Upsilon Chapter History
The Upsilon Chapter was founded on the campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas on December 21, 1917 by Lucius Larry McGee and sixteen charter members. The Upsilon chapters carries with it many traditions and many legacies that many people are unaware of. One such tradition is our is slogan, "Higher Scholastic Attainment", which we have kept since the 1932-33 school year.
This chapter was not only the nineteenth undergraduate chapter, but also the first chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha founded west of the Mississippi River. Another first that this chapter holds is having the first fraternity house for African-Americans west of the Mississippi River. The brothers that hold the torch of Alpha high at Upsilon Chapter from past to present have never forgotten what our Jewels and our founding chapter members sacrificed to spread Alpha throughout the world.
Charter Members
| Eugene Jesse Brown | Benjamin Harrison Brown |
| Toby Allison Owen | William David Harrison |
| Claude Leanard Jones | William Henry Towers |
| Lucious Holsey Brewer | Chauncy Milton Davis |
| Frank Cecil Heariold | John Andrew Matthews |
| Shirley Gonzalez Hamilton | James Abraham Scott |
| Homer Jefferson Thompson | Maceo Antonio White |
| William Tate Jr. | Lucious Larry McGee |