Establishment of our Region.
The establishment of the Western Region of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., was initially created soon after Bro. Herbert L. Stevens was initiated into our wondrous band. With the chartering of the Beta Chapter at Wiley College in Marshall, TX, the first imprint of Sigma outside of Washington, D.C. was created and named the Western Region. Texas was later separated from the Western Region and re-established as the Lone Star Region of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
Twenty-two years later, the Western Region as we know it today was started on February 15, 1937, when Bro. William Perry directed a letter to Bro. Jessie W. Lewis, the then Dean of Terrell Law School, requesting information for the chartering of a chapter in Los Angeles, CA. At this time, there were no chapters west of Texas. The movement gained impetus through the form of Bro. Hugh Fisher Lewis, who was then Vice President of the Northern District. After careful selection, Bros. Lewis, Perry, Johnson, and Hill invited eleven other men to join as charter members: Bros. Fred Baker, George Beavers, Edgar Brown, Cecil Davis, Aaron Douglass, Dee Hodge, William Nickerson, Jr., Granville Norman, E. M. Porter, Clarence Smith, and Oscar Stokes.
The officers elected to serve the new chapter were: Bro. William Perry, President; Bro. Clarence Smith, Vice-President; Bro. Dee Hodge, Secretary; and Bro. Everette Porter, Treasurer. Bro. James Weldon Johnson — celebrated poet, author, and professor of creative literature — was the National President at the time of the chartering of the chapter.
Today, the Western Region is led by our 35th Regional Director, Bro. Sidney Jackson, Jr., and has blossomed into the largest region in the fraternity; it currently encompasses the states of AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA, and WY, as well as the countries of Japan, S. Korea, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. We exist as a consortium of positive and professional men determined to continue our rich and historic legacy of providing the best in service through our programmatic thrusts of Bigger and Better Business, Education, Social Action, and the Sigma Beta Club. Dedicated to the principles of Brotherhood, Scholarship, and Service, it is our desire to provide communities within our Region with impactful and meaningful service.
