Ethnic fraternities developed as a result of the need to share and celebrate diversity of cultural experiences. The FIRST Asian fraternity was founded at Cornell in 1916 as Rho Psi, which now exists as an alumni club with chapters in New York, Hawaii, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Hong Kong. The concepts of brotherhood and unity isn't new, however our dedication and commitment to it is. A new dynasty has arrived- here's our story...

Traditional Asian campus organizations were often split along lines of national origins. The lack of continuity among the memberships in those organizations meant that at best, student associations provided a circle of friends spanning the years of undergraduate study-and at worst-a group of famliar strangers encountered during periodic social functions. The yearly turn-over of most organizations' officers made it extremely difficult to pursue any extended project as each new officer core set its own agenda. A solution to this dilemma was the adoption of

a fraternal social structure.

Lambda Phi Epsilon was founded on February 25, 1981, by principal

founder Mr. Craig Ishigo and a group of eighteen other dedicated men on the campus of the University of California of Los Angeles. By forming Lambda Phi Epsilon as a new Asian American fraternity, the founders hoped to set new and higher standards of excellence for all

Asian-interest organizations to follow. The goal of the founders was to transcend the limitations to which traditional Asian American organizations were subject. They sought to draw the membership equally from the many diverse segments of the Asian American community. Their

vision was that the members would eventually become the leaders of their respective communities and bridge the 1gaps fragmenting the Asian American community through the affiliation with a common organization. Unknowingly, their efforts had set the stage for the emergence of the largest organization of its kind.

By 1990, six chapters had formed at the University of California at: Los Angeles, Davis, Santa Barbara, Berkeley, Irvine, and the University of Texas at Austin. As most of these chapters were founded in the late eighties, it became evident to the brothers of Lambda Phi Epsilon, that rapid expansion loomed near. In order to facilitate this process of rapid expansion and to seek standardization throughout the nation, these six chapters came together to form what is known as Lambda Phi Epsilon National Fraternity, May 28, 1990.

The first National Convention (held at UC Irvine) established a national governing body to coordinate the individual chapters' efforts. The first order of business was to designate Memorial Day weekend as the official date for the annual convention of

Lambda Phi Epsilon National. At this time, Mr. Robert Mimaki, a Beta Chapter Brother, was elected as the first National President. Later that year...with the admission to the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC) on September 8, 1990, Lambda Phi Epsilon became the first (and still the only) nationally recognized Asian-American interest fraternity in the United States. Over the years, Lambda Phi Epsilon National had grown tremendously. Between the years 1990 and 1995, Lambda Phi Epsilon increased in size to over twenty chapters. In 1995, we became a California non-profit corporation thus changing our name to Lambda Phi Epsilon National Fraternity, Inc. Once again- the first.

Through past Conventions and legislative processes, Lambda Phi Epsilon further divided into two divisions, Alumni and Active, each with its own officer CORPS, policies and procedures. This was done to better serve the fraternity as a whole. In the Active division, numerous programs were developed to address the needs of the collegiate brotherhood throughout the nation and abroad. The National Service Program adopted several national philanthropies. The most notable is the Asian American Bone Marrow Donor Program. To date, no other organization in the United States has enlisted more registrants to the Asian bone marrow donor library than Lambda Phi Epsilon. The National Academic Committee developed guidelines and scholarship programs to encourage academic excellence in our collegiate chapters. The National Expansion Committee (EXCOMM) developed formal procedures and a fair application process for all interest groups. The creation of the National Brotherhood Program sent national staff members to collegiate chapters to demonstrate different methods of building brotherhood and character. The National Brotherhood Program also established an Annual

Brotherhood Showcase, where brothers from around the nation exemplify their understanding of brotherhood through artistic expression.Recently, The National created the National JA (Junior-Active) Leadership Retreat Program. The effort was to introduce leadership methods and applicable knowledge to our young leaders so they would be prepared and empowered for success. Lambda Phi Epsilon accomplishments also include the establishment of "forLiFE", a national magazine.

 Lambda Phi Epsilon continues to establish and perpetuate Brotherhood

and fellowship among its members. Part of that Brotherhood is expressed in our motto "To be Leaders Among Men." We not only seek to bring together a diverse group of men who share interest, concerns, backgrounds and cultures, but who believe that the strength of many are

forged into the power of being one. Today, with thousands of brothers from coast to coast and throughout the world, Lambda Phi Epsilon has become a major institution and a powerful force in the Asian American scene in the United States. Grounded on the principles of wisdom,

honor, and courage; our Active Division continues to teach young men principles of leadership and strong moral character. Our Alumni Division then provides a forum in which brothers may apply these beliefs and become true leaders of society. It is that unique life long commitment to lead in every arena of life that makes " the Lambdas" the most respected organization of it's kind. Ultimately, it is the principles of Lambda Phi Epsilon that inspire our members to be big brothers [Big Brother Factor] and to lead their communities to a better, brighter way of life.

         On the snow-covered fields of Buffalo, October 2, 1994, seven proud men emerged from the ominous clouds of fog and smoke to form an unbreakable chain of brotherhood. As they charged across the cold and muddy ground, their thunderous voices roared through the dark skies, forging the first of many strong links in the Hopkins Lambda Phi Epsilon chapter. It was at the bottom of the last, towering hill that the Hopkins Founding Fathers wiped the sweat off their shaven heads and each remembered a time when they were all strangers -- a time not so long ago. Thoughts of forming a Lambda Phi Epsilon chapter at Hopkins first started in conversations between Mr. Kenneth "Lenny" Chuang, Mr. David "Horny" Lee and Mr. Richard "Lucky" Sohn during one of many boring nights on the Homewood campus. Surrounded by apathy, Lenny, Horny and Lucky realized the need to form a strong and diverse organization aimed at improving the uality of social life at Hopkins. As they talked into the night, the first seeds of brotherhood were planted. Seeking the help of other interested students, they visited the infamous room McCoy 402, and approached Mr. David "Goggles" Liu and Mr. Willy "Slim" Tsai, the notorious leaders of the Cho Da Di gang.

         Apprehensive at first, Slim and Goggles listened to Lucky speak while sneaking peeks at each other's cards. Content with the activities of their weekly Cho Da Di gathering, Goggles and Slim were only slightly interested. As Lucky convinced them to form an Asian-American interest fraternity on campus, however, they joined the interest group and pledged their support. As the ideas grew stronger, so did the size of the interest group. Prior to their first visit to the UPenn chapter, Goggles recruited two new members, Mr. David "Burger" Hu and Mr. John "Chavez" Kim. Shortly afterwards, Chavez introduced his friend, Mr. Charles "Creamer" Yang to the group.

         Lambda Phi Epsilon members pride ourselves in our dedication to community service. Philanthropic endeavors have always been a salient mission to all the brothers. Every year, whether during the school year or in the summer, each Lambda chapter gets involved in numerous service events, dealing with the campus population as well as the local community. Lambda Phi Epsilon also annually volunteers for National causes, such as AIDS Walkathon, Special Olympics and the National Marrow Donor Program. Lambda Phi Epsilon strives to hit a

diversity of communities, utilizing our strength in numbers, to reach as many people in need as possible.

ASIAN AMERICAN DONOR PROGRAM (AADP)

         The brothers of Lambda Phi Epsilon felt it was important to choose a national philanthropy that helped Asian Americans directly. Previously, the national philanthropy was the Special Olympics. At the 1993 National Convention, Delta Chapter at University of California at Berkeley introduced to the assembly the Asian American Bone Marrow Donor Program. This program had been started in order to create a national registry of Asian-American bone marrow donors. In the past, the Bone Marrow Donor Program had a severe lack of Asian-American

donors. Due to this, many people died becuase of the lack of a matching bone marrow donor and subsequent transplant. With this motivation, it was hard not to choose the Asian American Bone Marrow Donor Program as our national philanthropy. Already several brothers have donated bone marrow to the program and as a result, have saved lives.

In 1997, one of our brothers was diagnosed with Leukemia. All of our chapters came together to help find him a match, by coordinating bone marrow drives on each of our campuses. Today, Lambda Phi Epsilon's national philanthropy is the Asian American Donor Program (AADP). AADP is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the number of

potential bone marrow/ stem cell donors to save the lives of patients with leukemia and other blood-related diseases. Each chapter holds annual bone marrow/stem cell drives on campus, working hard to recruit the student body onto the National Bone Marrow Registry. This year,

Lambda Phi Epsilon recruited over 2,000 new and potential bone marrow/stem cell donors onto the registry! Because of our efforts, Asian patients with leukemia will have a greater chance of finding a match- potentially saving many lives.

Lambda Phi Epsilon holds an annual Asian American Bone Marrow Drive on the Homewood Campus every fall semester. For information on how you can help, call 1-800-59-DONOR or visit the Asian American Donor Program official website. Throughout the years, Lambda Phi Epsilon at The Johns Hopkins University has established itself as a guiding force in the Asian-American community. Our commitment to quality and excellence in service and leadership sets standards that others only hope to follow. Each quarter, we dedicate our time and resources toward improving the lives of those in need. As our national philanthropy, the Asian

American Donor Program gives us the opportunity to save the lives of people with blood disorders. Many of these disorders require a donation of bone marrow from an individual of the same ethnicity as the patient, and this program assists patients in finding donors by registering

people with an international database of potential donors. This cause is supported by all chapters of Lambda Phi Epsilon nationwide and centers around a bone marrow typing drive which our chapter hosts each year on campus. Please come and support us! You can find more

information about the program at http://www.aadp.org.

Other community service projects are going on all the time at Lambda Phi Epsilon. The brotherhood helps out at Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, providing services for the homeless and elderly citizens of Baltimore. Other services include our aid in the Salvation Army clothing drive, Thanksgiving canned food drives, the Annual Walk for the Homeless and the Adopt-A-Highway Program. The goal behind our service is to increase Asian Awareness and to promote a positive image of Asian-Americans in our community.