Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

On Friday evening, November 17, 1911, three Howard University undergraduate students, with the assistance of their faculty adviser, gave birth to the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. This event occurred in the office of biology Professor Ernest E. Just, the faculty adviser, in the Science Hall (now known as Thirkield Hall). The three liberal arts students were Edgar A. Love, Oscar J. Cooper and Frank Coleman. From the initials of the Greek phrase meaning “friendship is essential to the soul,” the name Omega Psi Phi was derived. The phrase was selected as the motto. Manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift were adopted as cardinal principles. A decision was made regarding the design for the pin and emblem, and thus ended the first meeting of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

The Phi Upsilon Chapter serves Neptune and surrounding areas of Monmouth and Ocean County, NJ since 1952. On the fall evening of September 6, 1952, twelve local African American men, who were graduates of the then existing predominately black colleges, assembled at the Hotel Carver, the only black owned hotel along the eastern shore of the Atlantic Ocean. At this hotel, located on Myrtle Avenue in the township of Neptune, State of New Jersey, an official charter rendering ceremony occurred and Phi Upsilon Chapter began fifty years of national chapter affiliation.