The Delta Pi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha is gearing up for its Ninth Annual John D. Taylor Scholarship Banquet Saturday night in the Wallace Community College – Selma (WCCS) gymnasium.

The event begins at 6:06 p.m., a time designated to mark the 1906 establishment of the fraternity, and marks 70 years since the fraternity set up shop in the Queen City and began handing out scholarships.

“The Delta Pi Lambda chapter wants to make sure that every student with a desire to attain a higher education doesn’t let financial needs stand in the way,” said fraternity member Billy Young. “Education is one of the pillars, one of the main aims, of our fraternity.”

In that vein, Young and company will be handing out 12 scholarships to graduating seniors from both the Selma City and Dallas County school systems.

Young stated that the seniors, who must have already been accepted to a college or university before applying, went through an extensive interview process and had to submit an essay, references from teachers and members of the community, present ACT scores and their high school GPA and demonstrate a financial need.

“The students that applied this year had exceptional essays,” Young said. “We’ve seen real improvements in the writing so we appreciated that.”

In all, 21 seniors applied from all of the high schools in the area and some from Wilcox County.

“We wish we could have given everyone a scholarship,” Young said. “But there’s always next year. Our kids did really well and we’re really proud of them.”

Along with handing out scholarships, which will range in value from $500 to $1,500, the fraternity is also handing out funds to WCCS and Selma University for those schools to provide scholarships.

Further, the banquet will honor three Selma natives who have gone above and beyond for the community – Dr. Edgar Brown, Dr. Charles Lett and Brother Freeman Waller.

Warren said that Brown and Lett had both served the medical community as prominent doctors for a number of years, with Lett having formerly been a Chief of Surgery, and Waller was a former member of the Dallas County Board of Education and Assistant Superintendent of Dallas County Schools.

“These guys are really hard workers,” Young said. “Each one of these men has served in the community. We want to show the students examples of people in our community that have achieved and done well.”

Along with being standouts in their field and within the community, the three honorees have also been fraternity members for 50 years.

The banquet, which is funded in part by the same sponsors that pitch in for the scholarship money, is the fraternity’s only fundraiser each year and funds all of the organization’s charitable efforts throughout the year.

This year’s event is a sold-out affair with as many as 400 people slated to attend.