By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
Many people spend a lifetime searching for their calling, and yet, some people, like Brenda Vasser, are blessed to discover their calling early in life.
Born and raised in Seattle, Vasser came from a family which believed in community service and volunteering. She descended from a long line of women who believed in community and its welfare. Her mother volunteered for years with the NAACP and she and her sisters were some of the first kids in Seattle’s Youth branch so the tradition of community service was firmly implanted in her from a very young age.
At the age of 15, Vasser worked with Larry Gossett at the Seattle King County Youth Action Council as a youth advocate at Garfield. Vasser says that she has always worked to right the wrongs.
“I’ve got a big voice and I’m not afraid to say you need to help me understand why this is right or fair,” says Vasser, who graduated from Garfield High School in the mid-70’s. “I often felt I was the voice for those who wouldn’t or couldn’t speak up for themselves.”
“For productive channeling of my energy Roscoe Bass, a high School administrator, asked me to consider running for a student body office. I ran and lost,” recalls Vasser.
However, that didn’t stop her activism. As a young woman Vasser made the front page of the local newspaper holding a sign during student unrest protesting the removal of African American teachers from Garfield.
After high school Vasser attended the University of Puget Sound and later transferred to Seattle University, where she went on to receive a degree in English in 1981. According to Vasser, a quality education from the Vasser family view point was the foundation for achievement and using that education to better the community and the lives of others.
“My parents had always been the kind that if you’re not working or going to school, you’re going to do volunteering,” explains Vasser.
“You’re not just going to sit at home and do nothing, your choice is to get a job or go volunteer somewhere,” Vasser continues with a laugh.
Vasser knew early that her impact on others would come through community service and volunteering. Her passion for her fellow man and woman compelled her to give back to her community and to do her part in uplifting her people and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority offered a perfect conduit in which to act. After switching schools Dr. Millie Russell of the University of Washington introduced Vasser to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and in 1979 she became an initiate.
Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded by a group of sixteen women at Howard University on January 15, 1908. Designed to help improve the social and economic conditions through community service programs, this bond is what Vasser needed to implement her cause, her calling in service. Activism and volunteering had always been a passion for Vasser and the community service oriented function of the Black Greek letter organizations opened up a whole new world for the young activist. Through Alpha Kappa Alpha Vasser was able to fully engage and provide her energy to community service.
“I had always found that my passion lied in volunteer work, so Alpha Kappa Alpha kind of dovetailed into what I was already doing with my life,” says Vasser.
“[Alpha Kappa Alpha] invited me into membership which opened up a whole new world of activism for me and volunteerism,” continued Vasser. “The bottom line for me is that I really just want to make things better. I try to the best of my ability to put the organizational skills I learned and refined in AKA to use in both my professional business life and my volunteer world.
“I try to improve a time, a place and help others find their voice through my volunteer work,” she continued.
A life-long member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Vasser has been president of the Seattle Graduate Chapter twice. She has been vice president and correspondence secretary. She has been a Graduate Advisor providing leadership for the young minds of sorority. She has been voted Sister of the Year as well as a host of other positions and roles during her experience in Black Greek life.
Vasser’s dedication to helping others is what her work is about and presently she assists disabled adults in finding employment which she considers very rewarding and much needed.
Another rewarding and defining opportunity was Vasser’s role in establishing the National Pan Hellenic Council (NPHC) – the umbrella organization that governs undergraduate Black Greek Fraternities and Sororities nationally. Vasser’s energy and commitment in establishing the National Pan Hellenic in Seattle got her national attention as she was asked to implement her program into the national handbook on how Black Greek organizations would function and survive college life and the campus environments which can be daunting for young students just leaving high school and starting their college careers.
“The National Pan Hellenic council did not exist in Seattle,” says Vasser. “They traditionally had a group call the Multi Greek for the African American Greek fraternities and sororities and they had become pretty powerful over a number of years and then they dissolved and for several years there was nothing that brought all of the African American Greek organization together.”
One activity Vasser initiated was putting together Black Greek organization displays for an exhibit on” Rites of Passage” for the Museum of History and Industry. This exhibit offered the different organizations an opportunity to come together and showcase their history and purpose. It also brought together a renewed purpose of solidarity and the idea of a Seattle chapter of the National Pan Hellenic Council was born.
In 1994, Seattle was awarded its Graduate and Undergraduate-NPHC chapters and Vasser became the first Graduate president and served as co-advisor to the campus chapter. The National Pan Hellenic (NPHC) gave Black Greek organizations not only the chance to be organized but gave them a collective power base in Seattle and on campus at the UW.
“The National Pan Hellenic Council gave them [the organizations] the opportunity to not only become organized but gave them a powerbase to be influential both on campus and in Seattle because now they were a larger group verses individual chapters,” said Vasser.
Vasser has been volunteering with the NPHC now for more than twenty years. Ron Bennett, a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and their representative with the Council, says that Vasser’s impact in the community is immeasurable.
For example, in 2016 the NPHC scholarship fund raised $25,000 to help towards providing area youth with the opportunity to continue their education. While not solely responsible for raising the funds, Vasser’s leadership was instrumental in the process. Humbly, Vasser will always give credit on projects that she works on to the collective group, but those who know and work with her will give her most of the credit.
“If it weren’t for Brenda Vasser our year may not have been as successful as it was,” says Bennett about the groundwork laid out by Vasser as the current past president. “Bottom line she is always on top of everything from our scholarships awards and banquets, to our All Greek Cookout.”
“She has a plaque at University of Washington with her name on it, she has a scholarship fund at the University of Washington with her name on it, that’s how we think of and how we appreciate Soror Brenda Vasser,” Bennett said about the respect shown towards Vasser by those who work with her.
A chosen few possess the fortitude and selflessness to do volunteer work and community service. Remember there is no monetary incentive in volunteering. All rewards from this work comes from the heart and the gratitude of those you’ve helped along in your journey.
Vasser has provided 38 years of continuous service to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated at both the collegiate and graduate levels, serving, building and sustaining the Seattle Chapter of the National Pan Hellenic Council and advising and guiding the undergraduate life of Greek organizations in building strong leaders for tomorrow.
Through AKA, Vasser has worked with the St. Jude charity coordinating the NPHC activities to support the organization. She has also worked with the African American Health council tobacco initiative. She volunteered with the UNCF assisting with coordination of regional impact programs, she has served on the board of the Western Regional Greek Leadership Council and has made presentations locally, regionally and nationally to graduate advisors, collegiate professionals and students on enhancing their Greek life, anti-hazing, Skills, Traits and Knowledge to survive on campus as the Greek life professional working with an off-campus entity.
“Although she has achieved countless accomplishment in her service to Alpha Kappa Alpha and many other community organizations, her unwavering commitment to building and sustaining the Seattle chapter of the NPHC and to advancing the academic and leadership capabilities of our undergraduates as a longtime advisor to the University of Washington are unparalleled,” says Leona Dotson, former President of Seattle Alumnae Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha. “Her passion, drive and commitment to serving the Seattle community and local students are steadfast and commendable.”
For Vasser, it’s not about accolades or recognition, it’s about the work. The work that helps to make things better, the work that goes into building a better community.
“If one of us fails, all of us fails,” says Vasser. “So, we have to do things to hold up everybody and if by holding up everybody we are able to make a bigger impact, we able to make a larger impression, we are able to say as a community we have made a change.”
