 Of his many organizational memberships, Haysbert was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, having been initiated at Wilberforce University (Xi chapter) on April 13, 1950 and was a member of Baltimore's Delta Lambda chapter until his death.He told a newspaper interviewer in 1992 that, although he "started in the ghetto, black, poor, on welfare ... in America, it's still possible for him to succeed, without a government subsidy.