Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Our Mission

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. develops leaders, promotes brotherhood and academic excellence while providing service and advocacy for our communities.

Our Vision

The Vision of the Fraternity is to stimulate the ambition of its members; to prepare them for the greatest usefulness in the causes of humanity, freedom, and dignity of the individual; to encourage the highest and noblest form of manhood; and to aid down-trodden humanity in its efforts to achieve higher social, economic and intellectual status.

Our Motto

First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All.

Our Aims

Manly Deeds, Scholarship and a Love for all Mankind

A Brief History

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. Since its founding on December 4, 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has supplied voice and vision to the struggle of African-Americans and people of color around the world. 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.

The Seven Jewels

The founders of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. stood out as remarkable achievers, their accomplishments taking on monumental significance in the backdrop of the racial attitudes prevailing in 1906. Back in 1904-05, with only a handful of African American students at Cornell University, and their absence in the subsequent year, the incoming students of 1905-06 who established Alpha Phi Alpha were resolute in their unity. Their aim was to secure their collective well-being amid a hostile racial environment. This simple act of solidarity anticipated set remarkable examples of scholarship, leadership, and success, these students outpaced even the efforts of the NAACP and similar civil rights organizations.

  • Henry Arthur Callis

    Henry Arthur Callis, a practicing physician, became a notable Howard University Medicine Professor and prolific medical journal contributor. Revered as the "philosopher of the founders," he played a pivotal role in the Fraternity's growth and was the sole "Cornell Seven" member to serve as General President. He previously consulted for the Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama.

  • Charles Henry Chapman

    Charles Henry Chapman entered higher education and eventually became Professor of Agriculture at what is now Florida A&M University. A university funeral was held with considerable Fraternity participation when he became the first Jewel to enter Omega Chapter in 1934.

  • Eugene Kinckle Jones

    Eugene Kinckle Jones became the first Executive Secretary of the National Urban League. His 20-year tenure with the Urban League thus far has exceeded those of all his successors in office. A versatile leader, he organized the first three Fraternity chapters that branched out from Cornell-Beta at Howard, Gamma at Virginia Union, and the original Delta at the University of Toronto in Canada. In addition to becoming Alpha Chapter's second President and joining Callis in creating the Fraternity name.

  • George Biddle Kelley

    George Biddle Kelley became the first African American engineer registered in the state of New York. Not only was he the strongest proponent of the Fraternity idea among the organization's founders, the civil engineering student also became Alpha Chapter's first President.

  • Nathaniel Allison Murray

    Nathaniel Allison Murray pursued graduate work after completing his undergraduate studies at Howard. He later returned home to Washington, D.C., where he taught in public schools. Much of his career was spent at Armstrong Vocational High School in the District of Columbia.

  • Robert Harold Ogle

    Robert Harold Ogle entered the career secretarial field and had the unique privilege of serving as a professional staff member to the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations. He was an African American pioneer in his Capitol Hill position. He proposed the Fraternity's colors and was Alpha Chapter's first secretary.

  • Vertner Woodson Tandy

    Vertner Woodson Tandy became the state of New York's first registered black architect, with offices on Broadway in New York City. The designer of the Fraternity pin holds the distinction of being the first African American to pass the military commissioning examination and was commissioned First Lieutenant in the 15th Infantry of the New York State National Guard.