Shining Light on Black Excellence: Nicholas DePass

By Jasmine White

Building his legacy from the ground up, junior psychology major Nicholas DePass started his journey at Rider in 2023, and is currently nearing the end of his third year. From gaining his start of involvement on campus through the Center of Community and Belonging, to his most recent accomplishment being a key part in chartering a new chapter Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. after its inactivity at Rider since the 1990s, DePass has consistently taken on leadership roles in various clubs and organizations. 

DePass was hired in the office of the CCB during his first year within the organization’s Multicultural Student Leadership Institute after his completion of the program, which now takes on the name of the All Broncs Belong Alliance program. 

“That’s a program that I had the pleasure of helping to reshape alongside the student workers, the grad assistant at the time [and] Ms. Jasmine Johnson,” DePass said. “That program was very beneficial to me as a student [and] as a leader.”

DePass noted how the program allowed for growth in the professional world. The leg up he got from the program fostered his interest in being a part of organizations that bettered the mindsets of youth and colleagues, essentially shaping them to be prepared for the business world.

To become more acclimated to the Rider community, DePass joined the Student Government Association, where he obtained the role of freshman class chair during his first year, and then vice president of class connections during his sophomore year. He also became a resident assistant for Gee Hall and Conover Hall.

DePass was involved with the Equal Opportunity Program’s Male Leadership Academy as a freshman, and is a proud first-generation college student and a member of the TRIO Student Support Services program. 

He was president of the chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, after Naa’san Carr, ’24, passed on his leadership after graduating. Then, DePass stepped away from these roles to take on the position as president of Black Men Unified, an identity-based group on campus.

“My goal was to embark on something new, while trying to still make room for other things,” DePass said. “Being president of Black Men Unified, I’ve had a great time.”

While holding his faith in high regard, DePass was one of the three founders of the Black Campus Ministry with Carr and Cherrish Hudgins ’25, creating a comfortable setting for students to gather and fellowship with one another.

Senior data analytics major Dwight Pulliam previously held the position as president of BMU and took on the presidency of Black Student Union in the fall 2025 semester, but expressed how DePass exhibited the “same drive and passion for impacting Black and brown students” as he does.

During the fall 2025 semester, both DePass and Pulliam, along with senior sports media major Nathan Greene, and junior film and television majors Jaden Foreman and Ellis Foreman, became brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is the first intercollegiate Black Greek letter organization established at Cornell University in 1906, marking the first of the Divine Nine organizations. Its core aims are manly deeds, scholarship and love for all mankind. 

“I really value Nick as a friend and I’m happy to finally be able to call him my line brother,” Pulliam said.

The brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at Rider serviced its community this year by getting involved with the Boys and Girls Club where they did a teach-in on Martin Luther King Jr. Day with the local graduate chapter and the Paul Robinson House. The fraternity also lended helping hands at the “Feed the City” event on Christmas Day in northern New Jersey. 

DePass acknowledged that, at first, he was not inclined to join Greek life, until his cousin, Dana Walcott, ’21, became a sister of Rider’s Nu Eta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in fall 2018, sharing with him the values and service that comes with being involved. 

After DePass read the core values and principles of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., he remembered saying to himself “I want that” and “I want to be a part of that.”

In reflecting on all the steps he took to lead to his current positions and successes, DePass said his “biggest goal was to encourage, specifically young Black men, but anyone that being a leader and a scholar is cool.”

“You can branch out, be different and do whatever it is you want to do,” DePass said.

This article is part of the Shining Light on Black Excellence series by The Rider News to showcase impactful Black figures on campus in honor of Black History Month.