Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate
Greek-letter fraternity established for African-Americans,
was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York by seven
college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of Brotherhood
among African descendants in this country. The visionary founders,
known as the "Jewels" of the Fraternity, are Henry
Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones,
George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold
Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tandy.
The Fraternity initially served as a study and support
group for minority students who faced racial prejudice,
both educationally and socially, at Cornell. The Jewel founders
and early leaders of the Fraternity succeeded in laying
a firm foundation for Alpha Phi Alpha's principles of scholarship,
fellowship, good character, and the uplifting of humanity.
Alpha Phi Alpha chapters were developed at other colleges
and universities, many of them historically black institutions,
soon after the founding at Cornell. While continuing
to stress academic excellence among its members, Alpha
also recognized the need to help correct the educational,
economic, political, and social injustices faced by African-Americans.
Alpha Phi Alpha has long stood at the forefront of the
African-American community's fight for civil rights through
leaders such as: W.E.B. DuBois, Adam Clayton Powell,
Jr., Edward Brooke, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood
Marshall, Andrew Young, William Gray, Paul Robeson, and
many others.
|
