Investing in Technology

Click on the image above to download The Alpha Investment App for Android.

The IPhone App is COMING SOON!

Dear Brother,

Technological advances have allowed us to improve our means of communication and have expanded and changed our world. It was only 15 to 20 years ago that everyone had just a pager as leading edge or had to carry quarters to use the payphone. VCRs and cassette tapes were essential to watch your favorite recordings or listen to the latest music. Most people did not know about or have the Internet, there were no iPads, and you had to actually step onto a university campus for the latest instructional training. Now we have replaced the pagers with smartphones as good as laptops. The Internet and tablet computers have become crucial parts of our daily lives.  Most of us have forgotten the task of having to constantly check the VCR and cassette tapes when rewinding.  Today, you can earn an advanced degree with the click of a computer, sitting in comfort when and where you wish to learn.

As I endeavor to become your 34th General President, technology is a key component in my platform to achieve “best in class” service and quality to you, and manage the rate of change we all experience.  I want to communicate to you and every member of Alpha Phi Alpha anywhere on the globe quickly and regardless of membership status. I want you to be instantly connected to the challenges of where the fraternity needs your support.

I will drive the automation of functions through the use of technology and reduce paper intensive and outdated processes for our brothers, regions, and chapters.  How about an “app” to access your membership information through your smartphone or iPad for personal and fraternal use?  What about the ability to become financial with a chapter through our membership system? Or even vote for the next General President safely, securely, and reliably online?

Can you imagine your General President providing a short real time video address to your district conference regarding fraternal issues to increase transparency?  This is something I have done on multiple occasions as Midwestern Regional Vice President.  Can you imagine Alpha University providing an online educational experience that rivals other online universities?  In a world where corporations are slashing budgets like travel to increase the bottom line, Alpha Phi Alpha must plan for, and rely on, technology to become more efficient, cost effective, and flexible to the ever growing time demands of a brother.

I, and maybe you, enjoy updating our Facebook profiles and groups, tweeting whatever is on our mind, and uploading YouTube videos.  Each of us represents Alpha Phi Alpha around the clock.  However, we must protect our corporate identity and remain cognizant that these are public forums. Our brothers have lost their jobs, or worse, cannot get hired, and faced other challenges because of offensive and inappropriate posts.  We must be mindful of our partners and sponsors who are evaluating us well before signing the memorandum of understanding or signing over a check. Who will support us if we show one thing by day and something else by night?  But as your General President, Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to utilize these tools so that we as brothers remain connected, share and discuss ideas in a respectful manner, and bring about positive changes as we move the business of our fraternity within the appropriate places, such as our business sessions and chapter meetings.

I still enjoy traditional forms of communication, writing a letter or a quick note on a postcard, and using the telephone.  For my brothers who are not into technology, we will always rely on these methods. And for me, the best form of communication is still face-to-face. I will continue my investment in travel so that I can meet with you in person. And in the event that circumstances preclude a meeting, audio and video conference calls are also available these days for free.  You are a shareholder within the fraternity, and technology will allow all of us to be accountable to the mission of the fraternity.

Fraternally,

Brother Mark S. Tillman,
Candidate for 34th General President
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

105 Years of Service and Brotherhood

Click on the image above for the Founders’ Day message from Brother Tillman

Dear Brother,

In 1906, Harley and the Davidson brothers built their first factory on Chestnut Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Decades later, they would become one of the world’s most coveted models of Motorcycles, changing the way we travel on the highways and byways of our great nation.

In 1906, Mahatma Gandhi coined the term “Satyagraha”, which means “truth force”, to characterize the non-violent movement seen in South Africa at the time and then later seen in the United States during the Civil Rights era. A non-violent approach quickly became the spiritual mantra used by many freedom fighters around the world seeking peace and prosperity.

In 1906, The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunization for tuberculosis is researched and later developed as the world’s first vaccination to Tuberculosis. This vaccine saved millions of lives and revolutionized the way research methods are done in finding vaccinations to some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

And in 1906, our history book tells us Jewel George Biddle Kelley, acting as chair, called the meeting to order. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved after the calling of the role. Upon the call for old business, the question as to whether or not the organization was a fraternity was brought up. The question had been hanging over since the meeting of November 6. The presiding officer called for individual opinions upon the subject. Jewel Nathanial A. Murray moved that it be decided whether the organization continue with the idea of becoming a fraternity or continue as an organization for mutual benefit.  It was moved that the organization become a fraternity. And thus it did. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was born, there, December 4th in the year nineteen hundred and zero six.

Little did those seven men know, that Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. would become the most influential, esteemed, and largest body of black organized men the world has ever seen. And 105 years later, we can still say, with certainty, that Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the motion carried to conceive it embody ideals of critical change. This initial investment yielded an abundance of assets.

105 years of Service

We serve our communities with pride. Our national programs encourage people to vote, be educated, and support our brotherly bonds. We stand collectively to give hope and prosperity to the downtrodden, displaced, and less fortunate. We work with a defined spirit to teach others how service is paramount to any active social organization. We have served each year from 1906-2011

105 years of Scholarship

We are scholars. We demand scholarship from others and we encourage education over indoctrination. We send young men to high school and college. We challenge each person under the guise of our educational programming to continue learning despite all challenges, to reach for the stars, and to move mountains for those stars to shine brightly upon the lives of the youths so moved to march onward and upward towards that light.

105 years of Leadership

We are leaders among leaders, and we are in the business “for the better making of men”. Many of our brothers serve as organizers leading the improvement of our justice system, professionals leading the reform of our health care system, diplomats and service men serving our country abroad and leading the world in establishing democracy and peace, and educators teaching our generations to come and leading them towards greater success and prosperity. Leadership is our best practice.

105 years of Brotherhood and Love for all mankind

Since our inception, it is clear that we have always needed organizations to assemble like-minded people together to create change. In those exchanges we see men interacting as brothers and exhibiting actions of brotherly love among themselves. In addition, we see our brothers, in their work, showing love for all mankind; in it, are those manly deeds that avail to us the common courtesy and respect we have gained from our members and communities.

No matter the year, location, or event, Alpha Phi Alpha is there, eager to answer the call to serve. Our years of experience continue a legacy defined by good virtue and sound judgment.

As each brother carries their membership card, adorns their pin, or sports their line jackets they are reminded of the sacrifices made, organization needed and challenges faced to forge our dear fraternal bond. 105 years is just the beginning. We have so much more ahead of us.

Brother, I bid today, on this 105th Anniversary of our founding, a new beginning. Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to be a fraternity serving the masses, educating the less educated, and loving mankind. It is the unmistakable sign that this group is a fraternity. It is in reality Founders’ Day. On this date, the victory of Alpha Phi Alpha is certain. Hereafter, there would be no misunderstanding. Alpha Phi Alpha is a fraternity, and the Black men bearing its name have been given the nucleus of continuing as the first national Black Greek letter fraternity.^[1]

Let’s celebrate 105 more years to come.

Fraternally,

Brother Mark S. Tillman,
Candidate for 34th General President
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

^[1] Wesley, Charles H. The History Of Alpha Phi Alpha, A Development In College Life. Pg. 31. Quoted.