{"id":354,"date":"2026-05-19T09:42:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/omega-psi-phi-fraternity-complete-guide-history-traditions-culture\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T09:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:43:07","slug":"omega-psi-phi-fraternity-complete-guide-history-traditions-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ireishprint.com\/blog\/omega-psi-phi-fraternity-complete-guide-history-traditions-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Omega Psi Phi Fraternity: A Complete Guide to History, Traditions, and Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Omega<\/figure>\n

On a Friday evening in November 1911, three undergraduates and one biology professor sat down in an office at Howard University and built a fraternity that has never since lived anywhere but at the center of Black college life. Omega Psi Phi was the first international fraternal organization founded on the campus of a historically Black college<\/a>, and the four men in that office wrote the fraternity’s name, principles, and trajectory in a single sitting. This guide walks through the founding history, the four cardinal principles that became Omega’s lifelong promise, the symbols and traditions that brothers recognize on sight, and the culture that still drives the fraternity’s work at HBCUs today.<\/p>\n

Founding History at Howard University in 1911<\/h2>\n
\"Omega
Howard’s Science Hall (now Thirkield Hall) is where Omega began.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Omega Psi Phi was founded on Friday, November 17, 1911 in the office of biology Professor Ernest E. Just at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The room sat inside what was then called Science Hall and is now known as Thirkield Hall. Three Howard liberal arts undergraduates sat with their faculty adviser and chartered the fraternity that night. The name itself came from a Greek phrase, “friendship is essential to the soul,” and Omega Psi Phi was taken from its initials.<\/p>\n

The four men in that office became the four Founders of the fraternity.<\/p>\n

Professor Ernest E. Just.<\/strong> Faculty Adviser and Co-founder.<\/em> Born in Charleston, South Carolina. Phi Beta Kappa at Dartmouth, then a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1916. Awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1915 and chosen as the 19th honoree in the U.S. Postal Service’s Black Heritage Stamp Series on February 1, 1996.<\/p>\n

Edgar A. Love.<\/strong> Founder.<\/em> Born in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Bachelor of Arts at Howard in 1913, Bachelor of Divinity at Howard in 1916, Bachelor of Sacred Theology at Boston University in 1918, and an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Morgan College in 1935. Served as a U.S. Army Chaplain in World War I and later became a Bishop in the Methodist Church.<\/p>\n

Oscar J. Cooper.<\/strong> Founder.<\/em> Born in Washington, D.C. Bachelor of Science at Howard in 1913 and a Doctor of Medicine from Howard in 1917. Practiced medicine in Philadelphia for fifty years.<\/p>\n

Frank Coleman.<\/strong> Founder.<\/em> Born in Washington, D.C. Bachelor of Science at Howard in 1913, Master of Science from the University of Chicago, advanced training at the University of Pennsylvania. Headed the Physics Department at Howard and served as a U.S. Army Officer in World War I.<\/p>\n

The Four Cardinal Principles<\/h2>\n

The Founders did not draft Omega Psi Phi to be another social fraternity. They built it around four words that members are still expected to live by:<\/p>\n