THE FOUNDING OF TAU BETA LAMBDA

On January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated the Ouest department, approximately 25 kilometers west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 33rd General President at the time, Skip Mason, led a delegation of 12 brothers on a mission of humanitarian relief in search of brothers and their families.

During this journey, the Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha provided food, water, and medical services to individuals in need. In addition, Alpha brother Samuel Darguin coordinated with representatives of the Haitian government to discuss initiatives that could be done for the long-term advancement of the country. Immediately following these international relief efforts, the Alpha Academy was established as a premier K-12 academic institution, inspired by Alpha Phi Alpha's national programs focused on transforming the Haitian educational system and providing social services and aid to the downtrodden communities of Ayiti.

During the course of the following decade, Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. continued to make lasting impacts throughout the island nation, most notably at the Alpha Academy in Croix-Des-Bouquets. As Hurricane Matthew ravaged the country in 2015, the brothers mobilized again to collect medical supplies, food, and other first-aid materials to distribute to the hardest-hit areas, particularly Jeremie, Camp Perrin, Les Cayes, and Miragoane. In January of 2017 brothers Samuel Darguin, Emmanuel Ake, and Jeremy Kersaint spearheaded the donation efforts of more than one hundred Brothers of Alpha who continue to answer the call to action to aid those in Croix Des Bouquets & Port Au Prince. More recently, brothers Lawens Moreau, Alix Jean, and Samuel Darguin mobilized relief efforts in Torbeck in 2021.

The work of Alpha in Haiti over the past decade inspired Brothers Jean, Darguin, Moreau, R. Thomas, and Volcy to thoroughly investigate the possibility of founding an Alpha chapter in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in October of 2020. Brother Lucien Metellus, then-Eastern Region Vice-President, and Brother Dino Fontaine, then-Area Director of the Caribbean, Dr. John H. Carter and Robert Farmer were instrumental in bringing the idea of a permanent House of Alpha in the "Pearl of the Antilles" to life. Chartered June 30, 2021, the Tau Beta Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. became the first fraternity to represent the National Panhellenic Council in the First Black Republic of the West Indies.