Omega Psi Phi
The Omega Psi Phi (ΩΨΦ) Fraternity was founded on Friday, November 17, 1911, at Howard University in Washington, D.C The founders of the fraternity were three students: Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper, and Frank Coleman and their first faculty advisor Ernest Everett Just. The Fraternity's motto is "Friendship is Essential to the Soul." Omega Psi Phi was the first black fraternal organization founded at a black university or college. From its inception, the fraternity has worked to build a strong and effective force of men dedicated to principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, uplift, and capable of giving expression to the hopes and aspirations of an unfree people in the land of the free. Since 1945, the fraternity has undertaken a National Social Action Program to meet the needs of African-Americans in the areas of health, housing, civil rights, and education. In 1927, the fraternity made National Negro Achievement Week an annual observance, and it continues today as Achievement Week. In its continuing support of African-American education, the fraternity gives an annual gift of $50,000 to the United Negro College Fund. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., has supported the UNCF since 1955.
Famous Omega Men The Arts Bill Cosby - world renown comedian, actor, television show producer, and philanthrophist. William "Count" Basie - internationally known pianist, composer, arranger, and band leader Sterling Brown - teacher, poet, writer, Professor Emeritus of Literature at Howard University, has a special foundation for folk culture and jazz music Carl Rowan - syndicated columnist Joe Torry - comedian, actor Tom Joyner - syndicated radio personality Steve Harvey - comdeian and actor Langston Hughes - internationally acclaimed poet, progenitor of Black Renaisance in the 1920s Athletics Michael Jordan - professional basketball player DeHart Hubbart - a University of Michigan sprinter; first Black person to represent the United States in the Olympic Games (1924) Ed "Too Tall" Jones - professional football player with the Dallas Cowboys Joe Black - all-time great Brooklyn Dodger baseball pitcher who had the lowest earned-run average in the major leagues in 1951 Charlie Ward - Heisman Trohy winner and NY Knicks gaurd Steve "Air" McNair - quarterback with the Tennessee Titans Hank Aaron - "Home-run King" who broke Babe Ruth's record Shaquille O'Neal - star center with the Los Angeles Lakers, now with the Miami Heat Jerry Ball - football player with the Oakland Raiders Cedric Maxwell - professional basketball player with the Boston Celtics and other teams Leroy Walker - U.S. Olympic coach (sprinters) for many years John Salley - won NBA Championships with the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls Keith Jackson - football player with the Miami Dolphins Mark Duper - football player with the Miami Dolphins William Floyd - fullback for the Charlotte Panthers Earl "The Pearl" Monroe - former NBA Guard Errict Rhett - running back with the Baltimore Ravens Business Gillard S. Glover - President, Afro-American Life Insurance Company Thurman McKenzie - co-owner of M and M Products (Sta Soft Fro) Otis M. Smith - General Counsel, General Motors Corporation Nathaniel Bronner - co-owner of Bronner Brothers Beauty Supplies Jesse Hill - President, Atlanta Life Insurance Company William Kennedy, III - President, North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company Civil Rights Grant Reynolds - played a major role in President Truman's 1948 decision to desegregate the United States Armed Forces James Nabrit - Former dean of Howard University Law School, former president of Howard University, and a leader in the training of several attorneys who played important roles in the Civil Rights Movement Wiley Branton - attorney for the "Little Rock Nine" and former dean of Howard University School of Law Roy Wilkins, Sr. - long-time executive director of the NAACP Benjamin Hooks - succeeded Roy Wilkins as executive director of the NAACP Khalid Muhammad Education Benjamin E. Mays - President Emeritus of Morehouse College, writer and lecturer Herman Dreer - teacher, minister, and writer Politics Lawrence Douglas Wilder - became Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1990 and received the Bronze Star for his heroism in the Korean War William Hastie - first governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands George L.P. Weaver - former U.S. Secretary of Labor Vernon Jordan Robert C. Weaver - became the first African-American to presidential cabinet member in 1966, serving as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Franklin Roosevelt Clifford L. Alexander, Jr. - Secretary, Department of the Army Rev. Jesse Jackson - civil rights leader and activist and candidate for the United States Presidency in 1984 and 1988 Science Dr. Ernest Everett Just - internationally known biologist and professor at Howard University Dr. Charles Drew - perfected the use of blood plasma in transfusions; professor of surgery at Howard University Percy Julian - discovered the use of foam to extinguish fires and a method of synthesizing cortisone Dr. Fred Drew Gregory - astronaut, graduate of the United States Air Force Academy (pilot) Charles Bolden - astronaut, graduate of the United States Naval Academy (pilot) Dr. Ronald E. McNair - astronaut, graduate of M.I.T, Ph.D. in physics (civilian) Lt. Colonel Guion Bluford - as the first African-American in space, boarded the Space Shuttle "Challenger" in 1983 and performed the first spacelab mission on the Orbiter Challenger
External linksOmega Psi Phi Fraternity website
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