Clarence C. Coles

Served as the chapter’s very first Sergeant-At-Arms however, his time in Alpha was cut short when he passed away later in 1922. His cause of death is unknown, but was reported to the Fraternity during the Fifteenth Annual Convention in session in St. Louis, MO by the chapter delegate, Brother Clifford Vaughn Smith. News of his death was also mentioned in the February 1923 edition of the Sphinx Magazine.
 

Marion Claude Colvin, Jr

Was born on March 1, 1898 in Paris, Texas to Marion C. Colvin, Sr. and Lucy Turner. Brother Colvin received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the State University of Iowa in the spring on 1923, and later return to his hometown in Texas. Colvin became a school and married Mrs. Bernice I. Colvin. On March 6, 1934, Colvin passed away.
 

Joseph Adolph Blaine Dejoie

Was born on August 15, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana and is of French Creole heritage, which gained him the nickname “Frenchy”. While a member of the chapter Dejoie served in many capacities including Sergeant-At-Arms, Historian, Steward, Editor to the Sphinx, and chapter President. He graduated from the State University of Iowa in 1926 from the College of Pharmacy and returned to his home in New Orleans where he would enter the family practice as a Pharmacist. Dejoie married Mrs. Marguerite L. Du Verney of New Orleans, LA. As he got older he moved into a nursing home where he told stories of his time in Iowa and many of those stories got back to Alpha’s 29th General President, Milton C. Davis, who had received his Juris Doctorate Degree from the University Of Iowa College Of Law ’74. Brother Davis was intrigue by Brother Dejoie stories and would later play a major role in reactivating the Alpha Theta Chapter. Dejoie passed away on June 8, 1968.
 

Robert Hale Graham

Was born in Arcadia, Oklahoma and came to the State University of Iowa in 1921. Graham was approached by Brother Rhoderic Harold Harris about the possibility of setting up a chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha at Iowa, but before that happened the two established the Penndennis Club as they prepared to submit an application to the fraternity. The application for a chapter was sent to the Fraternity during the Fourteenth Annual General Convention in session in Baltimore, Maryland. The application was accepted and Brother William Jenifer Powell (Tau Chapter) was sent to the State University of Iowa to set up the chapter. Graham acted as the chapter’s first Secretary and Treasurer. He would only spend a few years at Iowa before going on to complete his degree in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois Chicago on June 9, 1923.
 

Rhoderic Harold Harris

Could be consider the Father of the Chapter because it was his initial idea to set up an Alpha chapter at the State University of Iowa. Harris brought the idea of bringing the first Intercollegiate Black Greek Letter Fraternity for college men, Alpha Phi Alpha, to Robert Hale Graham and together they made a formal petition to the fraternity. When the chapter was set up it was Harris who acted as the chapter’s first President, but he would also go on to serve as the chapter’s secretary as well in 1923. After receiving his B.A. in Liberal Arts in the Spring of 1923 Brother Harris decided to enter the College of Dentistry. Throughout his time at Iowa and beyond Harris was respected by the chapter and fraternity and worked diligently as a Dentist for many years in Keokuk, Iowa. By December 1925 Harris was married to Mrs. Alma E. Johnson Harris and together they welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world as noted in the December 1925 edition of the Sphinx Magazine. Along with Brother Clifford Vaughn Smith who served as the chapter’s delegate to the Fifteenth Annual Convention in St. Louis, Brother Harris was also present on behalf of the chapter. Harris would later retire and relocate to Baltimore, Maryland where he would live out the rest of his life before passing away on May 1, 1956.
 

Joel Prophet Holman

Was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He attend the State University of Iowa and later transferred to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he was involved in the Cosmopolitan Club and played Baseball. On October 4, 1925 he married Mrs. Gertrude Alnutt Holman.
 

Russell James Holmes

Was born in Kansas City, Kansas and graduated from the State University of Iowa in 1924 from the College of Pharmacy. Holmes acted as the chapter’s first Corresponding Secretary, Editor to the Sphinx Magazine, and Chaplin.
 

William Bridges Lawes

Lived in Davenport, Iowa and was a student at the State University of Iowa in 1922 however, in the December 1922 Edition of the Sphinx Magazine Brother Martin G. Haynes (Theta Chapter – University of Illinois Chicago) reports that “Brother William Lawes of Alpha Theta Chapter, Iowa City, was unable to return to school this year, and is living at our house. He is working hard, determined to take up his school work at the beginning of another year”. In the 1940s Brother Lawes was listed in the Sphinx Magazine Directory as residing in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 

Bryon J. McDaniel

Was born in Kansas City, Missouri on Aug 12, 1902. He was known by many as “Papa Mac” or simply “Mac”, and the brothers of Alpha Theta coined him “The Favorite Son of the Chapter”, because he near left Iowa City and maintained involvement throughout the years. During his time in the chapter he acting as Vice-President and he even sat on the chapter’s very first Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College committee in 1923. McDaniel studied in the College of Pharmacy at Iowa. According to the Sphinx Magazine’s Cupid’s Corner section, Brother McDaniel was married to Mrs. Evelyn Wallace McDaniel of Langston, Oklahoma on August 20, 1926. In the 1940s the Daily Iowan would reveal that the two separated and was eventually divorced officially on March 11, 1943 “charging cruel and inhuman treatment”.
 

Creola Leonard Morris

Was born in Albia, Iowa where he attended Albia High School. While in High School Morris was a member of the American Literature Club, the Short Story Club, Orchestra, and Band. His quote in his High School Yearbook was one from Roman Philosopher, Pliny the Younger which read, “his only fault is that he has no fault”. Brother Morris sat on the chapter’s very first Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College committee with Brother Byron J. McDaniel in 1923.
 

Irving Victor Muse

Was born in Columbia, Missouri. While in the chapter Muse served as Historian, and Sergeant-At-Arms, as well as acted as the chapter’s first Go-To-High-School, Go-To-College Committee Chairman in 1923. In 1923 while Brother Clifford Vaughn Smith took a semester off from School Brother Muse stepped in and served as Acting President. On June 5, 1923 Brother Muse graduate from the State University of Iowa College of Pharmacy.
 

Clifford Vaughan Smith

Was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He served as the chapter’s first Vice-President and served as Chapter President in 1923. Brother Smith was very active in the Fraternity and served as the chapter’s delegate to the Fifteenth Annual Convention in St. Louis. While at Iowa he studied Engineering, and during breaks during the school year he would teach high school back in his hometown. After leaving the University of Iowa Bro. Smith served as a construction superintendent for the well know A.A. Taylor Construction Company of Des Moines, IA where he supervised the building of a new $750,000 drainage system for Grand Rapids, IA around 1931. Bro. Smith married Laura Jean Murray Smith in 1931 and died circa 1960. He was also mentioned in the December 1960 issue of the Sphinx Magazine. They had two children together William Murray Smith, and Clifford V. Smith Jr. Bro. Smith was also mentioned in the Dec 8, 1960 edition of Jet Magazine. The write up stated, “Clifford Vaughn Smith, 57, resident engineer director of the Washington (D.C.) Department of Highways and Traffic Bridge Division; following his second heart attack within a year; at the Washington Hospital Center passed away