Alpha Sigma Phi History: USA and the Philippines
United States of America (USA)
Alpha Sigma Phi came into being as a college fraternity on December 6, 1845 at Yale College (now the Yale University) in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. It was founded by three (3) young Sophomore Students, namely: Louis Manigault, Stephen Ormsby Rhea, and Horace Spangler Weiser.
**Second Founding
In 1907, Alpha Sigma
Phi was founded by two (2) Masons, namely: Edwin Morey Waterbury and Wayne Montgomery Musgrave at Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio. Philippines
In 1959, Alpha Sigma Phi (Alpha Chapter) was organized by Thomas Gavarra, an agricultural student, at Central Mindanao University (CMU). “ASP” was then an acronym for Agricultural Students of the Philippines. Ramon del Carmen served as the adviser who initiated the idea of looking for Alpha Sigma Phi as a Greek Fraternity listed in the Encyclopaedias that to the adoption of the Greek name of the Fraternity. In 1965, Alpha Sigma Phi (Beta Chapter) was founded by Manuel Momongan at Silliman University. Alpha Chi Chapter- Tawi-Tawi
Fraternity life was unknown in the Province of Tawi-Tawi until December 6, 1976 when the first group of college students of the Mindanao State University – Sulu College of Technology and Oceanography (MSU-SCTO) were fraternally baptized and finally passed into full-pledged fraternity life of the Mystic Circle of Alpha Sigma Phi, dubbed as an International Collegiate Service Organization that originated at the Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA on December 6, 1845. The primary organizers of the Alpha Chi Chapter were Bro. Bonsing Sali and Bro. Mohammad-Ali. The original set of seven (7) of the Pioneer Batch ’76 of the Alpha Sigma Phi in Tawi-Tawi were Nasser M. Kadil, Johnny R. Lee, Edwin Allian, Mahail Hajan, Paulander Dahamban, Nuhman Kadiri and Nasser Amilbangsa. In the following days, the other members of the Pioneer Batch ’76 have joined as well, including two ladies who pioneered the sorority life in Tawi-Tawi. Together, this batch was composed of thirteen young men and two young women, which is now better known as the Pioneer Batch ’76 of the Alpha Sigma Phi in Tawi-Tawi. On December 6, 1976 in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, the successful neophytes were ritualized into the full-pledged membership in the Alpha Sigma Phi. The following is the complete composition of the historical fifteen college students of MSU-SCTO and two college students from other universities:
Roster of Members
Pioneer Batch ’76
Dec. 6, 1976
Names of Members :
1. Nasser M. Kadil
2. Mahail Hajan
3. Johnny R. Lee
4. Edwin Allian
5. Benjamin Hamid
6. Omar Gumbahali
7. Nasher Amilbangsa
8. Salip Kahar Sirajan
9. Abdugafor Suban
10. Nasser Sugala
11. Nuhman Kadiri*
12. Paulander Dahamban*
13. Abdurajan Abduhassan*
14. Tidja Isnani
15. Norma Sangkula
* -- Omega Chapter
The first set of officers of the newly organized fraternity was then elected from among the pioneer batch. Kadil became the first Grand Chancellor of the ASP Fraternity in Tawi-Tawi. Paulander Dahamban became the first Master Initiator. Together with the other elected officers, they steered Alpha Sigma Phi into a sterling existence as the first ever college fraternity ever organized in the Province of Tawi-Tawi. To complete the set, an adviser was recruited in the person of Filemon G. Romero, a college faculty of MSU-TCTO. He was given honorary membership by the officers and members of the ASP Tawi-Tawi. The new chapter was of the ASP at the MSU-SCTO was given its Greek letter name during the Davao Convention in 1977. The Grand Chancellor, Nasser M. Kadil, was the sole delegate to the 2nd National Biennial Convention in Davao City. With this representation, the Alpha Chi Chapter of Tawi-Tawi was born. It was also G.C. Kadil who represented the Sulu and Siasi ASP in that convention, which earned them the Greek Letter Chapters that presently exist in Sulu and Siasi today. The first batch of the Recruitment Program of the Alpha Chi Chapter was the Jaws Batch ’77. It has thirty-three members that successfully made it to the final initiation and ritualization. More batches were initiated and continued with the growth and development of ASP in Tawi-Tawi. With the graduation of Bro. Kadil in 1980 from the MSU-TCTO, who was recruited into the Faculty of the College of Fisheries of the same institution, the Alpha Sigma Phi Alumni Association, Tawi-Tawi was organized. He continued to lead the association until 1984. Through the years of its existence, Alpha Chi Chapter soared high among the Tawi-Tawi Fraternities which kept on growing in number in the province. It sponsored the first Inter-fraternities Sports Competitions in 1977, which was fully participated in by all the existing fraternities in the Province at that time. It also spearheaded other competitions among fraternities and other social organizations in the school campus at that time. Under the leadership and guidance of Bro. Kadil, Alpha Chi Chapter was considered to be one of the most active chapters of ASP in the country. It was represented well during the Silliman Convention, the Bohol Convention in 1984 where Bro. Richard Gibbs was the Guest of Honor of the convention. Because of its reputation, Alpha Chi Chapter was able to convince Bro. Richard Gibbs to visit the chapter in the next convention which was held in Manila 1986. After that successful Manila Convention, Bro. Richard Gibbs was accompanied by Bro. Kadil to Tawi-Tawi as per their agreement during the Bohol Convention. Many more activities were conducted under the auspices of the ASP Alpha Chi Chapter in the MSU-Tawi-Tawi Campus, including the first ever ASP inter-chapter Sports Competition held in 1992. However, like all other organizations, Alpha Sigma Phi Alpha Chi Chapter suffered the impacts of competition among organizations and the ever changing environment and attitudes of the general membership which affected even the core of leadership and management of the Fraternity. Thus, the current situation as brought about by the dynamics of multiple factors affecting the organization.
