ALPHA ATHLETES Bruins suffered a losing season. Robinson left UCLA in early 1941, one semester short of earning his degree.20 Strode left UCLA in early 1940, one semester short of earning his degree.21 Washington and Bartlett both earned their degrees at UCLA.22 After leaving UCLA, all four of these men distinguished themselves just as they had at UCLA. Robinson became the first AfricanAmerican to play major league baseball.25 He became a member of the baseball Hall of Fame and a successful businessman after his playing days were completed.24 He is the only four-sport letterman (baseball, football, basketball, track and field) in UCLA history.25 He was the 1940 NCAA long-jump champion and he was selected to play in the college all-star game as one of the outstanding 1940 college football players.26 Washington completed his collegiate career as the NCAA total offensive leader for the 1939 season.27 He left UCLA as a consensus Ail-American.28 Many football fans thought he should have won the Heisman Trophy.29 After his football career ended, Washington continued to be a folk hero in the UCLA sports community. He spent his professional life after football as an executive with the Seagrams Company.30 When he died in 1971 at the young age of 53 years, his funeral was attended by numerous dignitaries. He was remembered at his funeral, by telegram, by one of his old fans, President Richard M. Nixon.31 Strode became a well-known motion picture actor, starring in a number of feature films including Sergeant Rutledge.32 He was one of the first-featured African-American wrestlers.33 Strode played Canadian professional football before his days as a motion picture actor.34 In 1946, one year before Robinson became the first AfricanAmerican to play major league baseball, Washington and Strode became the first African-Americans to compete in the National Football League (NFL). They played with the Los Angeles (St. Louis) Rams. Bartlett was the second African-American police officer in Pasadena.35 After his retirement from the Pasadena Police Department, he became an aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Warren Dorn. He also served as an administrator in the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Today, he continues his life of public service and his active membership in Eta Pi Lambda Chapter (Pasadena). Robinson and Washington are charter members of the UCLA athletic Hall of Fame. Strode is also a member.36 Bartlett and Robinson are members of the Pasadena Community College athletic Hall of Fame.37 The foregoing is but one story of Alpha members being the catalyst for history making events. The present football rivalry between UCLA and Southern Cal is one of the most intense in this country. It was three Alphamen and one aspirant who played a substantial role in beginning that tradition. Because of their character and athletic prowess, UCLA developed a football team equal to Southern Cal's. The Western Region of Alpha, is and has historically been, the smallest region in the Fraternity in terms of membership. Those of 93RD ANNIVERSARY CONVENTION EDITION
us who first saw the light of Alpha West of the Rockies have always been aware of our numbers within the Fraternity. But, as this article indicates, Alpha member achievements in the West, the nation and within the Fraternity are second to none.
FOOTNOTES
Brother Wallace L. Walker heads a private general law practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a life member of the Fraternity and an active member of Omicron Delta Lambda Chapter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brother Walker was initiated at Alpha Delta Chapter, University of Southern California, and served as Western Assistant Vice President while in undergraduate school.
' See Photo, the 15-initiates, not in order they appear in photo, are: Malcol H. Patton, Bert McDonald, Samuel B. Danleyjr, Thomas A. Greene, Arthur E. Prince, Hayward Johnson, Hugh Bell, John Rout, John Riddle, Bernard Hemdon, Simon Draper, William Pillow, Howard Allen, Clifford Gordon andJames A. McGregor. 2 Phil Schermeister, UCLA, A Pictorial Treasury, Harmony House, Louisv KY, 1989, P. 18. 3 Woody Strode and Sam Young, Goal Dust, Madison Books, New York, New York, 1990, P. 30 'Id. P. 61 5 Id. PI 6 Id. P. 29 1 Id. P. 49 "Id. P. 49 "Id. P. 66 10 Id. P. 69 "Id.P.86 12 Id. P. 84 13 This statement is based on conversations I completed with Raymond Bartlett while we were both members of Eta Pi Lambda Chapter ofAlpha Ph Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (Pasadena, California) from 1974-1981. When Strode and Washington were initiated into Alpha, Alpha Delta Chapter, as it wa when I was initiated into the Fraternity while a student at California State University at Los Angles in 1962, served as a "city chapter." UCLA did no get its own chapter (Gamma Xi) until 1947. 14 Strode, P. 86 "ld.P.94 16 Id. P. 94 17 Id. P. 107 " Conversations with Bartlett ÂťId. 20 Arnold Rampersad. Jackie Robinson, A Biography, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997, P. 82. 21 Strode, P. 107 22 Strode, P. 110; Conversations with Bartlett 23 Robinson, P. 169; See Strode at 142 about Washington and Strode integrating professional sports. 24 Id. P. 303 23 Strode, P. 89 26 Robinson, P. 85 27 Strode, P. 95 28 Id. 95-96 29 Id. 95 30 Id. 244 31 Id. 243 32 Id. P. 197 33 Id. 171 34 Id. 169 35 Conversations with Bartlett 36 UCLA Hall of Fame, Los Angeles, CA 37 Pasadena Community College Hall of Fame, Pasadena, CA