Courtesy of Flickr
SMU’s master of divinity student Jermaine Mulley, who was raised by his brother, did some research and read about Alpha Phi Alpha civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and W. E. B. Dubois before deciding Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. was the right brotherhood for him.
“I went on the national website discreetly and found out what Alpha Phi Alpha was doing,” Mulley said. “This organization is more grand than any of us could describe. I’m just climbing, trying to make it so that I’m in the same light as the men who have done so much for the nation and the world.”
Many students feel that campus life at SMU is sometimes controlled by Greek life. Some of the year’s highest attended events like Program Council’s Sing Song are dominated by fraternity and sorority participants. Indeed, finding a fraternity on campus is not difficult. Memberships are as high as 32 percent of SMU men and 43% of women according to U.S. News. Mulley is glad that students will have one more option within the next year: Alpha, as the international fraternity is often called.
The brotherhood is now recognized on campus as a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, said Ashley Meredith, SMU coordinator of fraternity and sorority life and faculty advisor to the NPHC. All they have left to do is find interested students.
“We’re really excited to have Alpha Phi Alpha on campus,” Meredith said.