ΩΨΦ Fraternity History
The story of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, from Howard University in 1911 to today.
Four men, one vision
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. is the first international fraternal organization founded on the campus of a historically Black college. Founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the founders were three undergraduates: Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper, and Frank Coleman, joined by their faculty adviser Dr. Ernest Everett Just.
From the phrase "Friendship is essential to the soul," the name Omega Psi Phi was derived. That phrase was selected as the motto. Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance and Uplift were adopted as Cardinal Principles.
On November 23, 1911, Edgar A. Love became the first Grand Basileus. Oscar J. Cooper was selected as Grand Keeper of the Records and Frank Coleman as Grand Keeper of Seals. Eleven undergraduate men were selected to become the charter members. Alpha chapter was organized with fourteen charter members on December 15, 1911.
Cooper became the fraternity’s second Grand Basileus in 1912 and authorized the investigation of establishing a second chapter at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Love was elected the third Grand Basileus in 1912 and served until 1915. In 1912, Howard University officials did not initially recognize the fraternity as a national organization, and Omega Psi Phi’s leadership refused to accept limited recognition. As a result, the fraternity operated without official sanction until the university withdrew its opposition in 1914, the same year Beta chapter was chartered at Lincoln University.
Omega Psi Phi was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia on October 28, 1914.
Early growth and the first Oracle
Omega played a vital role when the United States entered World War I in 1917. Several brothers were in the first class of Black soldiers to graduate from Camp Fort Des Moines, a military training facility in Iowa. Campbell C. Johnson, John Purnell, and founders Frank Coleman and Edgar A. Love are among its graduates.
Stanley Douglas served as editor of the first Oracle, published in the spring of 1919. That same year, Raymond G. Robinson, the seventh Grand Basileus, established Delta chapter at Meharry Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee. When Robinson left office in 1920 there were ten chapters in operation.
In 1922, J. Alston Atkins, the 9th Grand Basileus, appointed the first district representatives. Today there are eleven such officers elected annually at district meetings. The office of Vice Grand Basileus was created the same year, and the Grand Keeper of Records became the Grand Keeper of the Records and Seal.
In 1923, Lambda Chapter, affectionately referred to as "the pearl of the west coast," was organized at the University of Southern California. Omega Psi Phi became the first Black Greek organization to span its membership across the United States, from the Atlantic (Iota in Atlantic City) to the Pacific (Lambda in Los Angeles). Sigma chapter was organized at McGill University in Montreal on December 15, 1923, making it the fraternity’s first international chapter.
In 1930, Omega Psi Phi became one of five founding members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, with 13th Grand Basileus Matthew W. Bullock elected its first permanent chairman. "Omega Dear" was adopted as the official hymn in 1931, composed by Brothers Charles R. Drew and Mercer Cook.
Social action becomes the mission
The Omega "Sweetheart Song," with words and music by Don Q. Pullen, was adopted as the official sweetheart song by the 1940 Nashville Grand Conclave. Founder Ernest E. Just entered Omega chapter in 1941. That same year, Brother Charles Drew perfected the use of blood plasma as a life-saving tool. Brother William Hastie resigned as Civilian Aide to the Secretary of War in protest against discrimination in the armed forces and was later appointed Governor of the Virgin Islands by President Harry S. Truman.
Since 1945, the fraternity has undertaken a National Social Action program to meet the needs of African Americans in health, housing, civil rights, and education. In 1949, the first National Headquarters building at 107 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. was purchased, and H. Carl Moultrie was selected as the first National Executive Secretary. That same year, the scholarship fund was renamed in honor of Brother Charles R. Drew.
Throughout the 1950s, social action became Omega’s primary organizational thrust. Thousands of Omega men became actively involved in the fight to eliminate racial discrimination. Brothers Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill, and James Nabrit were part of the inner circle for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Their work culminated with the landmark decision outlawing segregated public schools, Brown v. Board of Education. In 1955, Brother Roy Wilkins was chosen executive secretary of the NAACP.
Between 1955 and 1959, chapters contributed nearly $40,000 to the NAACP.
Civil rights on the front line
The struggle for social justice shifted into high gear. Omega men throughout the United States were active participants in the sit-ins and other civil rights demonstrations, especially undergraduate brothers.
In 1961, the Washington, D.C. Grand Conclave highlighted Omega’s first 50 years of accomplishments. Founders Love, Cooper, and Coleman were present. Thirteen of 23 former Grand Basilei also attended this historic gathering.
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom occurred in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Brother Bayard Rustin, an activist and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr., was one of the event’s primary organizers. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. In 1964, the new national headquarters was dedicated, the first building of its type built by a Black fraternity.
In January 1966, Brother Dr. Robert C. Weaver was appointed the first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the first Black person appointed to a cabinet-level position in the United States. Founder Frank Coleman entered Omega Chapter in 1967. The Charlotte Grand Conclave in 1968 mandated a constitutional convention for revision of the fraternity’s constitution, by-laws, and Ritual. That convention was held in Atlanta in 1969.
Founders enter Omega, the fraternity grows
The newly revised constitution and by-laws and the Ritual went into effect at the close of the 1970 Pittsburgh Grand Conclave.
The Seventies brought unpleasant news. Founder Oscar J. Cooper entered Omega Chapter in 1972. Two years later in 1974, Edgar A. Love, the last surviving founder, entered Omega Chapter. On November 16, 1975, an impressive granite monument was dedicated to the memory of the four founders. The monument was placed near Thirkield Hall, the site of Omega’s birth place at Howard University.
In 1976, the Atlanta Grand Conclave became the most attended up to that point. Many new undergraduate chapters were chartered, because of the increased enrollment of Black students at previously all-white colleges and universities. "Operation Big Vote" was successful in getting thousands of African-Americans to vote in the 1976 election. In 1979, during the Denver Grand Conclave, the fraternity committed to contribute $250,000 to the United Negro College Fund over the next five years.
A modern fraternity of leaders
In 1981, the fraternity endowed its first endowed Omega faculty chair at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Grand Basileus Moses C. Norman, Sr., was elected at the 1984 Louisville Grand Conclave and served six years, the longest tenure of any Grand Basileus.
On January 28, 1986, Brother Ronald McNair died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Also that year, Don Q. Pullen and W. Mercer Cook entered Omega Chapter. On January 13, 1990, Brother L. Douglas Wilder became Virginia’s sixty-sixth governor and the first elected African American governor in United States history.
C. Tyrone Gilmore Sr. became the 34th Grand Basileus in June 1990. Under his leadership, a site for a new World Center and International Headquarters was identified in Decatur, Georgia. The first Youth Leadership Conference was held in 1993. Dorsey C. Miller Jr., the fraternity’s 16th Second Vice Grand Basileus, was chosen as the 35th Grand Basileus at the Cleveland Grand Conclave in 1994.
Lloyd J. Jordan, Esq., who had previously served as Grand Counselor, was elected the 36th Grand Basileus at the 70th Grand Conclave in 1998 in New Orleans. That same year, Brother David Satcher was appointed the 16th Surgeon General of the United States. Brother Togo West, Jr. was appointed Secretary of Veteran Affairs.
In 2002, George Grace was elected Grand Basileus during the 72nd Grand Conclave held in Charlotte, N.C. Under Grace’s leadership the fraternity realized financial solvency and a steady increase in its membership rolls. Warren G. Lee Jr., who served as the 23rd Second Grand Vice Basileus, became the 38th Grand Basileus during the Little Rock Grand Conclave in 2008.
In 2010, Dr. Andrew A. Ray was elected the 39th Grand Basileus during the 76th Grand Conclave in Raleigh, North Carolina. Under his administration, Omega became the first Black Greek organization to charter an undergraduate chapter in Great Britain. The fraternity joined forces with President Barack Obama to promote fatherhood and responsible parenting. Omega celebrated its 100th anniversary in July 2011 in Washington D.C., with attendance exceeding 10,000.
Antonio F. Knox Sr. was elected the fraternity’s 40th Grand Basileus during the Grand Conclave in Philadelphia in 2014. Under Knox, the fraternity championed civil rights initiatives and became a strong voice against police brutality, efforts to suppress voting rights, and other social ills.
Today, Omega Psi Phi has over 700 chapters throughout the United States, Bermuda, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Korea, Japan, Liberia, Germany, and Kuwait. Omega continues to flourish, largely because founders Cooper, Coleman, Love, and Just were men of the highest ideals and intellect. Since its humble beginnings on the Howard University campus, the Omega Psi Phi fraternity continues to be on the front line, leveraging its power, influence and more than 100 years of commitment to the uplift of our people and our communities.