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| Honorable
A. Langston Taylor |
Phi
Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., January
9, 1914, by three young African-American male students. The founders, Honorable A.
Langston Taylor, Honorable Leonard F. Morse, and Honorable Charles I. Brown, wanted to
organize a Greek letter fraternity that would truly exemplify the ideals of brotherhood,
scholarship, and service.
 |
| Honorable
Leonard F. Morse |
The
founders deeply wished to create an organization that viewed itself as "a part
of" the general community rather than "apart from" the general community.
They believed that each potential member should be judged by his own merits rather
than his family background or affluence...without regard of race, nationality, skin tone
or texture of hair. They wished and wanted their fraternity to exist as part of even
a greater brotherhood which would be devoted to the "inclusive we" rather than
the "exclusive we".
 |
| Honorable
Charles I. Brown |
From
its inception, the Founders also conceived Phi Beta Sigma as a mechanism to deliver
services to the general community. Rather than gaining skills to be utilized
exclusively for themselves and their immediate families, the founders of Phi Beta Sigma
held a deep conviction that they should return their newly acquired skills to the
communities from which they had come. This deep conviction was mirrored in the
Fraternity's motto, "Culture For Service and Service For Humanity".
Today,
Phi Beta Sigma has blossomed into an international organization
of leaders. No longer a single entity, the Fraternity has now established the Phi
Beta Sigma Educational Foundation, the Phi Beta Sigma Housing Foundation, the Phi Beta
Sigma Federal Credit Union, and the Phi Beta Sigma Charitable Outreach Foundation. |
