ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC. A Legacy of Leadership, Scholarship, Brotherhood, and Service

 More Than a Fraternity

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. occupies a distinctive place in American history. Founded in 1906 at

Cornell University, it became the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African

American men. Its creation occurred during an era when Black students faced exclusion, racial hostility,

limited social opportunities, and major barriers to professional advancement. The fraternity offered

brotherhood, intellectual support, leadership development, and a structure through which its members

could serve a wider community.

Over time, Alpha Phi Alpha grew far beyond its original campus setting. Its members became educators,

ministers, attorneys, physicians, scientists, public officials, military leaders, entrepreneurs, artists,

activists, and community builders. The fraternity's story is therefore connected to the broader history of

Black achievement in the United States and to the long effort to expand democracy, opportunity,

education, and civil rights.

The phrase commonly associated with Alpha Phi Alpha - "First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend

All" - expresses an ideal of leadership rooted in service. The value of achievement is measured not simply

by personal success, but by what a person contributes to others. That principle helps explain why the

fraternity's influence has extended into education, politics, civil rights, business, religion, science, and

public service.