REMEMBERING THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US.

Brothers, this year, as we celebrate the 109th anniversary of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, I would like for us to collectively take the time to focus on how we have impacted the world around us. Use December 4th as a commitment to service and mentoring in honor of the architects of this fraternity and the rich legacy we have built. Our children are 100% of our future and the work that we do as Alpha men must be carried on long after we are gone.

Brothers, on this Founders Day share the hashtags #RaisedByAnAlpha #APhiA109 and #FatherhoodFriday. Let people know that Alpha men are pillars of our communities and family men who care about the issues concerning our neighborhoods. Reinvest in our fraternity by getting active, staying active and becoming big brothers and mentors to young men who need us.

Enjoy yourselves, brothers, and continue to do the real work of Alpha.

In September, Teach For America and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the world’s oldest intercollegiate Greek-lettered fraternity founded by African American men, announced a formal partnership created to recruit more African American male leaders to the classroom. The partnership will highlight Teach For America as one opportunity for more Alpha Phi Alpha members to work in the nation’s highest-need communities and form a lasting commitment to pursuing educational equity. The partnership was recently featured in the November issue of Essence Magazine at a top 10 trending topic!

Give to the Alpha Phi Alpha Education Foundation today and your donation will be used to support the non-profit charitable arm of the fraternity, which focuses on scholarship, programs and training, and development of the membership. The APAEF encompasses the implementation of Go-to-High School, Go-to-College; Project Alpha; A Voteless People is a Hopeless People; 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—Alpha University. Click here and donate today to help the Education Foundation reach its goals.

REVIEW AND UPDATE
11.18.15

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FOR THOSE WHO SERVED, THANK YOU.
11.11.15

Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans who served their country honorably. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity is wishing all of the men and women who have served, especially our brothers, a Happy Veterans Day.

Systematic racism plagues many of our American institutions, and our system of higher learning is no different. As such, we as a fraternity have to remain proactive in the fight for racial, economic, and social justice. That’s why the events we have currently watched unfold on the University of Missouri campus, as unfortunate as they are, come as no surprise to those who continue to feel the all too real symptoms of racism in our culture. I have been in constant contact with our brothers of Zeta Alpha chapter seated at the University of Missouri. Zeta Alpha chapter president, Brother Phelan Simpkins, Missouri Students Association president, Brother Payton Head, and Brother Anthony Sherrils, a Mizzou football player, have been exhibiting outstanding leadership throughout the events of this week.

They weren’t alone as students and faculty took a stand to make the University of Missouri a better establishment, particularly the Mizzou football players, who unified not only to take an action for social justice but one with economic implications. These student-athletes supported their fellow UM student, Jonathan Butler, member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, who staged a hunger strike until UM president Tim Wolfe resigned. Everyone who came together did so not because it would be instantly beneficial individually but to create the long-term change needed as a community.

I’m inviting you to hear from the leadership of Zeta Alpha for an Alpha Town Hall Meeting on Friday, November 13, 2015, 6:00–6:30 PM EDT (3:00–3:30 PM PDT). Zeta Alpha Chapter President Simpkins will speak on the events at the university from a first-person perspective. If you are unable to join us, the meeting will be recorded and posted on our website. Space is limited, so if you plan to attend, please register as soon as possible.

It will take collective action on all of our parts to ensure an environment on our campuses that is free of hate, discrimination, and harassment. We believe the next step for Mizzou and for our nation as a whole is to be proactive in understanding the history of race in America and identifying the microaggressions that result from ignorance.

Again, I commend the brothers of Zeta Alpha and the students of the University of Missouri for creating safe spaces and having productive dialogues on race.

See you on Friday!

Fraternally,

Brother Tillman

• Remarks from the General President
• Update from University of Missouri
• Alpha’s Next Steps
• Closing Statements

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the world’s oldest intercollegiate fraternal organization founded by African-American men, has announced that the fraternity is donating $1 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens next year after years of construction.

The fraternity approved a resolution for Alpha Phi Alpha to become a Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture founding donor at its biennial convention. This year the convention was held in Charlotte, N.C. and featured events such as a Back to School Back Pack Drive and a panel entitled School Choice in African-American Communities.

The Museum of African American and History and Culture will be the Smithsonian’s 19th museum. It will open next year with 11 inaugural exhibitions covering major periods of African American history, including the slave trade, segregation, the civil rights movement, and the Harlem Renaissance. It will also include exhibits on Black Greek Lettered Organizations such as Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and its members.

President George W. Bush signed the legislation establishing the museum in 2003. Construction began in 2011. To learn more about the museum, please go to nmaahc.si.edu.

Fraternity Set to Receive $1 Million in Grant

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is receiving $1 million to continue their work with young men in target cities through their Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College® national program. The program concerns the 2015 Youth Mentoring Grant Opportunity that the fraternity has applied for through the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College® program is one that will be a United States Department of Justice “Category 2,” one-on-one and group-mentoring program for participants ages 6-17 years old in twenty-five (25) geographical locations across twenty-two (22) states and five regions of the country. The Go-to-High-School, Go-to-College® program, established in 1922, concentrates on the importance of completing secondary and collegiate education as a road to advancement.

Global Image Consulting assisted the fraternity with submitting the grant that “will focus on 6 goals: Reduce Juvenile Delinquency, Increase Graduation Rates, Develop Mobile Application, Promote Public Safety, Reduce Juvenile Victimization, and Provide Readiness Training,” explained Elvin Dowling, founding partner withGlobal Image Consulting and Alpha Phi Alpha Member. “The program will target 5 regions,” Dowling continued, “Some of the states included are: Maryland, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and California.”

Recognized as the world’s oldest intercollegiate fraternity founded by African-American men, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University. Since its inception, the organization has truly established itself on leadership and service.

“We aim to engage at least 5,000 student participants with caring mentors who serve as advocates and role models for achieving greater successes in life. Just as importantly, this comprehensive truancy and juvenile delinquency prevention effort offers high school and college readiness training and common sense direction for program participants, providing them with the resources, skills and relationships they need to make positive decisions that help them to become productive members of society,” said Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity executive director and COO, William Douglass Lyle.

For more information on the many efforts Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity is currently leading and supporting, please visit http://www.apa1906.net or contact the International Headquarters at 2313 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218.

Brothers, we have been marching and advocating for justice for more than 108 years now. Let’s continue to support those who will stand with us for justice and equality. As Alpha Men, we are asking you to represent on October 10, 2015, in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March.

March with your brothers to our nation’s capital in solidarity with those asking for “Justice…or Else.” Stand with your brothers for justice in America’s legal, educational, political, and economic systems. Then, we will return to our homes and elevate our local communities through service and leadership, and making investments in the next generation of leaders. Logistics for a meeting time and location and will be forwarded to the brotherhood before the march.

We encourage you to:

• Wear Alpha Attire (dark suit, white shirt, gold tie)
• Let us know if you are hosting a local Justice or Else event via Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #JusticeorElse #APhiA
• Bring your son(s) or mentee(s) as this is a teachable opportunity