Leadership Highlight

Leadership Highlight: DiaShanna Logan The President of Zeta Phi Beta at Johnson C. Smith University

In an effort to highlight the young leaders who are leading undergraduate chapters across the nation, we at Watch The Yard reached out to the women of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.’s Kappa Chapter at Johnson C. Smith University and did an interview with DiaShanna Logan the president of the chapter.

The position of president of an undergraduate chapter of a Black sorority is a highly respected role and there is a special pride that one takes. 27-year-old DiaShanna Logan has used the position to gain new leadership experience, improve the lives of other students on campus and help the community around her.

We interviewed the Interdisciplinary Studies major and talked about her position, goals, future and what it means to hold a leadership position on campus in the digital age.

Read the full interview below.

What does it mean to be a chapter president to you?
Being Chapter President simply means leadership. Having the ability to be a role model and lead your chapter to great success.

What made you decide to attend Johnson C. Smith University for undergrad?
For me Johnson C. Smith University became my home away from home before enrollment. I struggled growing up trying to find the right path for my life but I found a group of poets (The Black Ink Monks inc.) at Johnson C. Smith that helped me find my voice and my freedom. This later led to my enrollment into the school.

What specific initiatives is your chapter heading up this year and how do you think they will improve the campus/surrounding community?
One of the big things our chapter is doing this year is mentoring. Every Wednesday we mentor middle and high school girls. This is an opportunity to help these young girls do better and school and to give them the opportunity to have someone to look up to. We assist with tutoring for homework as well as conduct workshops that address real life issues that may not be discussed often at home. This is improving our community because it is building these young ladies into future leaders.

What made you want to pledge Zeta Phi Beta?
I wanted to pledge Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. because I wanted to be apart of something bigger than myself, but I also wanted it to be genuine. I wanted to be able to enhance my personal growth and make an impact in the community. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority was the only organization that offered that opportunity as well as consistently upheld their principles on and off the university campus. There was always this pureness that Zeta displayed to me that led me to join.

What is it about your specific chapter that makes it so unique?
Kappa chapter is unique because of its resilience. The chapter has been through a lot of adversity. When a chapter has been around for a long time like Kappa Chapter has there comes a time where you have to go through changes and some of those changes are a lot easier than others. However Kappa Chapter has always remained resilient in the face of adversity. We are still here doing what’s right for Zeta Phi Beta Sorority inc. and making a major impact in our community.

We now live in a digital world, what do you think undergraduate chapters across all orgs need to do to represent themselves online in 2018?
I think that all undergraduate organizations should be using social media to their advantage. Undergraduate is typically the number one customer for black greek organizations and the first place a person is going to go when they begin to do their research for a specific organization is to their social media page. With social media being the first impression of a chapter there needs to be nothing but positive images on the page. It needs to be a flood of what the chapter is doing in the community and how they are upholding their principles. It also needs to be a network that provides invitations to events so that members of the organization that are not necessarily apart of the chapter but would like to support can come and be apart as well.

What does leadership mean to you?
Leadership means perseverance. The ability to complete a task, and finish what you started. Understanding that leadership is never easy we have to realize that once we step into these roles all eyes are on us. Failure is not an option because people look up to us.

Why do you think Watch The Yard is important to Black greekdom?
Watch the yard is so important because it highlights black success in a world that doesn’t want to see us be successful. It also promotes greek unity, we all where different colors and letters but essentially we stand for one purpose to make ourselves, each other, and the community better.

What does sisterhood mean to you?
Sisterhood to me is loving each other through the tough times. (Because contrary to popular belief there will be a lot of them).

What do you plan on doing after graduation?
After graduation it is my hope to be accepted into University of North Carolina at Charlotte Clinical Psychology Program.

We at Watch The Yard would like to commend DiaShanna Logan for her work as the president of Kappa Chapter which has a long legacy that spans back to 1946.