Bill Text: IL SR0174 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Recognizes the 2023 Alpha Phi Alpha Day held at the Illinois State Capitol and welcomes the members of Alpha Phi Alpha to the Capitol. Declares April 19, 2023 as Alpha Phi Alpha Day.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-04-19 - Resolution Adopted [SR0174 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SR0174-Introduced.html

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SR0174 LRB103 31354 MST 58917 r
SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated was
founded on December 4, 1906 by seven college men, respectfully
known as the "Seven Jewels", on the campus of Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York and became the first
intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established by and for
African Americans; and
WHEREAS, The Seven Jewels of the fraternity, 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 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 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 are manly deeds,
scholarship, and love for all mankind; and
WHEREAS, The mission of Alpha Phi Alpha is to develop
leaders, promote brotherhood and academic excellence, and
provide service and advocacy for communities, as exemplified
through its national programs which include "Go to High
School, Go to College", which focuses on the educational
achievement of students in elementary, secondary, and
post-secondary schools and has given thousands 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 Heart/American
Stroke Association, and the American Cancer Society; and

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WHEREAS, For over 116 years, Alpha Phi Alpha 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 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 include many
noteworthy leaders in the areas of government, business,
entertainment, science, and higher education, including Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, W.E.B. DuBois, John
Hope Franklin, John H. Johnson, Adam Clayton Powell, Andrew
Young, Robert Smith, and Cornel West; its membership also
includes federal, State, and local elected officials,
including U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis, former U.S.
Senators Edward Brook and Roland Burris, former State Senator
Donne E. Trotter, former State Representative Al Riley, former
State Representative Art Turner Jr., former Cook County Board
Presidents John and Todd Stroger, and former Mayor of Chicago

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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 members have served in
the Illinois General Assembly, and members currently serving
in the 103rd General Assembly are Representative Justin
Slaughter, Speaker of the House of Representatives Emanuel
"Chris" Welch, and Senator Elgie R. Sims Jr., who also served
as the 26th Vice President of the Midwestern Region; and
WHEREAS, Alpha Phi Alpha continues to enrich the lives of
its members, who, in turn, provide service and advocacy for
the communities they serve; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the 2023
Alpha Phi Alpha Day held at the Illinois State Capitol and
welcome the members of Alpha Phi Alpha to the Capitol; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That we declare April 19, 2023 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.