History

Omega Psi Phi is an international fraternity with over 700 undergraduate and graduate chapters throughout the United States, Bermuda, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Korea, Japan, Liberia, Germany, and Kuwait. It is the first predominantly African-American fraternity to be founded at a historically black university. Omega Psi Phi was founded on November 17, 1911, by three undergraduate students and a faculty advisor, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Each of the founders went on to have a distinguished career in his chosen field.

Since its founding, the Fraternity has continued to attract men dedicated to its Cardinal Principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift. Throughout the world, many notable members are recognized as leaders in the arts, academics, athletics, entertainment, business, civil rights, education, government, and science fields. A few notable members include Roy Wilkins, Benjamin Hooks, Vernon Jordan, Dr. Robert Henry Lawrence,Jr., Rev. Jesse Jackson, two former governors, William H. Hastie (U.S. Virgin Islands) and L. Douglas Wilder (Virginia), House Majority Whip James Clyburn, Earl Graves, Bill Cosby, Tom Joyner, NASA Chief Gen. Charles Bolden, Gen. William “Kip” Ward, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Vince Carter, Steve Harvey, Rickey Smiley, and numerous presidents of colleges and universities. Over 250,000 men have been inducted into the Fraternity.

The fraternity is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), which is composed of nine predominately African-American Greek-letter sororities and fraternities that promote interaction through forums, meetings, and other media for the exchange of information, and engage in cooperative programming and initiatives throughout the world. The NPHC currently represents over 1.5 million members.

In 2011, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity will celebrate its 100th anniversary.