Jacksonville, Alabama (WLJS) -- Two men from Jacksonville State University joined the ranks of the institution's Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Thursday night during a new member's presentation show inside the Leone Cole Auditorium in Jacksonville.

20-year-old Caleb Alexander Lapsley of Gadsden (Pictured Left) and 22-year-old Sean Patrick Watson Jr. of Panama City, Florida (Pictured Right) were presented as the newest members of JSU's Pi Kappa Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., a historically black fraternity.

Hundreds of students, Phi Beta Sigma members from area colleges and universities, as well as JSU alumni, gathered inside the Jacksonville auditorium as a variety of R&B, rap, and hip-hop oriented music, deejayed by WLJS' Fly Money Pat, flooded the building with entertainment during the presentation, which ran approximately 30 minutes.

The show, hosted by Samuel Pugh, a junior and JSU Phi Beta Sigma member from 2012, consisted of Lapsley and Watson reciting Phi Beta Sigma based chants and performing African foot dances, or "stepping", in front of the large crowd.

Watson, who is a senior, and Lapsley, who is a freshman, now make the third line of new members the university's Phi Beta Sigma chapter has presented since 2012. The chapter presented five new members in April 2012 and five new members in April of this year, in all adding 12 new members to carry on the chapter's mission at the campus.

Here are what Watson and Lapsley had to say:

Watson: "I feel like I am a part of something [good.] I feel like a new man. I feel that [Phi Beta Sigma] does a lot of good for the community. [My girlfriend] was here and she was proud of me and happy that I am [a member of Phi Beta Sigma."

Lapsley: "[To me] it's more than just the jacket, the colors, and the letters. I always wanted to be surrounded by black men with a common goal. People like Antuan Brown work hard every day. (Brown is the chapter president for JSU's Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity) We believe in quality, not quantity."

The Pi Kappa Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was founded in 1985 on the campus of Jacksonville State University. The national Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was founded in 1914 on the campus of Howard University in Washington D.C.


WLJS anchor Ed Moore III contributed to this article. This report was made through WLJS News in Jacksonville, Alabama on 11/1/2013 at 1:38 A.M.