Our History
THETA PSI LAMBDA CHAPTER HISTORY:
On June 6th, 1966, the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. founded Theta Psi Lambda Chapter. This time in U.S. history represented one of upheaval by large segments of the Black community, and racism inhabited most institutional and domestic areas. African Americans came together in unity to facilitate frequent mass movements for autonomy and the reaffirmation of African personality and culture.
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Upon Theta Psi Lambda’s chartering, the founders agreed to contribute actively to developing social action within the local African American community. Their consensus led to Theta Psi Lambda Chapter becoming involved in community service projects geared toward this cause. The brothers have continually carried out the Fraternity’s National Programs like Go to High School Go to College, which has provided well-deserving students with college scholarships totaling over $150,000. The Sphinx Scholarship Fund, Inc., a 501(c)3 corporation, awards these scholarships. In addition, the brothers created a mentoring program for African American male high school students called “Mentoring & Leadership Equals Success (MALES).”
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Theta Psi Lambda Chapter will continue to carry out the mission and ideals of the Fraternity in the local community for the next 55 years and beyond.
ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY HISTORY:
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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.
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Alpha Phi Alpha was the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternal organization established for African-Americans. It 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. 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.
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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 African-Americans face.
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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.
