Alpha Phi Alpha™

Our Legacy

Alpha Phi Alpha™, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American Men, was founded on December 4, 1906™ 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.

The fraternity initially served as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice, both educationally and socially, at Cornell. 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.

Alpha Phi Alpha chapters were established at other colleges and universities, many of them historically black institutions, soon after the founding at Cornell. The first alumni chapter was established in 1911. While continuing to stress academic excellence among its members, Alpha also recognized the need to help correct the educational, economic, political, and social injustices faced by African Americans. 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. True to its form as the “first of firsts,” Alpha Phi Alpha has been interracial since 1945.

Mu Xi Lambda Chapter

The Inland Empire

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.

On November 1, 1977, the light of Alpha Phi Alpha was brought to Rialto, California by eleven distinguished members who contributed greatly to the uplifting of the community. The charter members are Marian Black, Carl Brazleton, Kenneth Chapman, Charles M. Coffin Jr., Robert Dixon Jr., Cornell Jones, Walter Lewis, Byron McClure, Ron Stanley, Norman Towels, and Howard Wallace.

The Mu Xi Lambda Chapter encompasses both Riverside and San Bernadino County making it the largest Area serviced by any Chapter in the continental United States. 

The brothers of Mu Xi Lambda have continued providing educational support to area youth and continuing the proud tradition of community/civic involvement. Since the chapter’s inception, there have been numerous presidents to serve.  Brother Ed McMillon. currently serves as the president of Mu Xi Lambda.