Alpha Psi

The Alpha Psi Chapter was chartered on the campus of Lincoln University in Missouri. Nathaniel Freeman was elected the first president. The chapter was organized by Brother William W. Cardoza, the Western Vice- President. In the years that followed, Alpha Psi added a great deal of leadership to the annals of Alpha history. One of those was Brother Dr. Gus T. Ridgel, who was one of the first African American students to enroll at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Ridgel was originally denied entrance to MU, and he filed a lawsuit in the circuit court seeking to gain admission. Judge Sam C. Blair ruled that since comparable graduate work in economics was not available at Lincoln University, Dr. Ridgel’s alma mater, the plaintiff should be admitted to Missouri University. He was the first African American awarded a graduate degree from University of Missouri.