Alpha Rho Chapter Alumni Association (APCAA).

The Alpha Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. boasts a distinguished legacy defined by excellence in leadership, scholarship, and service. Chartered on Saturday, January 5, 1924, on the historic campus of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, Alpha Rho has completed 124 initiation periods since its founding. The chapter’s origins are deeply connected to the visionary men of the Eta Lambda Chapter, whose influence laid the groundwork for Alpha Phi Alpha’s enduring presence at Morehouse.

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Established on May 20, 1920, Eta Lambda Chapter was formed to meet the fraternal needs of both undergraduate and graduate brothers at Atlanta University and Morehouse College. Brother Roderick Harris, along with fellow Morehouse juniors Charles W. Greene, William E. Anderson, and W.G. Dixon, were among Eta Lambda’s 21 charter members. These four men introduced Alpha Phi Alpha to the Morehouse campus, paving the way for the eventual establishment of Alpha Rho four years later. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, brothers such as Burrell Brown, Hugh M. Gloster, T.M. Alexander, Andrew “Generalissimo” Lewis, George Key, Asa Yancey, William M. Nix, and James E. Nix exemplified the fraternity’s ideals through their leadership and service.

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The chapter continued to flourish through subsequent decades. In the 1940s, Alpha Rho initiated more than 50 brothers, including Charles V. Willie, Albert Wardlaw, Otis Smith, Wendell Whalum, and Samuel McKinney. The 1950s and 1960s brought influential figures such as Otis Moss, Maynard Jackson Jr., Louis J. Sullivan, Hamilton E. Holmes, and others, even amid periods of pro-Black and anti-Greek sentiment. Notable leadership included the Honorable Brother Jerome Farris, a retired U.S. Circuit Court Judge, and Brother Dr. Louis Sullivan, later U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and president of the Morehouse School of Medicine.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Alpha Rho emerged as a dominant force in student leadership, with membership exceeding 60 brothers annually. Since 1998, the chapter has continued to set the standard, producing valedictorians, salutatorians, SGA presidents and officers, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, and countless campus leaders.

The full lineage of Alpha Rho Chapter is documented throughout this website and can be explored through the initiation-specific pages accessible via the main navigation bar.