The Digital Heritage Initiative

In an effort to continue to serve our communities in new and innovative ways, the Iota Phi Theta Fraternity is pleased to announce our latest national service program, The Digital Heritage Initiative. This initiative is a collaborative effort between Iota Phi Theta, Africana.com, and Microsoft Corporation.

Each of the Fraternity's chapters nationwide will donate a copy of the highly acclaimed Africana Encyclopedia to an elementary or secondary school in its local area. For each copy of the Encyclopedia donated by the Fraternity, Microsoft Corporation will donate 10 copies of Encarta Africana, the CD-ROM multimedia version of the encyclopedia. Additionally, each of the recipient schools will receive proprietary access to proprietary learning resources on the Africana.com website. The total value of the donation will exceed $100,000.

The Africana Encyclopedia is a one-volume encyclopedia of the black world. Consisting of more than 2100 pages, two million words and 3,500 entries from more than 220 contributors, it was inspired by the dream of the late African American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and brought to fruition by Harvard scholars Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Kwame Anthony Appiah. This single-volume encyclopedia is the most comprehensive collection of African and African American culture and history ever published.

Encarta Africana is published by Microsoft Corporation and is a comprehensive and authoritative multimedia encyclopedia focusing on the history, geography, and culture of people of African descent worldwide. Encarta, the world's #1 multimedia reference brand, and coeditors Gates and Appiah have joined together to create a multimedia encyclopedia that provides the best user experience through technology-driven innovation.

Africana.com is a website that capitalizes on the spirit and content of the Africana Encyclopedia. The site was launched in January 1999 by Dr. Harry M. Lasker in conjunction with Gates and Appiah. The goals of the site are;

• To present accurate, interesting, entertaining, and socially constructive information and commentary reflecting the diverse concerns of people of African descent
  
  

• To create "a Global Grapevine:" interactive vehicles and forums for communication and commerce with a pan-African, global focus
  
  

• To contribute to "Bridging the Digital Divide," promoting technological literacy and work-readiness for people of African descent, narrowing disparities in computer use and competence vis-à-vis other demographic groups in the US and worldwide.

At the formal announcement of the program, Iota Phi Theta's Grand Polaris, Hon. Rondall James, stated, "As an organization dedicated to uplifting our community, we must lead the way in providing the tools and training for our children to achieve success in an increasingly competitive world. This initiative is one that has our full focus and commitment, and we welcome the opportunity to lead the charge toward educating our youth."

Also present at the announcement was Philippe Wamba, editor in chief of Africana.com. Wamba expressed support and gratitude to the Fraternity for taking a leadership role in facilitating technology access for schoolchildren. Wamba also told of his desire for Iota Phi Theta and Africana.com to explore further areas of partnership.

Iota Phi Theta is pleased to have created this program and is thankful for the support of Africana.com and Microsoft Corporation. We look forward to the ability to continue to further our aim of serving as well as upholding our motto, Building a Tradition, Not Resting Upon One!

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