The annual event in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was presented by the brothers of the Kappa Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. The program, entitled “A Testament of Hope,” strayed from the tradition of past vigils held at the university.  
On the night of January 22, 2013, the day after the official Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, many students gathered in the Student Union Theater to pay tribute to the late King for his accomplishments in the Civil Rights Movement.
“We’ve been doing this since around the late 80s or 90s,” said Joshua Allen, a senior majoring in communications and member of Alpha Phi Alpha. “It’s a tradition. The past few years we’ve been having a march outside, but this year we played it safe and had it inside. It’s just a way to get the word out. Everyone has heard of Martin Luther King Jr., but we wanted students to understand who Brother Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was to us, so it’s kind of like a momento to Southeastern from us.”
King, who was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, pledged at Boston University in 1952.
“To my fraternity, he made way for the other brothers who come behind him,” said Allen. “Him, being such a revolutionary activist and leader, he came and he instilled in us that the fraternity, this is what we breed. This is who we are as a fraternity. This is what we’ve been doing for years, for a century now, and he paved the way to make us understand that this is what is to come from the younger brothers in the chapter. It’s something to look forward to.”
The program consisted of several members of Alpha Phi Alpha giving heartfelt speeches about King’s involvement with both the fraternity and the Civil Rights Movement.
“It’s an honor to be in their presence,” said Brother James E. Martin of Greater St. James AME Church about the fraternity and their presentation.
Martin sang a song in place of the guest speaker who could not make it. Afterwards, the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha sang their fraternity hymn and closed the program with a prayer.
“It was pretty good,” said Allen of the program. “We had a few technical difficulties, but we have a lot of talent in our chapter. We had a few musicians who took the place of the music that was missing, and we had some brothers that came and spoke in place of our speaker that was supposed to be coming, so we just pulled from all the talent in our chapter instead of using all outside people.”
Allen stressed that King was an important figure for all brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha.
“It’s been a tradition that we make sure Southeastern understands that this is our fraternity brother, not just a powerful male,” said Allen. “This is our brother, and we want to make sure we honor him as much as we can.”