 A Harvard Class Marshal, Fletcher endowed a University Professorship at his alma mater, first held by philosopher Cornel West and now held by literary critic Henry Louis Gates, Jr.In 2004, in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, the Fletcher Foundation announced the creation of the Alphonse Fletcher, Sr. Fellowship program, described by foundation chair Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as "Guggenheims for race issues.