The Rho Zeta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. was founded September 4, 1999 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The chapter was inactive from 1999 to 2005. In April 2005 at the 73rd Midwest Regional Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 10 brothers petitioned to move the Rho Zeta Lambda Chapter from Kentucky to Illinois. The petitioning brothers, who would later become the charter members, were:
- Michael Asque
- Michael Bates
- Kevon Gardner
- Samuel Graham, Jr.
- Michael McAfee
- Ryzell McKinney
- Lewis Nixon
- Sloan T. Letman, III
- Sloan T. Letman, IV
- Nolan Wade
At the 86th General and the 99th Anniversary Convention in Houston, Texas, the Fraternity’s Board of Directors approved the movement of Rho Zeta Lambda Chapter from Kentucky to Illinois, effective August 6, 2005. The chapter seat was relocated to Evanston, Illinois; though the chapter’s specific intent is to serve the West Chicagoland areas including the near west suburbs. Rho Zeta Lambda then held it’s chartering ceremony on October 21, 2006 at the Metropolitan Club of Chicago located on the 67th floor of the Sears Tower now known as the Willis Tower. Brother Willard C. Hall, Jr., Executive Director of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., presided as the chartering official.