The members of Alpha Phi Alpha's Penn State chapter joined about 100 onlookers at Old Main last night to honor the centennial anniversary of the nation's first black collegiate fraternity.

"A hundred years ago, at an Ivy League school, seven men formed the first black Greek intercollegiate fraternity on an icy-cold Tuesday just like this," said Anthony Armstrong, president of the Penn State chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha.

Withstanding a biting cold, just as they have braved the pangs of oppression throughout the course of their history, the current members of Penn State's Alpha Phi Alpha delivered a 45-minute presentation that looked back on the humble beginnings of the fraternity and projected forward a vision of change for the future.

Alpha Phi Alpha began on the campus of Cornell University on Dec. 4, 1906, when seven black students came together to create a "social study" club that would benefit them both inside and outside of the classroom. The Penn State chapter has been in existence for 60 years.

The fraternity now numbers about 175,000 members, with chapters stretching from the Americas to Asia, Africa and the West Indies.

"Now we stand, a hundred years later, as a testament to the vision that they had, a vision that they sought," said Christopher Thomas, Alpha Phi Alpha chapter adviser.

Former president Alex Thomas gave a speech during the event that acknowledged the role of Alpha Phi

Alpha to promote change in the black community for the future.

Thomas decried the risk of falling into complacency with one's current standing, and the ills of impressionable youth looking up to materialistic role models.

"Penn State, you have a problem," Thomas said. "The good news is that you have a solution."

Stressing the mantra of "action over image," Thomas said the time is now for Alpha Phi Alpha to "step up and address the crisis of our community."

The presentation closed with a group rendition of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity hymn, complete with a rousing call-and-response twist as the finale.

The Penn State chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha counts the school's first black homecoming king, first black varsity football player and first black undergraduate student government president among its distinguished alumni.

Hector Omoigui (freshman-economics), was one of the about 100 attendees that shivered through the anniversary celebration.

'These brothers are definitely doing something that should be respected and recognized so I came out to show my support," he said.