Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Charters Chapter in South Africa

Alpha Phi Alpha, the first inter-collegiate Greek-letter organization established for African Americans, chartered its first chapter in South Africa in Johannesburg on Feb. 3, 2011. The chapter was chartered as the Rho Phi Lamba Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., which was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. in 1906.

"This is just the first of many steps Alpha is taking, now and in the near future, to keep the organization growing across the world," said the fraternity's General President Herman "Skip" Mason, Jr.

The new Johannesburg chapter's 13 charter members relocated from America to South Africa. However, the fraternity aims to expand by inviting native South Africans to join the fraternity through the Rho Phi Lambda chapter.

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African-American community's fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Paul Robeson, Andrew Young, Edward Brooke, and Cornel West.

Congratulations to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity for chartering its first chapter in South Africa.