Brief History of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

      The Omega Psi Phi 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

      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.

Omega Psi Phi Lettered Camouflage T-Shirt

Q Tshirt 

Founding Fathers

Dr. Ernest Everett Just (1883-1941)

  • Born in Charleston, SC
  • Graduated from the Industrial School of the State College, Orangeburg, SC
  • Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hampshire
  • Bachelor of Arts Degree, Dartmouth College (Phi Beta Kappa)
  • Doctor of Philosophy Degree, University of Chicago
  • Awarded the Spingarn Medal by NAACP, 1915

Professor Frank Coleman (1890-1967)

  • Born in Washington, D.C.
  • Graduated from M. Street High School, Washington, DC
  • Bachelor of Science Degree, Howard University, 1913
  • Master of Science Degree, University of Chicago
  • Advanced Training, University of Pennslyvania
  • Professor and head of the Physics Department, Howard University
  • U.S. Army Officer, World War I

Dr. Oscar J. Cooper (1888-1972)

  • Born in Washington, D.C.
  • Graduated from M. Street High School, Washington, DC
  • Bachelor of Science Degree, Howard University, 1913
  • Doctor of Medicine Degree, Howard University, 1917
  • Practiced medicine in Philadelphia, PA for 50 years

Bishop Edgar A. Love (1891-1974)

  • Born in Virginia
  • Graduated from the Academy of Morgan College
  • Bachelor of Arts Degree, Howard University, 1913
  • Bachelor of Sacred Theology, Howard University, 1916
  • Bachelor of Divinity Degree, Boston University, 1918
  • Doctor of Divinity Degree (Honorary), Morgan College, 1935
  • U.S. Army Chaplain, World War II
  • Bishop, Methodist Church

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