A local fraternity is calling foul after a Bermuda Sun columnist criticised its scholarship programme .

?All we are trying to do is something positive for the community as a whole,? the local treasurer of Alpha Phi Alpha, Michael Wellman, told yesterday.

Mr. Wellman was responding to Larry Burchall?s opinion piece in Wednesday?s tabloid in which Mr. Burchall suggested that the group denied students from ?black schools? the chance to benefit from its scholarship programme.

This year three students shared $10,000 from Bermuda?s Epsilon Theta Lambda Chapter of the international fraternity. Mr. Burchall, however, pointed out that all three attended private schools and suggested that the fraternity did not request participants from all of Bermuda?s secondary schools.

Mr. Burchall also criticised the ?black fraternity?, which was founded by African Americans at Cornell University in 1904 for excluding non-black students. The fraternity awards bursaries ranging from $5,000 to $1,000 with every participant receiving no less than $1,000.

But the fraternity hit back at Mr. Burchall yesterday, saying he should have got his facts straight before the article went to Press.

?First we acknowledge the right for Mr. Burchall to have and express his opinion but we are just disappointed that he did not verify his assumptions before publishing his article,? Mr. Wellman said. ?We would like to set a couple of things straight for the record.

?Every senior school on the Island was approached to nominate a student for the scholarship programme.?

The Beautillion is a male ?Rite of Passage? ceremony to celebrate the talents and academic achievements of Bermuda?s male high school students, he said.

?We work with (the students) for six months and get them involved in various programmes, including tutoring at Dellwood Middle School and helping at the Pembroke Rest Home.?

?We have a relationship with Big Brothers-Big Sisters and we put on a mini soccer camp which was very successful.?

The students also helped with Project Alpha ? the fraternity?s male teen pregnancy prevention and education programme.

?We want to make clear that Alpha Phi Alpha is a fully integrated, multi-racial and multi-cultural organisation,? Mr. Wellman said in response to Mr. Burchall?s suggestion that the scholarship was open for black, male students only.

?We have programmes on the Island, including our tutoring at Dellwood, which involves every aspect of the community. To imply that we serve only one particular group does Alpha Phi Alpha a great injustice.?

He continued: ?This goes against the ideals of equality, justice and fair play that the fraternity was founded on.?

?There were no reference to race, culture or creed when we sent out our invitation to every secondary school principal to nominate a student.

?We started out with five students, but the two public school students unfortunately had to drop out,? he said.

?The three young men on the stage at this year?s Beautillion should be seen as a shining example for all of Bermuda?s youth, period, regardless of the colour or makeup of their skin.?

The recipients of this year?s bursaries were Darren Woods of Saltus, Bryce Williams of Warwick Academy and Andre Manders, who attends The Bermuda Institute.

In addition to the bursary awards, each participant is flown to New York City to take part in the Fraternity?s Leadership Development Institute Programme.

In response to Mr. Wellman?s comments, Mr. Burchall praised the fraternity for its programme.

?This was not a negative comment on Alpha Phi Alpha. They are doing a superb job.

Mr. Burchall put the onus on Bermuda?s two public high school to support black males to achieve.

CedarBridge Academy and Berkley Institute should have been able to ensure at least two students completed the Beautillion programme, ?even if they encouraged their students half as much as they should have.?