Bill Text: IL SR0931 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Declares May 1, 2024 as Alpha Phi Alpha Day in the State of Illinois in honor of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated and its continued impact on the communities it serves. Recognizes the 2024 Alpha Phi Alpha Day held at the Illinois State Capitol and welcomes the members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to the Capitol.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-05-01 - Resolution Adopted [SR0931 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SR0931-Introduced.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated was
founded by seven college men, respectfully known as the Seven
Jewels, on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New
York on December 4, 1906, becoming the first intercollegiate
Greek-letter fraternity established by and for African
Americans; and
WHEREAS, The Seven Jewels of the Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Inc., Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman,
Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison
Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, and Vertner Woodson Tandy,
recognized the need for a strong bond of brotherhood among
African descendants in this country and the need to help
correct the educational, economic, political, and social
injustices faced by African Americans and other people of
color; and
WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. initially served
as a study and support group for minority students who faced
racial prejudice, both educationally and socially, at Cornell
University; 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; and

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WHEREAS, While stressing academic excellence among its
members since its founding, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
has consistently supplied its voice and vision to the struggle
of African Americans and people of color and to issues of civil
rights around the world; and
WHEREAS, The aims of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. are
manly deeds, scholarship, and love for all mankind; and
WHEREAS, The mission of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
is to develop leaders, promote brotherhood and academic
excellence, and provide service and advocacy for communities,
as exemplified through its national programs, including
"Go-to-High-School, Go-to-College", which focuses on the
educational achievement of students in elementary, secondary,
and post-secondary schools and collectively has given millions
of dollars in scholarship funds to deserving students,
"Project Alpha", which teaches teenage pregnancy prevention
and sexually transmitted disease prevention to young males,
and its "A Voteless People is a Hopeless People" campaign, a
voter registration and education program through which
thousands of voters have been educated and registered; the
fraternity also focuses on providing service through its
strategic partnerships with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Boy
Scouts of America, the March of Dimes, the American

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Heart/American Stroke Association, and the American Cancer
Society; and
WHEREAS, For over 117 years, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,
Inc. has played a fundamental role in the positive development
of the character and education of more than 200,000 men around
the world; and
WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has over 700
college and alumni chapters in the U.S., Africa, Asia, the
Caribbean, and Europe; this total includes 141 chapters in the
Midwestern Region, and 32 of those chapters are in Illinois;
the fraternity's presence started in Illinois with the
founding of the first college chapter in Illinois, the Theta
Chapter, in 1910 and the first alumni chapter, the Xi Lambda
Chapter, in 1924, both in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
include many noteworthy leaders in the areas of government,
business, entertainment, science, and higher education,
including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Justice Thurgood
Marshall, W.E.B. DuBois, John Hope Franklin, John H. Johnson,
Adam Clayton Powell, Andrew Young, Robert Smith, Dick Gregory,
and Cornel West; its membership also includes a long and
distinguished list of current and former federal, state, and
local elected officials, including U.S. Senator Raphael

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Warnock, U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis, former U.S.
Senators Edward Brooke and Roland Burris, former State
Senators Adelbert H. Roberts, the first African American in
the State Senate, and Donne E. Trotter, former State
Representatives Al Riley and Art Turner Jr., former Cook
County Board Presidents John and Todd Stroger, and former
Mayor of Chicago Eugene Sawyer, among countless others who
have long stood at the forefront of the fight for civil and
human rights and social change for all Americans; and
WHEREAS, Several Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. members
have served in the Illinois General Assembly, and those
currently serving in the 103rd General Assembly include
Speaker of the House of Representatives Emanuel "Chris" Welch,
Representative Justin Slaughter, and Senate Majority Caucus
Appropriations Leader Elgie R. Sims Jr., who also served as
the 26th Vice President of the Midwestern Region; and
WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. continues to
enrich the lives of its members, who, in turn, provide service
and advocacy for the communities they serve; and
WHEREAS, On May 1, 2024, Illinois members of Alpha Phi
Alpha Fraternity, Inc. will participate in "Alpha Day at the
Illinois State Capital"; and

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WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority, Inc. will join together for Alpha Day at the
Capitol in a collective effort to advance the priorities of
the respective communities they serve; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare May 1, 2024
as Alpha Phi Alpha Day in the State of Illinois in honor of
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated and its continued
impact on the communities it serves; and be it further