george kelley came up with the name alpha phi alpha.
george kelley came up with the name alpha phi alpha.
who came up with the name alpha phi alpha?
george kelley
robert ogle had seen an article in the "chicago defender" magazine about a negro fraternity at ohio state university called pi gamma omicron, of which the university had no knowledge. pi gamma omicron inspired ogle to try to transform the literary society into a fraternity. there was disagreement about the group's purpose: some wanted a social and literary club where everyone could participate; others wanted a traditional fraternal organization. poindexter felt the group should serve the cultural and social needs of the black community and not be an elite secret society. the society decided to work to provide a literary, study, social, and support group for all minority students who encountered social and academic racial prejudice. on october 23, 1906, george kelley proposed that the organization be officially known by the greek letters alpha phi alpha, and robert ogle proposed the colors black and old gold. poindexter became the first president of alpha phi alpha; under his leadership, the first banquet, initiation procedures, and policies were introduced.
alpha phi alpha
poindexter never became a member of alpha phi alpha fraternity. he was stated to have a faculty relationship with the students of the group because he was the secretary of one of the professors. in december 1905, poindexter organized a meeting of students which included murray, ogle, morgan t. phillips, chapman, kelley, callis, tompkins, and tandy. in october 1906, the name alpha phi alpha was introduced. poindexter became the first president of alpha phi alpha. under the leadership of poindexter the first banquet, initiation procedures, and policies were introduced. a vote again confirmed the name alpha phi alpha with the colors of old gold and black. the initiation of new members took place on october 30, 1906 at a masonic hall including eugene kinckle jones, lemuel graves and gordon jones. james morton was considered and selected but at the time was not registered at the university. it was felt that poindexter being a graduate student dominated the meetings of alpha phi alpha. his leadership was significant during the early stages of the organization. in his absence at a meeting the fraternity idea was pushed for a vote by murray and was seconded by robert h dale.
charles cardoza poindexter