By: Rick Brown
TAMPA – Lesley “Les” Miller Jr. has been a servant for more than 50 years not only
throughout Tampa Bay but the entire state of Florida. On Saturday, Miller was honored
for his work with his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., by the local chapter,
Tampa Alumni Chapter.
Miller was one of four honorees given the inaugural Harry T. Morris Sr. Lifetime
Achievement Award at the Tampa Alumni Chapter’s Founders’ Day celebration of
Kappa Alpha Psi held Saturday at New Hope Missionary Baptist Christian Life Center in
Tampa.
The honor is given to individuals in good standing with the fraternity and the local
chapter for 25 years or more and have performed volunteer service to his community
through memberships in community organizations.
Miller is best known for his work as Hillsborough County Board of County
Commissioners, State of Florida Senate, and the State of Florida House of
Representatives. He was the first person ever to serve as Democratic Leader of both
the Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives.
Others awardees were, Harry T. Morris recipients honored Saturday were Rigoberto Garcia, Watson T. Ragin and attorney Clinton Paris. That was not the only honor bestowed among Miller and Ragin. Miller was one of four men given their white jackets for achieving 50 years in the fraternity.
Miller was joined by Dan Richardson, Wendell Ervin and George A. Williams in being honored for 50 years in Kappa Alpha Psi.
Ragin also was named the inaugural Senior Kappa Man of the Year winner.
Collis Ivery III, the immediate past Polemarch (president) of Tampa Alumni, was named
Kappa Man of the Year. Robert Collins was given the Polemarch Award, while Cedric
Carrington was given the chapter’s military award.
Photo lineup:
(Harry Morris Jr., Clinton Paris and Darrell X. Johnson, D. X. Johnson and Cedric Carrington, Harry Morris Jr., Lesley Miller and D.X. Johnson, D.X. Johnson and Watson T. Ragin, D.X. Johnson and Robert Collins, D. X. Johnson and Collis Ivery III)
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. is a non-profit collegiate and alumni professional
fraternity that was founded on the campus of Indiana University on Jan. 5, 1911. The
organization is among the oldest Greek-letter fraternities in the world and is comprised
of college trained men dedicated to the pursuit of “Achievement in Every Field of Human
Endeavor.” Simply put, they train for leadership. Our fraternity was founded by ten God-
Fearing, cleaned-living, serious-minded young men who possessed imagination,
ambition, courage and determination to defy custom in pursuit of a college education
and career.
It was the vision of these astute men that enabled on the campus of Indiana University
at Bloomington, Indiana, to sow the seed of a fraternal tree whose fruit is available to,
and now enjoyed by, college men everywhere, regardless of their color, religion or
national origin. It is a fact of which Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity Inc., which boasts more
than 150,000 members worldwide, is justly proud that the Constitution has never
contained any clause which either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from
membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin.
The Tampa Alumni Chapter (TAC) has been a vital part of this magnificent work since
1928, with many of our current members in leadership roles across Tampa Bay in arts,
athletics, business, Civil Rights, education, government and science.
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