Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (ΑΦΑ) is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved into a fraternity with a founding date of December 4, 1906. It employs an icon from Ancient Egypt, the Great Sphinx of Giza, as its symbol. Its aims are “Manly Deeds, Scholarship, and Love For All Mankind,” and its motto is “First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All.” Its archives are preserved at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

Chapters were chartered at Howard University and Virginia Union University in 1907. The fraternity has over 290,000 members and has been open to men of all races since 1945. Currently, there are more than 730 active chapters in the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. It is the largest predominantly African-American intercollegiate fraternity and one of the ten largest intercollegiate fraternities in the nation.

FOUNDERS:

Vertner Woodson Tandy

Consolidation and expansion

The fraternity’s constitution was adopted on December 4, 1906, limiting membership to “Negro male” students and providing that the General Convention of the Fraternity would be created following the establishment of the fourth chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha. The preamble states the purpose of Alpha Phi Alpha:
To promote a more perfect union am+ong college men; to aid in and insist upon the personal progress of its members; to further brotherly love and a fraternal spirit within the organization; to discountenance evil; to destroy all prejudices; to preserve the sanctity of the home, the personification of virtue and the chastity of woman.

Twenty-first century

In 2006, more than 10,000 Alpha Phi Alpha members gathered in Washington, D.C., to participate in the fraternity’s centennial convention to lay the groundwork for another 100 years of service. The fraternity developed a national strategic plan which outlines the processes that Alpha Phi Alpha will utilize in its continuing efforts to develop tomorrow’s leaders and promote brotherhood and academic excellence. The Centenary Report of the World Policy Council was published in connection with the centenary of Alpha Phi Alpha.

Go-To-High School, Go-To-College

Established in 1922, the Go-To-High School, the Go-To-College program is intended to afford Alpha men the opportunity to provide young participants with role models. The program concentrates on the importance of completing secondary and collegiate education as a path to advancement and provides information and strategies to facilitate success

Voter education/registration program

“A Voteless People is a Hopeless People” was initiated as a National Program of Alpha during the 1930s by the Alpha Omicron chapter (Johnson C. Smith University), when many African Americans had the right to vote but were prevented from voting because of poll taxes, threats of reprisal, and lack of education about the voting process.

Project Alpha

Alpha Phi Alpha, Iota Delta Lambda Chapter (Chicago), and the March of Dimes began a collaborative program called Project Alpha in 1980. The project consists of a series of workshops and informational sessions conducted by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers to provide young men with current and accurate information about teen pregnancy prevention.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

The memorial is a result of an early effort of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity to erect a monument to King. King is a member of the fraternity, initiated into the organization via Sigma Chapter on June 22, 1952, while he was attending Boston University.

Alpha Phi Alpha Education Foundation, Inc.

The Alpha Phi Alpha Education Foundation, Inc. is the non-profit charitable arm of the fraternity, which focuses on scholarship, programs, and training and development of the membership. The Education Foundation encompasses the implementation of Go-to-High School, Go-to-College, Project Alpha, voter education/registration efforts, The Belford V. Lawson Oratorical Contest, The John Hope Franklin Collegiate Scholars Bowl, The Hobart Jarrett Debate Competition, Leadership Development Institutes, and the professional and personal development thrusts of the fraternity via Alpha University.

World Policy Council

General President Milton C. Davis established the World Policy Council in 1996 as a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank with a mission as stated in its centenary report “to address issues of concern to our brotherhood, our communities, our Nation, and the world”.

Initial Membership Development Process (IMDP)

The period in which a candidate for membership in the fraternity engages in before applying and being initiated as a member. This period is the time the candidate learns the organization’s history, objectives, aims, and the tenacity of brotherhood.

As of June 2013, the fraternity only inducts members through the Initial Membership Development Process (IMDP), and all membership development activities for the fraternity are overseen by the National Membership Services Director and conducted by regionally appointed Chief Deans. Pledging has been officially abolished as a means of obtaining membership in Alpha Phi Alpha and pledge “lines” have been officially abolished by the fraternity.