CAMDEN — By LOWELL SANDERS
For the Camden News
The Rho Phi Sigma Alumni Chapter of Camden was one of six chapters charted by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., during its General Board meeting February 23, in Phoenix, Arizona.
The chapter was officially sworn in during the 66th Southwestern Regional Conference Saturday, April 7 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Charter member of the local chapter are Mark Anthony Green, Fredrick W. Lilly II, Joseph Jordan, Xavier Broughton and Lowell Sanders. Newest members are Steve Carson and Donovan Harris.
“We are super excited about starting this chapter here in Camden,” Sanders, chapter president, said.
“Seeing this happen is very, very special for me. It’s been a person goal for many years. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank the other four brothers for their commitment to make this a reality. I’m quite sure this group of men, and others who will come, will make a great impact on the community with our service projects and volunteer work.”
Other charters of new chapters included Rho Upsilon Sigma in Lincoln, NE, Rho Sigma Sigma in Springfield, MO, and Gamma Rho Gamma in Lebanon, Tenn., Rho Chi Sigma in all of the Southwestern region, and Bules Creek, N.C. and Westerville, Ohio.
“I’m proud that Sigma now has a permanent footprint in Camden and the surrounding areas,” said SW Regional Director Joshua A. Busby, who approved the charter application.
“The brothers of Rho Phi Sigma are committed to furthering the cause of Sigma as exemplified in our motto, “Culture for Service and Service for Humanity.”
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity 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 exemplify the ideals of “Brotherhood, Scholarship and Service.
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 to race, nationality, skin tone or texture of hair.
They desired for their fraternity to exist as part of an even greater brotherhood which would be devoted to the “inclusive we” rather than the “exclusive we.”
Today, Phi Beta Sigma has blossomed into an international organization of leaders. No longer a single entity, members of the fraternity have been instrumental in the establishment of the Phi Beta Sigma National Foundation, the Phi Beta Sigma Federal Credit Union and The Sigma Beta Club Foundation.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, founded in 1920 with the assistance of Phi Beta Sigma, is the sister organization of the fraternity.