55th
ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATION
GROOVE PHI GROOVE TIGER IV CHAPTER
ENDOWMENT FUND
Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Incorporated international community service organization was founded on the campus of Morgan State University in 1962. The first Benedict College induction club for Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Incorporated was established in January of 1970. The Benedict College Groove Tiger IV Chapter was officially chartered in November of 1971. The Groove Tiger IV Chapter Alumni Committee has established the Groove Endowment Fund in honor of Fl. Kenith Belton.
Fl. Kenith D. Belton was a dedicated member of Groove Tiger IV Chapter and dedicated to GPGSFI’s goals of serving the community on various levels and working with developing young black boys in becoming productive black men. Kenith became a member of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Inc. on Benedict’s campus in 1974, he is a 1976 graduate of Benedict College. Kenith initiated the concept of establishing a Groove Endowment Scholarship Fund for the benefit of Benedict College and its students.
Our now deceased Kenny or Ken, as called by his Groove Fellowmen, met with members of Groove Tiger IV Chapter and Benedict College officials in 2011 to develop an eligibility process, selection process, requirements, conditions, and officially sign an agreement with Benedict College regarding the Groove Endowed Scholarship Fund. Kenny, along with the Groove Tiger IV Chapter Alumni Committee presented the first endowment check to Benedict College in 2011.
In 2020, the Fellowmen of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Inc. Groove Tiger IV Chapter 50th Reunion Committee agreed to continue the Groove legacy of fund raising for Benedict College and named the Endowed Scholarship Awards in honor and memory of Kenith D. Belton. The proceeds from the Groove Phi Groove Endowment Fund will be awarded to students as the Kenith D. Belton Groove Phi Groove Scholars.
GROOVE PHI GROOVE SOCIAL FELLOWSHIP, INCORPORATED
Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Inc. was founded at HBCU (Historically Black College and University) Morgan State College (now Morgan State University) on October 12, 1962 by fourteen daring, young, black American men who wanted to change the way we think about brotherhood.
Our founders established the Fellowship with the purposes of promoting academic awareness, ethical standards, and unity among men in undergraduate and graduate college programs; creating intelligent and effective leadership; and studying and helping to alleviate the social and economic problems of society to generally improve the world.
Little did our founders know in 1962 that the fruits of their efforts at Morgan State College would evolve into a thriving movement that continues to play an important role in developing and nurturing what we know as Black America.
Today, Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Incorporated has thousands of members and dozens of graduate and undergraduate chapters across the United States and internationally. Our members work in a wide variety of career areas, including accounting, education, engineering, human resource services, local and state government, medicine, law, protective services, information technology, religion, real estate, food service, skilled crafts, music, professional sports, the armed services, and business.
In support of its purposes, the Fellowship’s affiliate chapters and members are encouraged to actively support the programs identified in our National Community Service Manual and the Groove Fund, Inc., the charitable arm of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship Incorporated. To learn more about the organization click here.
BENEDICT COLLEGE
Founded in 1870 by a woman, Bathsheba A. Benedict, Benedict College is a private co-educational liberal arts institution with over 2,100 students enrolled in its 34 baccalaureate degree programs. Defying trends, Benedict College maintains an equal male and female student population. This Midlands HBCU welcomes students from all 46 counties in South Carolina, 30 states across America, and 26 countries around the world.
Benedict offers several high-demand fields of study in STEM, Cyber Security, Mass Communication, Sport Management, Business Administration, Engineering, Computer Science, Biology, and Education. The College also has a diverse faculty of which 80 percent are full-time, and 60 percent hold doctorates or the equivalent.
Over the past ten years, three out of five Benedict College graduates have attended professional or graduate schools. There is over 17,000 proud Benedict Tigers throughout the nation. Benedict College has been a community leader for over 148-years and is a significant contributor to South Carolina and the region. Contributing $130 million and 1,218 jobs in total local and annual economic impact, a Benedict graduate working full-time throughout his or her working life can expect to earn $1.1 million in additional income because of their Benedict College degree.
The College made front-page news in the spring of 2018 when it became the first South Carolina college to lower its tuition by 26 percent. Cutting tuition drew praise from the Commission on Higher Education, South Carolina’s education oversight body. The commissioner noted that the move Benedict College made should be applauded because it offers families affordability and students greater access to higher education.
Benedict College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate and master's degrees. Five of the College’s degree programs hold national accreditation: The School of Education, Social Work, Environmental Health Science, Arts and Sciences and the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship.
To learn more about Benedict College, click here.
