Alpha Phi Alpha
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.
Alpha Phi Alpha
December 4, 1906
411 E. State St., Ithaca, New York,[1] Cornell University
Active
Limitlessness
First of All,
Servants of All,
We Shall Transcend All
Old Gold
Black
None
The Sphinx[2]
900+
290,000+ lifetime
Alphas, Ice Cold Brothas, The Oldest & The Coldest, Men of Distinction
Manly Deeds, Scholarship, and Love For All Mankind
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.[3]
Alpha Phi Alpha is a social organization with a service organization mission and provided leadership and service during the Great Depression, World Wars, and Civil Rights Movement. The fraternity addresses social issues such as apartheid, AIDS, urban housing, and other economic, cultural, and political issues of interest to people of color. National programs and initiatives of the fraternity include A Voteless People Is a Hopeless People, My Brother's Keeper, Go To High School, Go To College, Project Alpha, and the World Policy Council. It also conducts philanthropic programming initiatives with the March of Dimes, Head Start, the Boy Scouts of America, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
Members of this fraternity include many historical civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., NAACP founder W. E. B. Du Bois, John Mack, Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, Rev. C.T. Vivian, and Dick Gregory. Other members include political activist Cornel West, musicians Duke Ellington, Donny Hathaway, and Lionel Richie, NBA player Walt Frazier, NFL player Charles Haley, Jamaican Prime Minister Norman Manley, Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, Justice Thurgood Marshall, businessman Robert F. Smith, United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, and film director Barry Jenkins.
Alpha Phi Alpha was directly responsible for the conception, funding, and construction of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial next to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Embezzlement and hazing controversies[edit]
Embezzlement[edit]
In 2020, Guy Bell, fraternity member and treasurer of the Baltimore City-Wide graduate chapter, was sentenced for stealing $56,678.93 from the chapter between 2013 and 2016 to help cover personal debts. The chapter was behind on rent payments and other important financial obligations. Bell was sentenced to six months of home detention, and five years of probation, and must pay back $51,834 in restitution.[147]
In 2012, the 33rd General President of the fraternity, Reverend Herman '"Skip" Mason, admitted to misappropriating fraternity funds which resulted in his immediate removal by the board of the fraternity. He admitted using unsanctioned fraternity funds to cover personal expenses, including paying for his children's private school tuition. Mason sued the board of the fraternity for violating organization by-laws and harming his reputation. Mason's lawsuit was denied.[148]
In 2012, fraternity member Curtiss Stanford was arrested and charged with three counts of embezzlement. He illegally wrote 10 checks totaling about $1,200 from the Appalachian State University chapter's bank account.[149]
Hazing[edit]
In 1989, Joel Harris an Alpha Phi Alpha aspirant, age 18, a student at Morehouse College died following suspected hazing. The Cobb County medical examiners report "didn't declare the hazing to be a "direct cause" of Joel's death, but it stated that he was "under an intensive amount of anxiety and stress" that night. It was reported that Harris had been punched in the chest and slapped in the face multiple times as part of a so-called "thunder and lightning" ritual hours before his death.[150]
In 1992, Gregory R. Batipps, age 20, a student at the University of Virginia, died in a car accident after falling asleep at the wheel. Hazing was investigated as a factor in his death as he was pledging Alpha Phi Alpha.[151]
In 1995, a pledge seeking to join the fraternity's founding chapter, the Alpha Chapter at Cornell University, developed a "life-threatening infection in his buttocks" after being paddled repeatedly. He sued the fraternity for $2 million and the fraternity was banned from campus for several years for violating the school's code of conduct.[152]
In 2003, a 21-year-old pledge at Southern Methodist University (SMU) went into a coma after being coerced to drink large amounts of water in an Alpha Phi Alpha initiation ritual. The chapter was temporarily expelled from campus and eight Alpha Phi Alpha members were indicted on felony aggravated assault charges.[153] In 2006, the first trial in the case, of Raymond Lee (SMU fraternity member), resulted in a conviction and a sentence to 180 days in jail, ten years of probation, and a $10,000 fine.[154]
In 2008, Mcandy Douarin, age 26, a student at the University of Central Florida (UCF), died from "heart-related failure less than 12 hours after a punch to his chest".[155] Douarin shared with his family that he was frequently punched in the chest by members of Alpha Phi Alpha as part of the pledging process, and his family released photos of bruises on his chest to validate that was the reason why he died. UCF students released photos and statements substantiating that Douarin was pledging to the fraternity, but the university refused to launch an investigation on any allegations against them after the fraternity stated Douarin had not officially applied for membership. The family hired an attorney to help hold the fraternity accountable for his death.[156][157]
In 2009, a fraternity member at Fort Valley State University was arrested and charged with felony aggravated battery for hospitalizing a pledge with acute renal failure.[158]
In 2010, the fraternity was banned from the campus of Mercer University for three years for hazing. Pledges were sleep deprived, paddled, and forced into a strict diet.[158]
In 2010, Alpha Phi Alpha suspended membership intake "after decades of hazing-related controversies plaguing Black Greek Letter Organizations despite their anti-hazing/anti-pledging policies."[159]
In 2011, Emory University suspended the fraternity for four years due to several hazing violations.[160]
In 2013, 15 Alpha Phi Alpha members pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment charges arising from off-campus hazing at Jacksonville State University in 2011, in which pledges were beaten, humiliated, hospitalized, and forced to drink toxic drinks until they vomited. The members involved were all sentenced to 365 days in jail. One of the pledges filed a civil suit against the fraternity.[161]
In 2013, four Alpha Phi Alpha members were arrested and pleaded guilty to severely beating pledges (a misdemeanor charge) and violating Virginia State University's code of conduct.[162][163]
In 2014, a $3 million lawsuit was filed against the fraternity by a former pledge who was subject to humiliation and abuse. While pledging at Bowie State University, it was reported that he endured verbal assaults, punches, slaps, paddling, and body slams consistently.[164]
In 2014, six Alpha Phi Alpha men at the University of Akron were arrested and charged with assault for severely beating pledges. One known pledge was hospitalized due to excessive bleeding.[165]
In 2014, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville suspended the fraternity for paddling and pouring hot sauce on the genitals of pledges. The fraternity was placed on suspension until August 2016.[166]
On January 29, 2016, Bradley Doyley, a senior and basketball player at Buffalo State College was pronounced dead allegedly of a hazing-related pledging ritual. Family and friends reported that Doyley was asked to drink an unidentified toxic cocktail off campus by members of Alpha Phi Alpha that caused him to suddenly vomit blood. Doyley was taken to a local hospital for emergency surgery, and he later died. The chapter connected with the death of Doyley was suspended by the college. A report published, citing a preliminary autopsy and unnamed police sources, stated that "there is no evidence of hazing in the death last week of a student at Buffalo State College in New York."[167] The family's attorney dismissed the claim hazing was not involved in Doyley's death.[168]
In 2016, Virginia Tech University banned the fraternity until 2026 for misconduct and severely abusing pledges. One known pledge was hospitalized due to beatings he endured although this decision was later reversed and the fraternity was allowed to return on campus in 2021.[169]
In 2018, Tyler Hillard, a student at the University of California at Riverside, died while pledging the fraternity. Tyler went with other pledges and members of the fraternity to Mount Rubidoux where the ambulance was called to pick him up and take him to the hospital before his death. Authorities found convincing evidence that hazing was the reason for his death. Charges were expected to be filed against several members of the fraternity following an investigation.[170][171]
In 2018, the chapter at the University of Mississippi was suspended for three years due to university-wide investigations on Greek hazing.[172]
In 2021, the chapter at Southern University - Baton Rouge was placed on suspension after two students were hospitalized due to hazing.[173]
A Century of Leadership PBS video