On July 26, the first day of their 97th general convention in Dallas, Texas, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, announced they were pulling their 2025 convention from Florida. Alpha Phi Alpha’s current president, Willis Lonzer, is from Richmond. The fraternity is the oldest African American intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American men.
The fraternity had planned to hold their next convention in 2025 in Orlando, but has instead announced a boycott of Florida and that they will move their bi-annual event out of Florida because of the policies of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
The only other time the fraternity pulled a convention out of a state was when they pulled their convention out of Arizona after state leaders decided against celebrating the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
At their Dallas convention yesterday, President Lonzer said that "we cannot stand for Governor DeSantis’ antics attacking black people."
"The ultimate straw was this absurd perspective that slavery somehow benefited those who were a part of that chattel system."
We can't stand for that. We're not going to stand for that. "Anywhere we are willing to spend our monies, it will be in places that are advocating for people of color and marginalized communities," Lonzer told journalist Roland Martin during an interview at the Dallas convention on Roland Martin Unfiltered.
"When we decide to boycott, it does have an impact," Lonzer added. He also added that he’s working with other black fraternities and sororities on economic strategies against Florida.
"Earlier this week, the Florida Board of Education approved a controversial new K–12 curriculum for African American history, which erases Florida’s role in slavery and oppression, blames the victims, and declares that African Americans who endured slavery benefited from the horrific and torturous institution," the fraternity’s statement continued.
"In this environment of manufactured division and attacks on the black community, Alpha Phi Alpha refuses to direct a projected $4.6 million convention economic impact to a place hostile to the communities we serve."
"Although we are moving our convention from Florida, Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to support the strong advocacy of Alpha Brothers and other advocates fighting against the continued assault on our communities in Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis," Lonzer added in a statement.
The historic fraternity features a number of famous members including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Ambassador Andrew Young, Duke Ellington and billionaire Robert Smith. Maryland’s current Governor Wes Moore is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
In Virginia, prominent members of Alpha Phi Alpha include Congressman Bobby Scott, former Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, Virginia House Democratic Leader Don Scott, the late civil rights leader Wyatt Tee Walker and Vernon Walton, the current pastor of First Baptist Church of Vienna.
In May 2023, the NAACP issued a travel advisory regarding Florida, calling the state “openly hostile” to African Americans.
Alpha Phi Alpha was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University. The fraternity has over 300,000 members and 730 college and alumni chapters around the world.
Alpha Phi Alpha is part of the “divine nine” of African American fraternities and perhaps the most storied one. The other eight are Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Phi Beta Sigma, Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Iota Phi Theta.
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