Welcome to the Divine Nine News column, a section in the AmNews This was created to announce events, highlight programs, and feature members of Black Greek Letter organizations and showcase their accomplishments. This is a dedicated resource for sharing news about chapters worldwide and member organizations of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc.

We look forward to hearing about your chapter’s upcoming events or ideas for profiling your organization or members who are doing great things in the communities you serve. Connect with us. Tell us about your in-person, virtual or hybrid events at amsterdamnews.com/d9news and [email protected].

In the meantime, we are honored to have Willis L. Lonzer III, general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., serve as a guest columnist for the Divine Nine, especially this week as his organization celebrates its Founder’s Day.

A message from Willis L. Lonzer, III, Ph.D.

General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.®

The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. was founded on December 4, 1906 by seven college men at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The founders, eventually referred to as “Jewels,” were Henry A. Callis, Charles H. Chapman and George B. Kelly, Nathaniel A. Murray, Robert H. Ogle, Vertner W. Tandy, and Eugene K. Jones.

The concept of a fraternity for African American men was well received by the broader African American community at universities in the United States and Canada. This led to rapid linear growth of the fraternity through the establishment of Alpha Phi Alpha college chapters at several universities across the United States and even the founding of the first alumni chapter in 1911 in Louisville, Kentucky. As a result, Alpha Phi Alpha became the world’s first intercollegiate Greek letter fraternity founded for men of African American descent. Today, Alpha Phi Alpha has 850 college/university and alumni chapters across the continents of North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Since its founding, Alpha Phi Alpha has continued to promote its fundamental goals of manly action, scholarship, and love for all humanity, as well as its motto: “First of all, servants of all, we will surpass all.” These principles are reflected in the fraternity’s mission statement: “Alpha Phi Alpha develops leaders, promotes brotherhood and academic excellence, while providing service and advocacy for our communities.”

The fraternity’s mission statement is reflected in its far-reaching programs. These programs, originally called “national programs” because community advocacy took place primarily in the United States, are now global due to the international placement of their chapters. They are “Go to high school, go to college (university)” – education; “A people without choice is a people without hope” – civic engagement; Project Alpha – Mentoring; and “Brother’s Keeper – Respect for our elders and family impacts the communities we serve.”

The Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity also conducts philanthropic program initiatives with the March of Dimes, Good Health Wins, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America.

Alpha Phi Alpha’s historic and prominent members include civil rights activists Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John H. Johnson, NAACP founder WEB DuBois, John Mack, Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, Rev. CT Vivian and Dr. Cornell West and Dick Gregory; Government leaders U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, President of the Republic of Liberia HE Joseph N. Boakai, Sr., Jamaican Prime Minister Norman Manley, Judge Thurgood Marshall, United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, New York Mayor David Dinkins; musicians Duke Ellington, Donny Hathaway, Lionel Ritchie, Gerald Albright; Actors Hill Harper, Omari Hardwick, Darryl Bell, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Tim Reid, Joseph C. Phillips, Will Packer, Christian Keyes, Kevin Powell, Barry Jenkins, Rusty Cundieff, Benny Boom and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; Media representatives Roland Martin, Stuart Scott, Stan Verrett; businessman Robert Smith; athletes and athletes Leonard “Lenny” Wilkins, Jesse Owens, Mike Powell, Quinn Buckner, Wes Chandler, Eddie Robinson, Fritz Pollard, Art Shell, Charles Haley, Gene Upshaw, Wes Unseld, Carnell Lake and Eric Davis; and many others.

President General Willis L. Lonzer, III, Ph.D. is a leader in the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, business and community with more than 30 years of experience as a trained biomedical scientist, including more than 24 years of global pharmaceutical research and development and global medical affairs experience. The Richmond, Virginia native enrolled at Delaware State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in German. While at Delaware State, he joined Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. through the Gamma Sigma Chapter on November 15, 1986. After college, he attended graduate school and became interested in biomedical sciences. He has a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from the University of Akron. Lonzer was a postdoctoral fellow and researcher in physiology and biophysics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.

Related