Omega Psi Phi commemorated its 20th anniversary at Emory with cake-cutting and a hop show at the Dobbs University Center Friday.
Alumni clad in purple and gold, members of Delta Sigma Theta, and members of Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha attended the ceremony.
After being suspended by Emory in 2000 for discrepancies over their rush process, Omega was chartered again last spring with four members.
“It’s like a milestone for us. The fact that we came back on the 20th anniversary year is pretty special to us,” said Omega fraternity president Julian Smith.
Omega became colonized in 1987 under Eta Omega, a local alumni chapter of graduate students in Atlanta. Then in 1994, Omega became chartered as a standalone undergraduate chapter with seven members as chapter Pi Delta Delta.
Chris Norman (’88C), one of Omega’s two founding brothers at Emory, said student-alumni relations have been strong the last 20 years. Alumni from various career fields have established relationships with students and advise the students, he said.
“[Omega brothers have] created a lot of lifelong relationships with the span of 20 years,” Norman said.
Omega members have also added diversity to Emory’s campus since the fraternity was chartered, Norman said.
“I think it’s been a good mix,” Norman said. “[Omega has] given the campus a little bit of variety and diversity in helping to represent most of the Pan-Hellenic fraternities.”
Norman said getting Omega chartered at Emory in 1987 without any precedent was a challenge.
“It was a culmination of a lot of effort,” he said. “It was an interesting time, entering into the unknown. There were no examples on campus.”
Every undergraduate Omega chapter becomes established through a graduate chapter and stays associated with its graduate chapter. Eta Omega has created more chapters around Atlanta since 1987, Norman said. Smith said Eta Omega is currently Pi Delta Delta’s graduate chapter mentor.
This article provided by: The Emory Wheel
Written by: Michelle Ye Hee Lee - yhlee5@emory.edu
