Today we honor “Pioneer”: Brother Dr. Alphonse Heningburg was of the African American educational elite (a nationally known educator and lecturer).  He was initiated into Alpha Nu Lambda in 1924 in Tuskegee, AL, and served as Chapter President. During his collegiate years, he received training at Tuskegee Institute and later Grinnell College where he graduated with high honors and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Cosmopolitan and Romance Language Club. He was one of two Black students to graduate. He received his Ph.D. from NYU in 1939 (dissertation: The Teacher in the Negro College).  He traveled the world extensively, studying abroad in Europe to receive graduate work in…

Brothers, our chapter will be celebrating 84 years of service to the Durham/Chapel Hill communities. Since our founding on May 7th, 1938, Beta Theta Lambda has grown over the years from impacting our communities to strengthening the bond of Brotherhood that has been felt for 84 years.  As we celebrate our Founders Day with our banquet on April 23rd, for the next few days, I will highlight “The Pioneers” who were credited for establishing the 152nd “House of Alpha”. Their desire was twofold: there were things that they should be doing in Durham, and they were desirous of paving the way for an undergraduate chapter at the time North Carolina College…

On Saturday, January 15, 2022, the Beta Theta Lambda Chapter launched the Dr. Walter M. Brown Alpha Academy. Established in 2019, Beta Theta Lambda saw the need and heard the call to develop an academy to target middle and high school minority males to provide mentorship and guidance as they prepare for college and adulthood. Dr. Walter M. Brown Alpha Academy aims to enhance character, develop leaders, and promote academic excellence all-while engaging male youth in appreciating their cultural heritage and civic responsibility. We also want to further support the fraternity’s National Programs of “Go to High School, Go to College” and “Project Alpha” to offer enriching experiences for young minority men to…

“The year 1906 was in the middle of a liberal, progressive movement whose philosophy was remolding America’s social, economic and political institutions. Paradoxically, the Negro in America has reached the nadir. Riots and lynchings occurred without redress. The denial of the franchise was entrenched in law and sustained by the courts. Education and schools were a left-handed charity, considered both unwise and unnecessary. Discrimination in employment and in public facilities was nationwide. Second class citizenship was firmly established. Into such a world Alpha Phi Alpha was born. The Founders envisioned an intelligent leadership in America, bound by the rise of an unselfish brotherhood whose ideals of service and achievement should…

Today we honor The Foundation Jewel Vertner Woodson Tandy, for his inspired life of manly deeds and heroic living in spite of handicaps and physical obstacles. A son of a prominent and respected African American contractor in KY, Jewel Tandy enrolled at Cornell University in their Architect Program after attending Tuskegee Institute to study architecture and during his short stay was under the guidance of Booker T. Washington. Jewel Tandy became the architecture program’s “prize”. Jewel Tandy was intense in his desires, traditions, and love for the Fraternity idea to a national scope. He was adamant in keeping the tradition of selecting members of Alpha Phi Alpha so that the…

Today we honor and reflect on The Faithful Jewel Robert Harold Ogle, for his high ideals and precepts of Alpha Phi Alpha that binds us in lasting friendship and brotherhood as exemplified. It was in the rented room of Jewel Ogle at the home of Archie and Annie Singleton where the idea of the fraternity began to take shape. He was known for his “wise counsel, unabated enthusiasm, and fighting spirit” in the founding of our fraternity. He played a key role in the organizing of the fraternity by making the first motion to organize, proposed the colors of the fraternity (old gold and black), served as secretary of Alpha…

Today we honor and reflect on The Compassionate Jewel Nathaniel Allison Murray for spreading the spirit of true fraternity into developing universal brotherhood. He was a strong advocate in discussions of becoming a fraternity and seconded the motion to become a fraternity. Jewel Murray served on Committees for constitution, organization, grip, and treasurer in the earlier stages. History records that he, along with other Jewels, set up some of the earlier undergraduate chapters of the Fraternity. A noted educator in Washington, DC at Dunbar High School, he along with Jewel Ogle and Brother Dr. Wesley chartered the Mu Lambda Chapter and was elected Chaplain. Attending several General Conventions, he was often invited to deliver the Founders’ Address speaking on the early stages of…

Today we honor and reflect on The Devoted Jewel George Biddle Kelley, for providing leadership, demonstrating scholarship, and advocating civil rights. He was most vocal, believing that the fraternal structure better served their efforts to address the social problems confronting them and the race, and argued personal commitment beyond club membership was needed to fight racism and issues of human rights. A descendant of slaves, his grandfather was one of most cultured and capable preachers and pastors in the AME Zion Church in the 19th Century. Both his grandfather and uncle were personal friends of Harriet Tubman and Eliza Gardner. He holds the distinction of being the first President of Alpha Chapter and also served as acting chair when the…

Today we honor and reflect on The Visionary Jewel Eugene Kinckle Jones, for his noble example in making the high ideals and moral standards of Alpha Phi Alpha his guide in life. Jewel Jones indelible mark in our history as one of the first initiates and Founder. Known for his versatility, he is credited with the “first steps of expansion” by establishing Beta, Gamma, Delta chapters, and establishing the first alumni chapter, Alpha Lambda in Louisville, KY. His life’s work was heavily involved as one of the Founder’s of the National Urban League and serving as the Executive Secretary for 20 years, the longest in the history and founding the organization’s Opportunity magazine. He also served as…

Today we honor and reflect on The Beloved Jewel Charles Henry Chapman, a Brother beloved in the bonds and for building character and respect from all mankind. He was a Businessman, Professor, Humanitarian, and founder of the Beta Nu Chapter (FAMU). Jewel Chapman was the first chairman of the Committees on Initiation and Organization for Alpha Chapter. He was the first Jewel to enter Omega Chapter in 1934. Please read and reflect on excerpts from his speech at the General Convention (25th anniversary) in 1931, Cincinnati, OH. “I mean by this, that regardless of the many, many purposes each of us may devise as the activating principle in our life…