Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. held its 2025 International Conclave from Wednesday to Saturday in Tampa.
The event saw close to 10,000 of its members and supporters celebrate the organization’s dedication to its motto, “Culture for Service and Service for Humanity,” Black America Web reported. Attendees also gathered to welcome the organization’s newest honorary inductees, eight titans of education, entertainment, sports and ministry.
The 2025 Honorary Inductees are educator, civil rights activist and equity advocate Howard Fuller, Ph.D.; hip-hop icon and philanthropist Edward “Special Ed” Archer; actor and singer Leon, aka Leon Robinson; NFL Super Bowl champion and athletic director George Koonce, Ph.D.; Grammy Award-winning gospel recording artist Fred Hammond; Southern University and A&M College Chancellor John K. Pierre, J.D.; entrepreneur and philanthropist Dave “Unk” Huie and pastor, public servant and thought leader DeForest B. Soaries Jr., D.Min.
“These distinguished men have been extended membership not simply for their stature, but because their lives and legacies reflect the very ideals we hold sacred—Brotherhood, Scholarship, and Service,” the organization wrote in an Instagram post. “Through their impactful works and unwavering commitment to uplifting communities, they exemplify what it means to be a Sigma Man.”
Howard Fuller, Ph.D., is a civil rights and equitable education advocate
Fuller is a civil rights activist who’s committed to making education equitable for the last five decades. After graduating from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1962 with a degree in sociology, he went on to receive a master’s in social work from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and a doctorate in the sociological foundations of education in 1985 from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, The History Makers reported.
He worked in community development in Chicago during the late 1960s before founding the Malcolm X Liberation University in Durham, North Carolina, in 1969, serving as its president until it closed in 1973. He extended his educational career in the mid-1980s, serving as dean of the general education division at Milwaukee Area Technical College from 1986 to 1988. Fuller was the superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools from 1991 to 1995. From 1995 until his retirement in 2020, he directed the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University, which he founded.
In 2014, he published his memoir, No Struggle, No Progress: A Warrior’s Life from Black Power to Education Reform.
Edward ‘Special Ed’ Archer is a legendary rapper and producer
Archer, better known as “Special Ed,” is a rapper and producer who’s worked with artists like Tupac Shakur. Archer released his debut album, Youngest in Charge, in 1989, when he was 17 years old, which saw songs like “I Got It Made” and “Think About It” receive commercial and critical success. He was also a part of the Crooklyn Dodgers, a hip-hop supergroup that included artists like Memphis Bleek, Mos Def, and Masta Ace, and made music for Spike Lee’s 1994 film Crooklyn.
In addition to his music career, Archer has appeared in movies and TV shows like The Cosby Show, Juice and Ganked.
Leon Robinson is a multi-hyphenate artist
Robinson is an actor and musician best known for appearing in films like The Five Heartbeats, Cool Runnings, and Waiting to Exhale.
He also starred in Madonna’s controversial Like a Prayer music video in 1989, Parade reported. Robinson is the lead singer of a reggae and soul band, Leon & The Peoples.
George Koonce, Ph.D., is one of the few NFL players to receive a doctorate
Koonce is a former linebacker for the Green Bay Packers, winning a Super Bowl title with the team in 1996, Watch the Yard reported. He’s known as “The Doctor of Defense,” not just for his skillful work on the field, but for being one of the few NFL players to receive a doctorate. After earning a master’s degree in sports management from East Carolina University, Koonce held leadership positions at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
He is currently the senior vice president of university relations at Marian University in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. There, he spearheads the Dr. George E. Koonce Scholars Program, which helps young people in the area pursue higher education. Koonce also serves on the NFL Player Engagement Board and the board of directors for the Green Bay Packers and Horicon Bank.
He co-authored Is There Life After Football?: Surviving the NFL in 2016.
Fred Hammond is a gospel icon
Hammond started singing with his church choir when he was 12 and went on to play bass and sing with the iconic gospel group The Winans in the early ’80s, later joining the urban gospel group Commissioned, All Music reported. He went solo in 1991 and released albums like Pages of Life: Chapters I & II in 1998, Free to Worship in 2006 and God, Love & Romance in 2012, among others. He’s also worked with other gospel musicians like the Williams Brothers, Yolanda Adams, and Israel & New Breed.
John K. Pierre, J.D., is the chancellor of Southern University and A&M College
Pierre is the chancellor of Southern University and A&M College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southern University in 1980. He received a master’s degree in tax accounting from Texas Tech University in 1982 and a juris doctor degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1985.
Pierre is a veteran, acting as a Judge Advocate General Corps Officer for the United States Army from 1986 to 1990. After that, he transitioned into legal education, holding a position as a faculty member at the Southern University Law Center. In 2006, he became the vice chancellor of institutional accountability and the evening division at the Law Center and served as its chancellor from 2016 to spring 2024.
Dave “Unk” Huie founded a leading NBA apparel partner
Huie is a marketing entrepreneur best known for UNK NBA Sportswear, “a main apparel partner of the NBA,” which he founded in 1996, the brand’s website notes. Watch the Yard reported that Huie is known for “bridging the worlds of streetwear, sports and mentorship.”
DeForest B. Soaries Jr., D.Min., has written 12 books about financial literacy
Soaries Jr. spent more than three decades as the third senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Franklin Township, New Jersey, his website, DBS Solutions, notes. In addition to his spiritual expertise, Soaries Jr. is a financial wellness advocate. He launched the dfree Financial Freedom Movement, an initiative that helps people become financially self-sufficient, in 2005. His work with the initiative was featured in CNN‘s In America documentary Churched in 2010.
Soaries Jr. has also penned 12 books, including the bestsellers, Say Yes to No Debt and Say Yes When Life Says No. He also hosts For Your Soul, a weekly radio show on SiriusXM Urban View, during which he offers listeners his thoughts on financial empowerment and spiritual growth.
