Let's Talk UNLV

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a Kun V studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:20
Hello, hello. Hello again. Welcome to Kun V 91.5, let's talk UNLV. I have a special guest today, and my guest today is a student here at UNLV, and I'm so happy and honored to have him here today. I'm gonna let him introduce himself and tell you also he's president of two different organizations here on campus, so I'm gonna let him introduce himself. Introduce himself and tell you what he's president of here on

Kyle Fairweather 0:45
campus. What's going on everybody, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Kyle Fairweather. I am the president of the collegiate 100 and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:53
Excellent, excellent. Thank you so much, Kyle, for being here today with us. Thank you for having me. All right. All right. So the way that I start the show is I like to talk about your origin story. How did you end up here at UNLV, and give us the long route, the yellow brick road route to how you ended up here at UNLV, what you graduate high school, those kind of things.

Kyle Fairweather 1:12
Okay, so I'm from Houston, Texas. I graduated from Stephen F Austin High School in 2017 I did myself a little bit. That's all. Good. After I graduated high school, I attended community college, Houston, community college, otherwise known as HCC, for a year, I was planning on doing a radiology tech. I wanted to be a radiology tech. After I took a few assessments to figure out what exactly it is that I was interested in left me towards that medical route. A few things happened. A lot happened during my first year in college. I'm not going to blame my advisors, because everything happens for a reason, but I ended up not being able to get into the radiology program, and the only way for me to get into it was to wait an entire year. And so instead of waiting an entire year, my mother actually advised me that I joined the military, but she gave me only one option. She said I can only join the Air Force. She's an Army vet, and so she knows the correct routes and which ones she thought would be more beneficial for me. And so I was like, okay, that's fine. I'll, you know, go to the military. And so I applied to the military. Obviously, I wanted to still go the radiology route, and they had radiology techs in the Air Force, and so I applied for that specific job. Fun fact, I was the first person my recruiter had ever let through. So he was kind of in a rush. He was, you know, recruiters have to have quotas. And so I was, since I was the first person he ever let through, he was real excited to get me through the process. And so he had advised me, like, hey, we can put you up for this, but it's not like that. You're gonna get it. And I wasn't listening to any of that. I was like, Listen, if I don't get a medical job or this job, it ain't happening. And and so whenever he heard that, I mean, usually recruiters don't really care, but because I was his first and he was so excited, he was like, Okay, I gotta get this guy through it, he kind of made some things happen. And so he wasn't able to get me the radiology job, but I ended up still going medical. So I ended up being a combat medic of five years in the Air Force. It was a great experience. I did all kinds of things. I was at the height of COVID. I was at the height of the I forget the name of the actual project, but it was when the Afghanistan, when we left Afghanistan and the Taliban began to take over, we had to go out and help the refugees go into different areas, and so I was out there in Qatar for that. I got a lot of great experiences, met a lot of great people, but my time came to an end. I decided that, you know, decided to leave, and I decided to pursue school, and since I was already stationed in Vegas, I forgot to mention that I was stationed in Vegas my entire career. Once I left, I was like, You know what? Let's go back to school. And so I decided, why not UNLV? Okay, good,

Dr. Sammie Scales 4:09
good. So you came, decided to come here to UNLV. What was attracted other than you already being here? Was there something that attracted you to UNLV and not any of the other state colleges and universities. That's

Kyle Fairweather 4:23
an area, nothing in particular. I mean, I did my research on UNLV before joining. And I had a friend of mine who already went to unlv, so he was also a big influence on my decision. Okay, great.

Dr. Sammie Scales 4:35
You mentioned that you were president of the collegiate 100 correct here at UNLV? Yes. Tell us what. Tell us about that program. What is that program about?

Kyle Fairweather 4:43
So the collegiate 100 is a student program dedicated to professional and career development. We do a lot of things, such as build resumes, networking travel in order to expose students to different avenues and career paths to ultimately help them get an internship to further progress their career. By the end of their college career. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 5:01
you say you guys do traveling as well. So is there a place that you guys have recently gone to outside of the state of

Kyle Fairweather 5:10
Nevada? Yep, we went to last year. In June, we went to Atlanta for the 100 Black Men national conference. We also have 100 collegiate 100 national conference every year that was also in Atlanta. We went to also went to Colorado last October.

Dr. Sammie Scales 5:27
Excellent, excellent. What roles does do mentoring play in your collegiate experience and personal growth in your college experience?

Kyle Fairweather 5:35
Mean, it play. It's everything. I mean, mentorship is a huge part of my life I enjoy, not only mentoring to the individuals around me, but having that mentorship or being a mentor to others, also holds me accountable to make sure that I'm continuing to progress myself, so that I can continue to progress everyone else around me. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 5:55
great. Let's back up a little bit. So you're involved with The Collegiate 100 what number one, how did you find out about it? And number two, what drew you to it? And number three, what gave you the courage to say, okay, yeah, I can step up and be president of this organization.

Kyle Fairweather 6:08
So when I was in the military, I was actually, I was actually submitting my application to be a part of the 100 Black Men. And so when ever I was, you know, going through my process of submitting my application for whatever reason, I was the only individual out of my friend group that also applied that, I guess, didn't get fully through my application. Partial part it was partially my fault, also partially the sponsor I was talking to, things just kind of got in the way work got in the way life got in the way, and it just never ended up happening. But when I got out of the middle, that's how I was introduced to the 100 Black Men and The Collegiate 100 as well. So the collegiate 100 is a, I would like to say, a sub organization to the 100 Black Men. The 100 Black Men or national organization, or not national global organization actually created the collegiate 104 college students. And so that's how I was able to find out about it. So when I got out of the military and decided that I was going to go back to school, the member the friend group that I had that joined the 100 Black Men, they were also, when they were attending UNLV, they actually chartered the chapter, the collegiate 100 chapter here at UNLV, and so that's how I was able to find out about it. So when I came back to school, he knew who I was as a person, the skill sets, the leadership that I have, the mentorship skills that I have, and they offered me the position to become president of the Collegian 100 after the previous president had graduated, and I decided to come to UNLV. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 7:42
so when it comes to the collegiate 100 what type of students are in there, and is it open to all students, or are there certain qualifications that you have to meet in order to become a member of the organization? How does that work?

Kyle Fairweather 7:54
So anybody can join the collegiate 100 we're open to all students. There are qualifications such as a 2.5 GPA as well as be a full time student at UNLV. And then that's pretty much the, I guess, qualifications for actually joining the organization. But we highly recommend that you have a resume. If you don't have one, that's okay. We help build those as a professional and career development organization, but I guess the two main things that you would need are a 2.5 GPA and to be a full time student here at UNLV. Okay, so

Dr. Sammie Scales 8:27
since being a part of that organization and being president, it seemed like you're very active in the collision 100 so what are some? What are some of the things that have benefited you personally from being a part of that organization? And I know that, you know, I've said on many podcasts, when a student is active in different organizations, they seem to have higher grades because of the standards that they have to uphold. They tend to matriculate. They tend to graduate on time. And so it's a lot of positive things when students are a part of organizations. So what are some of the benefits that you've reaped and that you've seen since being a part of the collegiate 100

Kyle Fairweather 9:04
I mean, honestly, there's 1,000,001 benefits. But if I could point to two of the main ones, it would be accountability and networking. The amount of networking that I've been able to do, it seems that everybody because collegiate 100 isn't just collegiate 100 right? We're very tapped into the 100 Black Men of Las Vegas. That's where all of our mentors come from. That's where all of the information, that's where all of the internships, the networking opportunities, they're all paired with the 100 Black Men of Las Vegas. So any collegiate 100 member that says that, you say, I guess wants to pursue a particular career, they would be paired with a mentor from the 100 Black Men in order to help elevate their knowledge and experience in that particular career. So networking is definitely one, and then accountability as well. So you're when you join a professional and career development organization, it, it. Very, I guess you could say helpful in the accountability aspect of being surrounded by individuals who are constantly wanting to better themselves. And so you're put under, not necessarily under any pressure, but you're put under a certain umbrella that says, Okay, if I want to be a part of something, I have to up my standard for myself,

Dr. Sammie Scales 10:21
excellent, excellent. I literally, literally got a call this morning from a parent saying that, hey, I want my daughter to know about scholarships and to be able to network and get mentoring. So it sounds like I'm going to end up directing her your way for the collegiate Yeah, I'm definitely going to do that. So other you talked about accountability earlier, what specific skills or knowledge have you gained through the collegiate 100 that have helped you in your academics and in your professional journey as well? Other Other than you saying, Oh, I definitely gained accountability. So what specific skills or knowledge have you gained through the collegiate 100 that have helped you in your academics and professional journey.

Kyle Fairweather 11:06
I would say public speaking is one of them. Being the president, you have to learn how to speak to individuals in an open space. I do a lot of presentations. I do a lot of advocating. I do a lot of networking. Public speaking is definitely one that helps with, definitely a skill set that is helping my professional career. Patience is another skill set dealing with, not dealing with, but working with a lot of individuals, especially students who are constantly going up and down with emotions from school, the pressure from, you know, finding internships, job, all these kinds of things that are going on. You have to learn how to be patient with those students as well as empathetic to the different situations that are going on, as well as I would say, let's

Dr. Sammie Scales 11:50
talk about when you mentioned, when you talked about doing presentations and those kind of things. When is the most recent time that you've done a presentation where people actually sat and listened at what you had to say. When is the most recent time that you did that? Last Wednesday during our monthly meetings. Last Wednesday, Okay, last Wednesday during our monthly meetings, I created a presentation where we discuss what's going on for that current month. I have any questions, any updates

Kyle Fairweather 12:17
last night as well, whenever we whenever I did my Alpha Phi Alpha informational, where we discussed what Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated is what we are, who we are, and how we do things to develop ourselves as well as the community around us. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 12:33
so it seemed like being president of these different organizations, you're getting to talk to people that you know, one you probably normally wouldn't talk to a two standing before audiences that you probably normally wouldn't stand before. So I'm sure that translates over into the classroom when you have to do presentations in your classroom. Does that experience help as well? Does it make it easier? Does it have have you less nervous?

Kyle Fairweather 12:55
Oh, most definitely. I mean, especially with the classes that I take, speaking a different language sometimes can be nerve wracking, because I also take Japanese and so whenever I have to stand up, introduce myself in a completely different language that I'm not entirely comfortable in. Having a little bit of those public speaking skills allows me to have the confidence to go up and do it, even though I may mess up. I have the confidence to know that okay, even though I do mess up, I'll be able to come back and do it again later. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 13:26
sounds great. Now, you talked about your major. Tell us what is your major and your minor.

Kyle Fairweather 13:31
My major is international business. I don't have a minor, but I do have a concentration of Japanese, concentration

Dr. Sammie Scales 13:35
of Japanese speaking, a little bit of Japanese

Kyle Fairweather 13:41
for us, let's go.

Dr. Sammie Scales 13:42
You know that was coming so

Kyle Fairweather 13:46
Hajime, must you know naval, Cairo, fair weather, this never die. Got no got to say this to our business, this sport. So I will,

Dr. Sammie Scales 14:05
wow. Well, it sounded like you just asked me, What's my favorite ice cream? No, no, what did you just say?

Kyle Fairweather 14:12
I basically introduced. I said, Hello. How are you? My name is Kyle Fairweather. I go to the University of Nevada, and my major is business, wow,

Dr. Sammie Scales 14:21
wow. That is excellent. I think I took mesh tech during my college years, because, of course, in California, you had to have three levels of foreign language. So I took mesh tech, which is a dimexican language out of Oaxaca over in Mexico. So let me ask you. Ask you this, what are some of the key values such as leadership, integrity and citizenship that you found most impactful through your involvement in the collegiate 100 say one more time, what are some of the key values such as leadership, integrity and citizenship that you found most impactful through your involvement? With the collegiate 100 I

Kyle Fairweather 15:01
would say most definitely leadership. Leadership has most definitely been a skill set that I think many people definitely need to have in their tool belt, knowing what kind of leadership style that you are, leadership, yeah, knowing what kind of leadership style that you have, I actually just found out my leadership style, which is enabling others to act I'm the type of individual that kind not necessarily stays in the background, but I'm the person that tells or advises or gives people the opportunity to build the skill sets for themselves. So for instance, I have someone in my in my E Board, who is a finance major, and so I put him in a position of treasurer to help build his financial status. And it's built his resume financially. I have someone who's also a business, business management major, so she's also our best vice president, Skyla. Shout out to Skyla. I'm having her do more so public speaking, things, networking, talking to other individuals, kind of building her public speaking skills for business management. So leadership is most definitely good skills.

Dr. Sammie Scales 16:07
Okay? And it sounds like some of these skills that you're gaining is transferable, that you're actually able to put them on your resume. I know, anytime you attend a conference or anything like that, you know definitely can be noted on a resume as well. So sound like you're getting some really good advice, learning, leadership styles, accountability, those kind of things. So and those are all soft skills that you're definitely going to need for the work environment. So what type of civic engagement or activities has the collegiate 100 engaged in? Or you guys have participated in? We

Kyle Fairweather 16:39
participate in things every single year, we've participated in collaborations with the BSO. We participated in Thanksgiving, we participated in MLK parade. We participated in just overall giving back. There's lots of different things that we like to do, if it has anything to do with mentorship, if has anything to do with building the community. We work in schools as well reading books to children. It varies, to be honest.

Dr. Sammie Scales 17:10
Okay, are there any internships that your mentors offer students that are part of the collegiate 100 every single week? So what are some of those? Can you share some of those with us, I

Kyle Fairweather 17:21
have, I've personally been provided with two internships in the field of energy and sustainability. There's lawyer internships as well as a lawyer scholarship. There has been a lot of real estate internships as well. We do accounting internships, any internship that you would see, really, to be honest, there are whatever career field that you're interested in, we can there's internships out there for you that we can find and provide to

Dr. Sammie Scales 17:46
you. Are these paid internships? Are they unpaid? Or how does that work? In 100% paid?

Kyle Fairweather 17:51
Our advisors don't believe in unpaid internships

Dr. Sammie Scales 17:54
working for free. Okay? What has been most rewarded aspect of being a part of the collegiate 100 The most rewarding part for you,

Kyle Fairweather 18:03
man, I would say the most rewarding part is definitely watching my team grow, watching my team grow as to the individuals that they want to be, even though they do, they do look up to me in a way, making decisions based on the things that I like to do, but I try to steer as far away from that as possible. I try to encourage them to critically, think for themselves, and if they do make a mistake, I don't punish them for it. I usually will not punish, but, you know, reprimand or talk to them crazy for it. I usually would like to, Hey, say, this is part of the process. Hey, this didn't work. Let's try something else, kind of deal. So I definitely think watching my team grow as individuals has been the most rewarding. Excellent.

Dr. Sammie Scales 18:42
That sounds great. Man. Do you think that mentorship has a positive effect on your leadership abilities the men that have mentored you? Do you think that has had an effect on how you lead? Oh,

Kyle Fairweather 18:53
100% 100% the men that have mentored me, men and women that have mentored me have done nothing but put me in positions to better myself, and the only thing that they've ever asked of me was to pass it forward, and that's what I plan and will continue to do. Oh,

Dr. Sammie Scales 19:09
excellent, excellent. Okay, so how do you feel about the importance of giving back to and we just talked about this, you just mentioned this, which is why I'm asking you this question. How do you feel about the importance of giving back to the community, especially through programs like 100 Black Men of Las Vegas. So how do you feel about giving back? And then what are some of the events that you do locally here in Las Vegas, where you guys go out and do stuff for the communities, whether it's, I don't know, painting the elderly person's home, or picking up trash or cleaning up well, we're not in San Diego. I was about to say cleaning up the beach, but we did that in San Diego. But what are some of the local things that you guys have done to give back to the communities

Kyle Fairweather 19:47
Thanksgiving. Every Thanksgiving, we give Thanksgiving meals, either Thanksgiving meals or we give turkeys out as far as the 100 Black Men. We also give a back we do a back to school drive as well. We. Partnership with 200 Black Men every single year. Those are the two main events throughout the year that we really try to focus on. Sometimes holiday as well. Christmas time, we give back to the community as well.

Dr. Sammie Scales 20:12
Excellent. Sounds great. And you also, let's shift gears here. You're also the president of alpha alpha Fauci and incorporated sigma xi chapter here on campus. So how long have you been in alpha? When did you cross those kind of things? Tell us about that.

Kyle Fairweather 20:27
So I've been at alpha since November 2, 2024 and I've been president since January 1, 2025,

Dr. Sammie Scales 20:34
wow. Okay, so what has that experience been like for you? What have you taken from that experience? I've

Kyle Fairweather 20:41
I've taken quite a bit from that experience. I've it's kind of hard to explain totally what I've experienced Besides, the only way that I can explain is one word. It's two words, actually, I would say is brotherly love. There hasn't I grew up with around all women, my sister, my mother, aunts, cousins, they were all mainly women. And so when I joined the fraternity, there was an instant feeling of brotherly love, one of the reasons I joined, as well as the overwhelming sense of, I mean, there's only one that's the only way I can explain. It's an over sensation of just brotherly love, everything that I've ever everything that I get into, everything that I've wanted to be a part of. When it came to the fraternity, it was open arms. It was open invitation, the networks, the connections, every everything that I ever asked for was okay, for sure, let's do it. Or if they didn't know, I'd be like, they would say something along the lines of, hey, I think I might know someone who can help you. And they would tap me in. I recently just got tapped into general Barry, actually. Brother, general Barry. He Andre Barry, brother, general Andre Berry, he I found I knew about him from the 100 Black Men, because he's also a member of the 100 Black Men, but I just found out that he's also a brother. And so whenever I was talking to brother, President Kyle, George he tap, he said that talking to him would be a great resource. And so now we're setting up a conversation to have on Thursdays. It's just things like that, you know, just the overwhelming sensation of brotherly love, mentorship, you know, building with each other.

Dr. Sammie Scales 22:36
So, so what motivated you to become an alpha of all the different organizations on campus, the different fraternities and sororities. Of course, you'd be doing a fraternity, not sorority, but I'm just saying in general, what motivated you to want to be an alpha versus being something else?

Kyle Fairweather 22:52
Honestly, it was. It was something that I already had in mind. It was something that whenever I did my research on what alpha was, because when I got to UNLV, I didn't know what NPHC was. I wasn't familiar with anything, anything Greek life. But when a friend of mine came to me and said, You know what alpha was, I did my own research, and it was pretty much an automatic connection I had, I was already doing the things that alpha did. And so I decided the reason, what made me join is the willingness, or the awareness to continue to be around like minded individuals. And so when I joined, that's exactly what I got. Wow. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 23:39
what are some of the key values and principles of alpha that you feel most connected to? Like, I know there's a lot of manly D scholarship, love of all mankind. So what connects you to that

Kyle Fairweather 23:50
love for all mankind is definitely one that speaks to me the most. I am a huge advocate of people in general, and that's why I became a mentor, that's why I became a better leader. That's why I continue to strive to develop skills so that I can help others along the way. I

Dr. Sammie Scales 24:07
think it's been great, actually, sitting here talking about the different organizations that's here on campus, there's tons of sororities and fraternities here on campus that students can join to become connected. There are requirements for these things also like 2.5 GPA and up. So can you share with us your most memorable experience of both of being a part of the collegiate 100 and with being an alpha? What's your most memorable My most

Kyle Fairweather 24:34
memorable experience for being a part of the collegiate 100 was most definitely going to Atlanta. My first time in Atlanta was going with the collegiate 100 to the 100 Black Men national conference, and to see the brothers that were there, the astute, distinguished brothers that were there, making sure that we are all there to learn and to build together. I would say my favorite memory a part of my favorite memory being a part of I. My fraternity is when I became stroll master. I became stroll master on MLK Day.

Dr. Sammie Scales 25:06
What is a stroll master? So you're gonna have to tell us what that means.

Kyle Fairweather 25:11
So a stroll Master is someone who gets passed down a whistle, and that whistle is it's basically a tool utilized to bring cadence to the stroll line. Not only does that person keep the cadence of the stroll line, but this person also teaches the strolls. This person also has the capability of coming up with strolls as well. So it's a huge responsibility to make sure that the fraternity or the chapter that you're a part of is, is continuing to learn and grow the culture of strolling. So

Dr. Sammie Scales 25:45
when you talked about the accountability and leadership skills and those type things that you gained over in the collegiate 100 is that translating over into alpha five for fraternity Incorporated, most definitely. Okay, okay, so when was this fraternity founded per se. Fraternity

Kyle Fairweather 26:04
was founded on December 4, 1906 on the campus of Coronavirus University in Ithaca, New York.

Dr. Sammie Scales 26:09
Okay, and who are the founders? How many founders do you have tell us something about the fraternity that we don't know? Tell the audience.

Kyle Fairweather 26:16
So the there are seven founders that were found as we call Jules. Those individuals go by the name of jewel, Dr Henry at the callus jewel, Charles Amy Chapman, Julie Jane CaCO Jones, Jules, George Biddle, Kelly, Jewel, Nathan Allison, Murray, Joel, Robert Herr, Ogle and Jewel. Vernon Whitson, Tandy,

Dr. Sammie Scales 26:34
okay. Excellent, excellent. Let me ask you this. So if money was not an issue, what would you like to see on the campus Hill for the collegiate 100 mind you, if money was not an issue at all, what would you like to see for the collegiate 100 if

Kyle Fairweather 26:49
money wasn't an issue for the collegiate 100 I would like to see, I would like to see for the collegiate 100 I would like to see everybody who was, Every member, who was a part of the collegiate 100 collegiate 100 get flown to Africa to discover and learn about the history of African American culture, where it comes from. Learn how things operate in Africa versus in America. Just learn the different history and the different cultures to get a better understanding of where we all come from.

Dr. Sammie Scales 27:25
Wow. Excellent, excellent. Okay, so when it comes to alpha, for Alpha fraternity Incorporated, if someone wanted to get in contact with you, to be a part of alpha or to be a part of the collegiate 100 how would that person reach you here on campus,

Kyle Fairweather 27:41
mainly on campus, I would say,

Dr. Sammie Scales 27:44
so what's your UNLV email for alpha? Alpha fraternity incorporated if they want to email you for that.

Kyle Fairweather 27:52
So our email is sigma, psi, alphas@gmail.com you can definitely get in contact us there, we would be more than happy to walk you through what alpha is about the process and how things work.

Dr. Sammie Scales 28:03
Okay, do you guys have a social media for either organization, collegiate, 100 or the sigma side,

Kyle Fairweather 28:09
most definitely sigma size Instagram is UNLV, alphas. And then in the collegiate 100 Instagram is collegiate 100 UNLV.

Dr. Sammie Scales 28:18
Excellent, excellent. Well, Kyle, that 30 minutes went by pretty quick. So I want to thank you so very much for stopping by to talk with us today. It's always important to have students here on campus that actually come here to the podcast and talk about what it's like to be a part of the different organizations. So I want to advise all students on the side of my voice, find an organization that you're passionate about. If there's no organization here on campus that you're interested in, find some people, then get together and go and make that an RSO or registered student organization, so that you can have something to be connected with. Watch your grades go up. And we want to watch you be able to graduate and walk across that stage so and lay the ground work for someone else that's coming behind you. Sit here on campus. You actually belong here. We want to make sure that all students have that sense of belonging here on campus. I often say to students, there's a reason that you're here at UNLV, because the year that you applied, there was 1000s of people or hundreds of people that applied that didn't get in. So you're here for a reason. We want you here. We want you connected, and we want to watch you crawl, walk, run and fly. That's what we want for you. That's what we want for all of our students. Kyle felwether, president of alpha five, Alpha Sigma, psi chapter and the collegiate 100 thank you so much for stopping by and talking with us. Thank you for having me. Great. Thank you so much

Dr. Renee Watson 29:41
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