Black fraternity centennial; Heartbreak Hill legend; giant stuffies: Top stories this week

Kathleen Hill, The Providence Journal
·5 min read

Here's a look at some of The Providence Journal's most-read stories for the week of April 16, supported by your subscriptions.

  • South Kingstown's Taylor Ellis has spent months on a quest to walk the length of Rhode Island's ocean-facing coastline. What began as a way to get some exercise with an ocean view has taken on new meaning as he's been stymied by seawalls, "no trespassing" signs and other barriers to public access. The Journal's Antonia Noori-Farzan tagged along for one leg of his journey, which included an unnerving encounter with a drone.

  • Speaking of odysseys, the saga of former Rhode Islander Nicholas Alahverdian, the fugitive conman fighting extradition from Scotland to face fraud and sex abuse charges in the U.S., was the subject of a two-hour episode of "Dateline NBC" on Friday. The Journal's Tom Mooney, who worked to break the story of Alahverdian faking his own death and has covered all the twists in his case along the way, is featured. If you missed it, click here to watch.

  • Journal sportswriter Bill Koch ranks the state's best high school baseball teams so far this season. For that and more news on high school and college sports, including the 2023 Providence Journal All-State teams in hockey, basketball, wrestling, swimming, track and gymnastics, go to providencejournal.com/sports.

  • Journal food editor Gail Ciampa whets your appetite for May Breakfast season.

  • Did you keep up with the week's events? Take our news quiz.

Here are the week's top reads on providencejournal.com:

This Black fraternity was rejected by Brown University. Now it's celebrating 100 years

Brown University's Class of 1921. In the bottom right corner is Alpha Gamma member Jay Mayo Williams, the only Black student pictured, who went on to play pro football and work as a music producer. He was part of the Class of 1920, but due to military leave, received his degree in 1921.
Brown University's Class of 1921. In the bottom right corner is Alpha Gamma member Jay Mayo Williams, the only Black student pictured, who went on to play pro football and work as a music producer. He was part of the Class of 1920, but due to military leave, received his degree in 1921.

More than a century ago, Brown University's Class of 1921 posed on the steps of the John Carter Brown Library for a yearbook photo. There was only one Black face in that group: Jay Mayo Williams, an Arkansas native who had become a football star on his way to becoming one of the first Black athletes in the NFL.

The same year Williams posed for that photo, he was one of 11 students who launched Alpha Gamma, a local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation's first Black fraternity. Denied recognition by Brown until 1974, Alpha Gamma made Providence its chapter seat, "spawned out of rejection and adversity that Brown didn’t want us," chapter historian Rodney Robinson said.

Now, the 102-year-old chapter is celebrating its centennial after a COVID delay.

Colleges: This Black fraternity was rejected by Brown University. Now it's celebrating 100 years.

Mark Patinkin: The RI running legend who gave Heartbreak Hill its name

Tarzan Brown wears the olive branch wreath after winning his second Boston Marathon, in 1939.
Tarzan Brown wears the olive branch wreath after winning his second Boston Marathon, in 1939.

On Monday, in that critical stretch of the Boston Marathon known as Heartbreak Hill, I’m sure he was there.

Or at least his spirit was. The spirit of one of the race’s greats.

What a name he had. Tarzan Brown — of Rhode Island.

He won Boston twice, and lives on as the pride of our state, born in Westerly and a lifelong South County guy. But he qualifies more than most as a native Rhode Islander. Tarzan was literally so, as a member of the Narragansett Tribe.

Mark Patinkin: How did Heartbreak Hill get its name? A RI marathon legend was at the heart of that story

RI's latest tourism gambit? A 7-foot stuffie at airports around the US.

A rendering of what a giant stuffed clam installation might look like as part of a Rhode Island tourism promotion campaign
A rendering of what a giant stuffed clam installation might look like as part of a Rhode Island tourism promotion campaign

Rhode Island tourism marketers have tried a lot of things over the years to lure visitors to the Ocean State, but never a 7-foot-tall stuffed clam — until now.

This summer, three-dimensional replicas of Rhode Island's signature baked bivalve will be turning up in select airports across the country, including Los Angeles International.

The planned stuffie installations are part of a new $4.5-million campaign to market Rhode Island to air travelers at destinations served by flights to Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport.

Tourism: RI's latest tourism gambit? A 7-foot stuffie at airports around the US. Here's why

A decade after RI 'pension reform,' anger and suspicion still rule the conversation.

An April 2011 file photo of then-General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, not long after she disclosed that unfunded public-employee pensions were a $5-billion problem in Rhode Island.
An April 2011 file photo of then-General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, not long after she disclosed that unfunded public-employee pensions were a $5-billion problem in Rhode Island.

More than a decade after then-Treasurer Gina Raimondo convinced lawmakers to rein in the state's soaring pension costs, retired public employees are still fuming over the suspension of their cost of living adjustments, known as "COLAs."

Raimondo's 2011 pension overhaul suspended annual COLAs until the state's "critically underfunded" pension fund has on hand 80% of what it needs to pay current and future benefits. The projected date? 2031. Until then, retirees will continue to get small increases every four years.

An online petition is demanding immediate reinstatement of 3% compounded COLAs. And retirees are watching several bills that would give them other types of financial relief, from a one-time stipend to reinstatement of some COLAs.

Political Scene: A decade after RI 'pension reform,' anger and suspicion still rule the conversation.

'Best Italian food I think I've ever had': 'Jeopardy!' host Mayim Bialik visits Federal Hill

What do you do when you have to come to the Providence area for work?

You eat Italian food.

"Jeopardy!" host Mayim Bialik was in Rhode Island for a speaking event at the Bryant University campus. While in the state, she stopped by Joe Marzilli's Old Canteen Italian Restaurant for a bite to eat.

"Cute pic of me in Federal Hill in front of the Old Canteen, best Italian food I think I’ve ever had!" she posted on Facebook.

Joe Marzilli's claims to be the oldest family-owned Italian restaurant in the state.

Restaurants: 'Best Italian food I think I've ever had': Jeopardy host Mayim Bialik visits Federal Hill

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Black fraternity; Heartbreak Hill icon: Providence Journal top stories