College fraternities are often thought of as rowdy packs of privileged college boys who waste their time boozing, partying and brutalizing prospective new members. In many cases, this criticism is well-deserved.
But not all fraternities fit this description. Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest predominantly black fraternity, is anything but a bunch of pampered idlers. Formed in 1906 at Cornell University by seven black undergrads who were descendants of slaves, Alpha Phi Alpha first came together as a study group at turn-of-the-century Cornell. Unwelcome in any of the existing white fraternities during the very difficult reconstruction period in which human rights gains achieved after the civil war were being systematically undone, the seven young students, known affectionately today as the fraternity’s “jewels,” formed their own organization. These motivated young men had to work campus jobs to help cover their tuition and living costs and had little time to party and carouse. They were serious students who struggled in an academic environment that did not nurture them.
The subsequent growth of the fraternity exceeded their expectations. In the one hundred-thirteen years since its inception and the century since Gamma Lambda alumni chapter was founded here in Detroit, the fraternity has sponsored and maintained many important initiatives such as its “Go to high school go to college,” and “A voteless people is a hopeless people” programs. Many of America’s great black leaders and achievers, people like Paul Robeson, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, and Jesse Owens have come from the ranks of Alpha Phi Alpha.
As the fraternity grew, Alpha began to more diligently police itself to eliminate the hazing and other abuses for which most fraternities had become known. The fraternity believes there is no room for frivolous, mindless brutality in an organization that aims to promote manly deeds, scholarship and love for all mankind.
In the years since the founding of Alpha Phi Alpha, several other black fraternities have come into existence and there is a friendly rivalry as to which frat is the greatest. Despite the boasting and frequent trash-talking, there is great mutual respect among the frats, each recognizing the contributions of the others in encouraging and supporting the scholarship of black men and the uplifting of the black community in general. Although Alpha boasts of more civic and political leaders among its ranks than any of the other frats, we recognize that they have also produced their share of great black leaders. The frats frequently work together to achieve common educational and human rights objectives.
But as a long-time Alpha man (I was initiated into Harlem’s Eta Chapter in 1955) who has been a member of the fraternity for more than half the total years of its existence, I am unashamedly biased. I maintain that Alpha Phi Alpha is not only the oldest, but is also (using a recently coined term favored by the younger brothers) the “coldest” of the all black frats.
To celebrate its one hundredth birthday, Detroit’s Gamma Lambda alumni chapter will hold a Centennial Brotherhood Smoker. It will be one of many banquets, formal balls and other special events that will celebrate this important milestone. Smokers are an old-school fraternity tradition that began in the days when prospective new members were “rushed” (i.e. first introduced to the frat members) at special frat house events which concluded with cigar smoking and imbibing of spirits. Over the years, as health concerns grew and more spaces became non-smoking, traditional smokers faded almost into oblivion. But in recent years, smokers have enjoyed something of a rebirth as a few older frat men became nostalgic about the almost-forgotten tradition. Believing that the hazard of an occasional cigar is more than offset by the emotional uplift and tranquilizing effect of enjoying that cigar with some fine liquor in the company of great brothers, a few of us began to revitalize the tradition.
It is in that spirit that I have been tasked with organizing our chapter’s centennial smoker. On May 30, 2019, we will honor three iconic members whose total time in the frat is well over two hundred years. the honorees will be Federal Judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Damon Keith, past Alpha Regional Vice President Ivan Cotman, and past Gamma Lambda President Jesse Goodwin. The agenda for the evening will involve no speeches or formal program of any kind. The sole purpose of the event will be for brothers to break bread together and enjoy a night of fraternal fellowship. We will enjoy a series of toasts and share stories of our rich history and milestone events. It will be an event for the ages!