Baltimore, MD – Brother Edward Brooke, the first elected African American senator since Reconstruction, recently donated $100,000 to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. This was one of the largest donations to the fraternity by an individual contributor, and comes toward the conclusion of the administration of 32nd General President Darryl R. Matthews, Sr. Matthews accepted the gift from Senator Brooke and his wife Anne recently during a private luncheon in Miami.

The funds will go to the Alpha Phi Alpha Charitable Foundation, specifically to provide scholarships and grants to African American males pursuing careers in education. For many years, Brooke has strongly advocated encouraging African American men to return to the classrooms and engage as positive and productive role models to young people.

The 89-year-old former senator has been a member of the fraternity for seven decades, and his involvement and commitment to Alpha has been unparalleled. Brooke had the passion and vision for the fraternity to have a strong presence in social and global change, which was actualized when he was selected as the first Chair of the Alpha Phi Alpha World Policy Council. The World Policy Council examines pressing issues affecting the national and international community and develops solutions and recommendations that impact mankind.

In addition to the donation, the fraternity celebrated its Founder’s Day — commemorating 103 years of leadership and service. Since taking office in 2004, Matthews has been instrumental in generating substantial contributions to Alpha as well as other initiatives that the fraternity supports, including the National Martin Luther King Memorial Project and the March of Dimes.

Founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has continued to supply voice and vision to the struggle of African Americans and people of color around the world. The Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights, through Alpha men such as Brooke, Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, and Cornel West.

Alpha men who are members of the 110th Congress include: Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO), Charles B. Rangel (NY), Danny K. Davis (IL), Chaka Fattah (PA), Al Green (TX), Gregory Meeks (NY), David Scott (GA), and Robert C. Scott (VA).
The fraternity through its college and alumni chapters serves the community through nearly a thousand chapters in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.