Alpha Phi Alpha - Black College Greek Movement

Black College Greek Movement

Blacks call themselves Greek because "Greece was a culturally diverse pluralistic society of various ethnic and racial groups—much like the United States of today. However, the citizens were mostly dark-skinned black and brown people" according to journalist and Alpha member Tony Brown.

Alpha Phi Alpha is the first intercollegiate Greek-lettered fraternity in the United States established for people of African descent, and the paragon for the BGLOs that followed. Indeed, Alpha's founders researched and noted rumors of prior unsuccessful attempts to form African-American fraternities; for instance, while African-American Greek-letter societies might have begun in the year 1903 at Indiana University in Bloomington when a club called Alpha Kappa Nu Greek Club formed to "strengthen the black's voice," there were too few registrants to insure continued organization, and the unincorporated club disappeared after a short time. There is no record of any similar organization at Indiana University until Kappa Alpha Nu (now Kappa Alpha Psi) was issued a charter in 1911.

Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded in 1908 at Howard as both the first African-American sorority and the first BGLO founded at a black college. Four other BGLOs were in quick succession founded at Howard: Omega Psi Phi (1911), Delta Sigma Theta (1913), Phi Beta Sigma (1914) and Zeta Phi Beta (1920). Sigma Gamma Rho (1922) and Iota Phi Theta (1963) were founded at Butler University and Morgan State University respectively.

In 1940, Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Kappa Alpha Psi hosted conventions in the Municipal Auditorium of Kansas City, Missouri and held a historic joint BGLO session."