According to The Museum of Radio & Television the first live color television broadcast was the 1954 Tournament of Roses. Just as modern technology has wowed us and tickled our imaginations, back then television was even more amazing. Neighbors and family would gather and huddle to see television in color. From that 1954 broadcast that invited the whole country and now the world onto Pasadena’s front porch. Just as iconic as Coney Island, The Golden Gate Bridge or it’s sister event on the east coast The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the name Pasadena was highlighted in the minds of viewers from coast to coast. Seven years later and Kappa turns fifty, the Golden Anniversary and there’s two notable events beyond the 50th:
1.) The birth a leadership conference to train Kappa men across the country with a consistent understanding and expectations as well as train for leadership. We know it as C. Rodger Wilson Leadership Conference.
2.) The charter of our beloved Pasadena Alumni Chapter
. On March 17, 1961 twenty Kappa men from the Pasadena area formed the chapter I call home. The ”Charter Twenty” included some Kappa heavy hitters and it is told because of Pasadena’s familiarity it was considered a key charter that strengthen the Great Western Province.
knowing this information only adds shine to Brother Freeny becoming the first African American president of the Tournament of Roses. This Kappa man is pretty sure that the “ Charter Twenty “ smiled as Brother Freeny on live television open the 2019 Rose Parade. I can hear Don Mims telling Mel Stevens to hush as Olson Rodgers simply beamed with pride.