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History of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

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.

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."

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."

History of Gamma Rho Sigma Chapter

The Gamma Rho Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc, received its charter on January 19, 1956 from the national headquarters, at which time the chapter was born in the Borough of Queens and the Area of Long Island.

Over the years, Gamma Rho Sigma Chapter has engaged in many community service and social action programs such as the Friends of Long Island Academy (a program that provides supportive services to youth released from penal and correctional institutions), the Jamaica Branch of the NAACP, The American Diabetes Association and the March of Dimes. Gamma Rho Sigma Chapter is very active in the Greater New York City Chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, of which one of their chapter Brothers, the late Bro. Emmitt Gilliard was a founder.

The Gamma Rho Sigma Chapter believes that all of their Brothers are outstanding, for each has a talent that makes him excel beyond normal fashion. Some examples of that great talent are: