has supplied voice and vision to the struggle of African-Americans and people of color around the
world. 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-American descendants of this country. The visionary founders, known as the “Jewels” of the fraternity, are Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman Eugene Kinckle Harold Ogle and Vertner Woodson Tandy. The Fraternity initially served as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice educationally and socially at Cornell. The Jewel founders and early leaders of the Fraternity succeeded in laying a firm foundation of Alpha Phi Alpha’s principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character, and the uplift 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. Alpha continues to stress academic excellence among its members, while also recognizing 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, Dick Gregory, Jackie Robinson, and many others. Alpha Phi Alpha today continues its commitment to the African-American community through its National Programs and Special Projects of outreach activities. The fraternity has dedicated itself to training a new generation of leaders with national mentoring programs and partnerships designed to ensure the success of our children.
