HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes isn't a member of the historically Black sororities and fraternities known as the “Divine Nine."
But throughout her hotly contested reelection campaign this year, Hayes, the first Black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress, has sometimes felt like she's a fellow soror, the term used by Black Greek organizations for sorority sisters. On their own, members have shown up to call voters, organize fundraisers, knock on doors, cheer Hayes on at campaign events and even offer pro bono legal help.
“I had people from Massachusetts come in to volunteer,” said Hayes, a Democrat who is seeking a fourth term. “I’ve had people who had previously been considering going to a battleground state like Pennsylvania and are saying, 'No, we’re going to stay right here and help out in this race in Connecticut.’”
Downballot candidates like Hayes — particularly Black women — have benefited from a surge in support this year from volunteers who happen to be members of Black Greek organizations, many energized by Kamala Harris' presidential run. The vice president is a longtime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., which was founded at her alma matter, Howard University, in 1908. Harris pledged AKA as a senior at Howard in 1986.
Collectively known as the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the nine historically Black sororities and fraternities are nonpartisan and barred from endorsing candidates because of their not-for-profit status. The organizations focus on voter registration drives, civic engagement and nonelectoral initiatives and are careful not to show favor to a particular candidate. But many of the groups' members, as individuals, have been “extremely active” in federal and state races around the country this year, said Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
"I think that’s a part of the Kamala Harris effect,” Harrison said during a recent visit to Connecticut.
There were women affiliated with all the D9 sororities on a recent get-out-the-vote bus tour through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland to support Black women on the ballot.
Along with other volunteers, they knocked on hundreds of doors, made thousands of calls and sent out hundreds of postcards, urging people to vote. The trip was organized by the Higher Heights for America PAC, a nearly 13-year-old organization that works to elect progressive Black women.
Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. showed off their crimson and cream colors while stumping in Maryland for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, a fellow Delta who is in a closely watched race against former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
Volunteers who are D9 sorority members also campaigned for Democratic U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha who is running for the U.S. Senate. If both candidates were elected, it would mark the first time two Black women have served in the Senate simultaneously.
Latosha Johnson, a social worker from Hartford, recently participated in a get-out-the-vote phone banking session for Hayes along with other Black women who, like her, are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha. She said there’s a realization among many Black and brown voters that the stakes in the election are particularly high. And if Harris wins, she’ll need allies in Congress, Johnson said.
“If we don’t get her a Congress that’s going to be able to move things,” Johnson said, “that becomes hard.”
Hayes is in a rematch against former Republican George Logan, a former state senator who identifies as Afro-Latino but has not seen an outpouring of support from D9 members, according to his campaign.
Both Harris and former President Donald Trump are courting Black voters in the final days of the presidential race. Harris' campaign has expressed concern about a lack of voting enthusiasm among Black men.
While Republicans have made some inroads with Black voters, two-thirds still identify as Democrats. About 2 in 10 identify as independents. About 1 in 10 identify as Republicans, according to a recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Voter registration and nonpartisan get-out-the-vote efforts by the sororities and fraternities, coupled with the mobilization of individual members, could potentially have an impact on some of these races, said Darren Davis, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.
“In local elections, in statewide elections, where the Black vote is more powerful and concentrated as opposed to in national elections, D9 organizations have this tremendous untapped ability to reach and to mobilize disaffected voters," Davis said.
The D9 fraternal groups were founded on U.S. college campuses in the early 1900s when Black students faced racial prejudice and exclusion that prevented them from joining existing white sororities and fraternities. In a tradition that continues today, the organizations focused on mutual upliftment, educational and personal achievement, civic engagement and a lifelong commitment to community service.
Many of the fraternities and sororities served as training grounds for future civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.
Alpha Phi Alpha Sorority Inc. member Brandon McGee is a former Democratic state representative who now leads Connecticut's Social Equity Council on cannabis. As the father of two daughters, he is excited about helping Harris and Hayes win.
“I want my babies to see me working for a female who looks like their mother. And even beyond looking like their mother, a female,” he said. “And I want my babies to know, ‘You can do the same thing.’”
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This story has been edited to correct that Latosha Johnson is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, not Delta Sigma Theta.
Linda Chapman of Waterbury, left, a member of the Zeta Phi Beta, talks with U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn. at a Souls to the Polls voting rally at Grace Baptist Church, Oct. 26, 2024, in Waterbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Carolyn Highsmith, a member of Theta Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in New Haven, listens to speakers at a Souls to the Polls voting rally at Grace Baptist Church Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Waterbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Alderman Sean Mosley, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, speaks at a Souls to the Polls voting rally at Grace Baptist Church on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Waterbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Linda Chapman of Waterbury, left, a member of the Zeta Phi Beta, talks with U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn. at a Souls to the Polls voting rally at Grace Baptist Church Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Waterbury, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
GRICIGNANO DI AVERSA, Italy (AP) — The football field immediately strikes the eye for visitors driving on an overpass approaching the U.S. Navy Support Site outside of Naples.
An American football field in the middle of southern Italy.
Turn past the pothole-filled local streets, get through the security gate, and the unkempt Italian roads are replaced by perfectly paved thoroughfares. Home to more than 500 families, the Navy base is where Heisman Trophy candidate Ashton Jeanty learned to play football.
Now a junior running back for 15th-ranked Boise State and a unanimous selection on The Associated Press midseason All-America team, Jeanty’s talents were first spotted by Naples High School football coach Jim Davis when he was in seventh grade.
Not on the football field, though. That's because tackle football wasn’t an option for middle schoolers.
It was on the basketball court during middle school lunch.
“He’s going up for a layup and he’s getting so much height I’m thinking this kid’s about to dunk the ball,” said Davis, who also teaches physical education at the school. “As a seventh grader, you can imagine how short he is. He’s 5-9, 5-10 now. So he was probably closer to 5-4 or 5-5. And it’s like, ‘Wow, look at the power this kid has at such a young age.’”
Davis had to wait two years to unleash that power in his team when Jeanty was a high school freshman in 2018.
And it wasn’t until the coach moved Jeanty from quarterback two games into the season that he really began to take off.
“I realized he needed to be the running back. I could get anybody to hand off the ball to him,” Davis told the AP during an interview at the military base this week.
In the remaining four games of Naples’ season, Jeanty ran for over 1,200 yards on fewer than 100 carries and scored 17 touchdowns.
“I’d be lying to you if I told you that (I thought) he would be a Heisman candidate,” Davis said. “The only person that probably really felt that way was himself. But I knew he could play at the next level, and that’s why I knew he had to leave here to get the exposure.”
So Davis encouraged Jeanty to go back to the U.S. for his final three years of high school. And that’s what Jeanty did by enrolling at Lone Star High School in Frisco, Texas. Now he leads the nation with 1,376 yards in seven games for Boise State and is considered the top running back prospect for the NFL draft.
The one year of football that Jeanty played in Italy was unlike anything most American high school athletes experience.
Naples’ closest competition is nine hours away at a similar base in Vicenza in northern Italy. During Jeanty’s season, the team also played games in Germany, Belgium and Spain. The game in Germany required an 18-hour bus ride.
Current Naples quarterback Camden Kasparek was the ballboy when Jeanty played on the team.
“On those long bus trips, you do a lot of team bonding, a lot of cool opportunities, a lot of fun trips with the team,” Kasparek said, adding that Jeanty still keeps in touch with him via social media and follows the school’s results.
Featuring a movie theater, a bowling alley and a supermarket stocked with American goods, the Navy base is like a home away from home for the kids who live there.
“We have Popeyes and Wendy’s and Subway, and they can buy American clothes and they can buy Skippy peanut butter and Halloween candies now and they’ll go trick or treating here shortly,” Davis said. “So, yeah, it’s very much like a little America.”
Because the Navy support site field doesn’t have lights, some of the team’s games are played at the Carney Park military recreational facility inside a dormant volcano in nearby Pozzuoli.
The rec site is linked to a relationship between the U.S. military community and Naples that dates back to World War II.
“It’s pretty neat," Davis said. “You see the crater all around you.”
Growing up in a military family helped shape who Jeanty is.
“The sense of discipline, order. You work until the job (is) done, not just because the time is over,” Davis said. “He has that work ethic.”
Other athletes have followed Jeanty’s path before from overseas bases to the elite level like George Teague, Michael Strahan, Alejandro Villanueva — and Shaquille O’Neal in basketball.
Military life translates well to football.
“It’s all about teamwork, discipline and honoring the chain of command: not having to like the person next to you, but respecting them to get the mission complete," Davis said.
Davis often wakes up during the middle of the night now to watch Jeanty play. What he sees isn’t much different from what the coach witnessed first-hand six years ago.
“He wouldn’t go down on the first hit. He was explosive. You just felt like you’re always sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for him. You know, next touch might be a touchdown,” Davis said.
“Most of our games were high scoring, like 45-42, 38-35. We were just very fortunate most of those times that we had the ball last. So we were never out of it as long as we gave it to No. 2.”
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Wildcats team Quarterback Camden Kasparek is interviewed by The Associated Press at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Coach Jim Davis is interviewed by The Associated Press prior to the start of a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Wildcats team players practice during a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Wildcats team players practice during a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Wildcats team Coach Jim Davis is interviewed by The Associated Press as Quarterback Camden Kasparek practices at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Coach Jim Davis, background center, talks to his players during a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Coach Jim Davis attends a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Coach Jim Davis is interviewed by The Associated Press prior to the start of a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Coach Jim Davis, center, talks to his players during a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
CORRECTS YEAR - Ashton Jeanty, bottom first from left, poses for a team picture in Naples, Italy Sept. 2018. (Sharon James via AP)
Wildcats team Quarterback Camden Kasparek practices during a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
CORRECTS YEAR - Ashton Jeanty, second from right, smiles with his teammates in Spangdahlem, Germany on Sept. 2018. (David Albright via AP)
Coach Jim Davis shows the jersey worn by Ashton Jeanty as he is interviewed by The Associated Press prior to the start of a training session at the football field of the U.S. Naval Support – Site in Gricignano di Aversa, southern Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
