THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY ROEBUCK, BISHOP, BRADFORD, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, CONKLIN, D. COSTA, DALEY, EVERETT, FABRIZIO, GEORGE, GOODMAN, HARHART, HESS, KORTZ, KOTIK, KULA, MANN, MILLARD, M. O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, PARKER, PAYTON, PRESTON, SANTONI, SCAVELLO, WATERS, WHEATLEY AND YOUNGBLOOD, MAY 7, 2012

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, MAY 7, 2012  

A RESOLUTION

Designating May 8, 2012, as "Alpha Phi Alpha Day" in

Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-

letter fraternity established for African Americans, 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 in this country; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, The fraternity initially served as a study and

support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice,

both educationally and socially, at Cornell; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha chapters were established at other

colleges and universities, many of them historically black

institutions, soon after the founding at Cornell; and

WHEREAS, The first Alumni Chapter was established in 1911;

and

WHEREAS, While continuing to stress academic excellence among

its members, Alpha Phi Alpha also recognized the need to help

correct the educational, economic, political and social

injustices faced by African Americans; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, True to its form as the "first of firsts," Alpha Phi

Alpha has been interracial since 1945; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 8,

2012, as "Alpha Phi Alpha Day" in Pennsylvania.