SR199 - Recognizing March 4, 2025, as Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Day.

          SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 199          WHEREAS, Proud members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity   are gathering at the State Capitol on March 4, 2025, providing a   fitting opportunity to celebrate the fraternity's exceptional   legacy of civic engagement; and          WHEREAS, Launched at Cornell University on December 4,   1906, Alpha Phi Alpha was the first intercollegiate Greek-letter   fraternity established by African Americans; founded by seven   men who came to be known as the "Jewels" of the organization,   Alpha Phi Alpha initially served as a study and support group for   minority students who were struggling against racial prejudice;   these early leaders laid the foundation for the fraternity's   principles of scholarship, fellowship, character, and the   uplifting of humanity; and          WHEREAS, In the years that followed, Alpha Phi Alpha   chapters were formed at other colleges across the nation; while   the fraternity placed a strong emphasis on the academic   excellence of its members, it also expanded its focus to address   the educational, economic, political, and social injustices   faced by African Americans and people of color around the world;   over the decades, many former Alpha Phi Alpha members have stood   at the forefront of the fight for civil rights, including W. E. B.   Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood   Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Edward Brooke, Andrew Young,   and William Gray; and          WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha has been an interracial group   since 1945 and now encompasses chapters across the United States;   the fraternity has an especially rich history in the Lone Star   State, which has been home to three of the organization's general   presidents, and a number of prominent Texas leaders are Alpha Phi   Alpha alumni; and          WHEREAS, For more than a century, Alpha Phi Alpha has   worked to foster a brotherhood of concerned citizens who devote   themselves to the greater good, and its members may indeed   reflect with pride on their organization's noteworthy tradition   of activism and achievement; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 89th   Legislature, hereby recognize March 4, 2025, as Alpha Phi Alpha   Fraternity Day at the State Capitol and extend to all those   associated with the organization sincere best wishes for the   future; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be   prepared for the fraternity as an expression of high regard from   the Texas Senate.     Miles, Alvarado, Cook, Eckhardt, West                             ______________________________                          Member, Texas Senate         ____________________________________________________________         Member, Texas Senate               Member, Texas Senate         ____________________________________________________________         Member, Texas Senate               Member, Texas Senate                 ______________________________         President of the Senate                I hereby certify that the     above Resolution was adopted by     the Senate on March 4, 2025.                 ______________________________         Secretary of the Senate