For Superior Achievement
Charles M. Coffin, Jr. Alumni Brother of the Year - 1988 짜f local support is necessary to win national awards, our 1988 Alumni Brother of the Year has that support - having captured Brother of the Year honors in two states. If service is the litmus test, then our honoree surely qualifies. He has served in Alpha Chapters wherever he has resided, giving liberally of his time and talents to the programs of the Fraternity. This Brother served on the National Committee for our Alliance With Scouting program and is similarly active within the Boy Scouts of America. He has been a successful leader in the National Headquarters Fund Drive in his home chapters. Recently he took up the banner of Project Alpha, our teen pregnancy prevention program, and pulled off one of the successful projects in the history of the program. And as publicity chairman of his chapter's recent fundraiser, his efforts brought some $20,000 into the coffers - and he was recognized as the top ticket salesman. These are but a few of the projects our honoree has brought to success in the years since his initiation into Beta Epsilon Chapter, North Carolina A & T State University, in 1974. Professionally, this Brother is a career officer with the United States Air Force - having just completed an assignment as Director of Contracting for the Air Force Logistics Management Center, Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama. The father of four sons (who singly raises twin teenagers), a churchman, even a semi-professional fashion model. . . our honoree holds high the principles of Alpha Phi Alpha. Meet this former Brother of the Year from Georgia and the 1988 titleholder from Alabama, the Southern Region and, now, the entire Fraternity . . . Major Charles M. Coffin, Jr. V|7ithin a month of his initiation on WW April 5, 1974, Brother Coffin became a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha - the first in the history of Beta Epsilon Chapter and one of a handful of College Brothers who joined this fellowship during its heyday. He has carried this commitment to Alpha Phi Alpha For Life with him The Sphinx/Fall 1988
as he traveled the country on various assignments with the Air Force - meeting local chapter obligations, consistently attending fraternity meetings and faithfully supporting chapter programs. In the twelve years since his graduation from A & T, he has been a member of Mu Xi Lambda Chapter, Rialto, California (charter member); Eta Iota Lambda Chapter, Athens, Georgia; and Alpha Upsilon Lambda Chapter, Montgomery, Alabama. He also served as Chapter Advisor to Zeta Pi Chapter, University of Georgia (Athens). Although his tenure there ended in 1985, his efforts in developing that Chapter continue to pay dividends in leadership and service citations. Prior to his move to Alabama, Brother Coffin was named Georgia's Alumni Brother of the Year in 1984 and, in 1985, he won the Charles Green Award for the state (given for seven years of outstanding service). A rriving at Alpha Upsilon Lambda Chapter following the 1985 General Convention in Atlanta, Brother Coffin exhorted the Chapter to support the National Headquarters Fund Drive and the newly developed Alliance With Scouting program. He chaired the chapter's Bov Scouts Committee and immersed himself in the local scouting infrastructure eventually serving as Assistant District Commissioner, Scout Coordinator, Troop Committee Treasurer
and Merit Badge Counselor. He also got other chapter members to undergo leadership training and accept positions with various scout units in the area. Although he had already satisfied his "fraternal obligation" towards the headquarters campaign, he was also a chapter leader in this effort - netting positive results from Brothers and the Chapter as an entity. And more service was on the way to Montgomery. As publicity chairman for the Chapter's 1987 fundraiser featuring Atlanta's "Show Biz Kids" (who were featured at the General C o n v e n t i o n in that city), Brother Coffin's public relations savvy was credited with an overwhelming success - and he was re-appointed for 1988. His most recent success was in bringing Project Alpha to Montgomery, which he carried out in his usual exemplary style. Indeed, as a result of his tenacity, the Montogmery Project Alpha was the first in the nation to use the promotional posters featuring the Cosby Show's Malcolm JamalWarner. P r o f e s s i o n a l l y , Brother Coffin has established himself as one of the Air Force's top contracting officers. The directorship he recently completed at Gunter AFB is normally staffed by a Lieutenant Colonel. His work has resulted in major innovations to produce computer programs, conduct studies and generally e n h a n c e the effectiveness of the service's contracting activity. In 1986, he was the runner-up for the Air Force's "Contracting Officer of the Year" citation. Major Coffin is an officer worthy of emulation and a leader worth following. Brother Coffin has been on the job holding high the name of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity since his initiation and the consensus among those who know him is that there is no sign of any letup in him fraternally, professionally or in civic affairs. A true Alpha Life Member, he got talent, dedication, ambition, tenacity, intelligence, faith and an unconquerable desire to excell in everything he does. Page 15