When members of Alpha Phi Alpha — the nation’s oldest Black fraternity — stage scholastic chess tournaments in Cleveland and Louisville this month, the venues in both cities will be college campuses.
Tony Dunlap, director of the Cleveland chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., says that is by design.
“We felt that it is important for the youth and the higher educational institutions in our communities to have a functional linkage,” says Dunlap, who has been organizing the annual Cleveland Scholastic Open since 2012. “We wanted the youth in our communities to feel comfortable on campus and be curious about what happens on or in college.”
This year’s Cleveland Scholastic is slated to take place Saturday at Cleveland State University.
The Cleveland Scholastic Open is distinct among chess tournaments in that organizers go to great lengths to secure scholarships for the winners.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) — known for its powerhouse chess team — is among several institutions of higher learning that offer scholarships to top finishers in the tournament, which it has been doing since 2014. Both UMBC and Alabama A&M University, a historically Black land-grant institution, offer scholarships of $3,500 per year for up to four years to the winner of the high school section of the tournament.
Alabama A&M also offers the same scholarship for the top finishing female in the tournament.
