and Strategic Planning for Philanthropy Committee. He also served on the university’s search committee for a vice president of Finance and Administration. He is an active member of VSU's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a former senator of the Student Government Association.