The Omicron Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. honored Dr. Rosemary DePaolo, chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, with its Citizen of the Year award during the fraternity’s National Achievement Week observance on Veterans Day.

The award, made to the citizen that has made the greatest contribution to and impact on the community, is the fraternity’s highest honor. The award acknowledged DePaolo’s commitment to inclusion as well as her continued outreach to the less fortunate and those that are often overlooked within the Wilmington community. DePaolo spoke to the capacity crowd at New Kelly Chapel AME on the importance of “knowing the right thing to do and doing it.”

Others who were recognized and received awards during the event were: Cedric Dickerson, Omega Man of the Year; Linda Upperman Smith, Humanitarian Award; Lillian Barfield and Ty Walker, Omega Youth Award; Wayne Lofton, Manhood Award; UNCW undergraduate students Uri Robinson, Derek Waddell and Justin Anderson, Scholarship Award; James Jones, Perseverance Award, P. Kevin Williamson, Uplift Award; and Harris McIntyre, Brotherhood Award.

The keynote speaker for the occasion was Gulf War veteran Lieutenant Colonel Conrad Morgan, who presented the chapter with a National Fraternity Resolution appointing the day as Omicron Alpha Day. This event was the capstone to a weekend of activities including the local chapter’s Winter Gala and Scholarship Ball recognizing the great contributions of the late local educator Ernest Swain. The fraternity presented Swain’s alma mater, Morehouse College, with a check for $200,000, which Swain bequeathed to them upon his passing. The fraternity also endowed a $25,000 Scholarship to UNCW for those seeking degrees in the education field in honor of Ernest Swain in 2006.

This article was written by: Wilmington Journal
Written by: Zachery Mitcham