Darryl Hart, Sire Archon, Gamma Upsilon Boule of Asheville.  Photo: Urban News

by Sarah Williams

Arising from glorious roots in Africa, carried on the flogged and bent backs of slaves, reaching up to the most prestigious institutions of learning, a fraternity of men of distinction was born. One hundred years ago in Philadelphia, PA, Henry McKee Minton founded Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, also known as the Boulé, the first black Greek letter organization.

According to “Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity: A Century”:

“Minton thought that black learned and professional men should have an organization that should be a fraternity in the true sense of the word; one whose chief thought should not be to visit the sick and bury the dead, but to bind men of like qualities, tastes, and attainments into a close and sacred union that they might know the best of one another. Members would not be selected on the basis of brains alone, but in addition, congeniality, culture, and good fellowship. They should have behind them, at initiation, a record of accomplishments, not merely be men of promise and good education.”

Huel D. Perkins, Past Grand Sire Archon, offers the following description in “The Boulé Man”: “The Boulé man is a physician, dentist, lawyer, judge, minister, college president, ambassador, corporate executive, board chairman, accountant, father, grandfather, great-grandfather—all of these and more. He is a man who has earned respect in some field of rational endeavor. He is a man who has escaped the deadly cult of mediocrity and has ascended to the top of his profession.

Nearly a quarter century ago, Archons John P. Holt, Sr., and Otis B. Michael, members of Beta Delta Boulé in Charlotte, suggested establishing a charter in Asheville. With overwhelming support from Beta Delta, the Southeast Region, and the Grand Boulé, Gamma Upsilon Boulé was set apart on June 27, 1987, with Otis Michael as its first Sire Archon.

Presently, Darryl Hart is the reigning Sire Archon of Gamma Upsilon Boulé in Asheville. The member Boulé in Asheville is busy mentoring young men at the following schools: Valley Springs, Reynolds Middle, and Asheville Middle. The members are active in government locally and nationally.

These distinguished and discriminating men do not fundraise; they support their own causes. Also they give many scholarships through their Boulé Foundation.

(Left-Right) First Row: Cecil Holt, Robbie Adell, Curtis Canty, Darryl, John Parham, Jr.
(Back Row) Ronald Johnson, Benjamin Watkins, William Nance, (center-back) Larry McCallum, (right-back) Willie McDaniel, Alfred Whitesides, Richard Bowman. 
Not pictured: Author Edington, Eugene Ellison, James Pitts, O.L. Sherrill.