Omega Phi Alpha
Omega Phi Alpha National Service Sorority is an American national service sorority. It was founded in at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Omega Phi Alpha has thirty active chapters.
History
In 1953, several female students at Bowling Green State University expressed an interest in having an organization like the national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, which was active on their campus. The brothers of the Zeta Kappa ''chapter of Alpha Phi Omega changed their plans to form a second fraternity and instead helped establish a new service sorority at Bowling Green State University. They were assisted by Jacqueline E. Timm, a professor of political science at the university who later served as the sorority's honorary advisor.The two groups were to be alike in objectives—friendship, leadership, and service. A similar name—Omega Phi Alpha—was chosen for the sorority. Just as the Alpha Phi Omega chapter was limited to former Boy Scouts, the Omega Phi Alpha sorority was originally limited to former Girl Scouts and Campfire Girls. The national sorority removed this limitation in.
The sisters helped establish two more Omega Phi Alpha chapters at Eastern Michigan University in 1958 and the University of Bridgeport in. However, these chapters operated independently and were not incorporated as a national sorority. In early 1966, the Bowling Green sorority received a letter indicating that the other two had merged to create a national sorority and invited them to join. However, the new national group had not registered legally. Upon learning this, Omega Phi Alpha at Bowling Green registered and invited the two groups to affiliate with it.
The three groups met at a national convention in Bowling Green, Ohio in 1967. On June 15, 1967, the groups agreed to consolidate as a national sorority and laid the foundations for what is currently Omega Phi Alpha. They also decided that Bowling Green was the Alpha chapter. The University of Bridgeport became the Beta chapter, and Eastern Michigan was named the Gamma chapter.
In 1969, the sorority raised money in support of the 1969 Mental Health Campaign. It also collaborated with Alpha Phi Omega on blood drives for the American Red Cross and to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Chapters also volunteered with the Girls Scouts, such as helping a Brownie troop plant trees at a local park.
The Alpha, Beta, and Gamma chapters were the only chapters until the Delta was formed at Texas A&M University in. The chapter participated in eleven service projects during its first school year. Other chapters were added through the Alpha Psi chapter'' at the University of Pittsburgh in 2025. Omega Phi Alpha has nine districts of active chapters. Each district is encouraged to meet once a year and is required to hold a district summit in the convention off-year, which includes service projects, workshops, and sisterhood activities.
Its national headquarters is in East Lyme, Connecticut.
Symbols
The motto of Omega Phi Alpha is "Today's Friends, Tomorrow's Leaders, Forever in Service." Its cardinal principles or pillars are Service, Tradition, Sisterhood, Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership, and Education.Omega Phi Alpha has two badges: one for active members and the other for alumnae. The active badge is a diamond with concave sides. The alumnae badge is round and features a rose; on top of the circle is a chevron with the sorority's name. Its circle represents an alumna's commitment, with no beginning or end. Its chevron symbolizes the ties that bind the organization's members; it points upward because the sky is the limit for Omega Pi Alpha alumnae.
The sorority's colors are dark blue, gold, and light blue. Dark blue symbolizes service, gold is for leadership, and light blue is for friendship. The chevron and the bee are Omega Phi Alpha's symbols. Its flower is the yellow rose, chosen to represent friendship. Its mascot is Ophia.
Omega Phi Alpha's print, now electronic, publication is Chevron. Its nicknames are "OPA" and "O Phi A".
Activities
The purpose of Omega Phi Alpha is as follows:Omega Phi Alpha has six areas of focus for its community service projects.
- Mental health
- President's Project: Each year at the Omega Phi Alpha National Convention, the national president of Omega Phi Alpha presents the cause she feels is worthy of being the focus of OPA service nationwide. Past president's projects prior to 2002 include the environment, terminal illness, AIDS awareness and education, domestic violence, Just Say No, children with disabilities, nursing, ecology, heart disease, children, the elderly, head injury prevention, literacy, and internal organization key points.
- University community: Sisters provide service within their university's community by volunteering at school events, holding stress relief classes, and performing random acts of kindness.
- Community at large: Sisters help the community at large by participating in local park clean-ups, food banks, tutoring at a local school, volunteering at the Humane Society, and other local organizations
- Members of the sorority: Sisters provide service to the members of the sorority by supporting alumnae and internal strengthening.
- Nations of the world: To serve the nations of the world, sisters have raised funds for UNICEF, AIDS Awareness, diabetes awareness, breast cancer awareness.
Governance
Chapters
Following is a list of Omega Phi Alpha collegiate chapters, with active chapters in bold and inactive chapters in italics.| Name | Charter date and range | Institution | City | Status | |
| Alpha | Bowling Green State University | Bowling Green, Ohio | Active | ||
| Beta | – | University of Bridgeport | Bridgeport, Connecticut | Inactive | |
| Gamma | – 1974 ?; | Eastern Michigan University | Ypsilanti, Michigan | Active | |
| Delta | Texas A&M University | College Station, Texas | Active | ||
| Epsilon | Tennessee Tech | Cookeville, Tennessee | Active | ||
| Zeta | – | Wayland Baptist University | Plainview, Texas | Inactive | |
| Eta | – | Amarillo College | Amarillo, Texas | Inactive | |
| Theta | – | West Virginia Institute of Technology | Montgomery, West Virginia | Inactive | |
| Iota | – | Western Michigan University | Kalamazoo, Michigan | Inactive | |
| Kappa | – | Capital University | Columbus, Ohio | Inactive | |
| Lambda | – | University of Connecticut | Storrs, Connecticut | Inactive | |
| Mu | – September 23, 2023 | Middle Tennessee State University | Murfreesboro, Tennessee | Inactive | |
| Nu | Georgia Tech | Atlanta, Georgia | Active | ||
| Xi | – | University of North Alabama | Florence, Alabama | Inactive | |
| Omicron | – ; October 22, 2022 | Auburn University | Auburn, Alabama | Active | |
| Pi | 1994–2000 | Post University | Waterbury, Connecticut | Inactive | |
| Rho | Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green, Kentucky | Active | ||
| Sigma | – | University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | Chattanooga, Tennessee | Inactive | |
| Tau | – | University of Texas at Austin | Austin, Texas | Inactive | |
| Upsilon | – | University of Louisiana | Lafayette, Louisiana | Inactive | |
| Phi | Arizona State University | Tempe, Arizona | Active | ||
| Chi | University of South Carolina | Columbia, South Carolina | Active | ||
| Psi | – | Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi | Corpus Christi, Texas | Inactive | |
| Omega | –; | Rutgers University | New Brunswick, New Jersey | Active | |
| Alpha Alpha | Northern Arizona University | Flagstaff, Arizona | Active | ||
| Alpha Beta | – | University of Mississippi | Oxford, Mississippi | Inactive | |
| Alpha Gamma | Oklahoma State University | Stillwater, Oklahoma | Active | ||
| Alpha Delta | Georgia Southern University | Statesboro, Georgia | Active | ||
| Alpha Epsilon | – | Southeastern Louisiana University | Hammond, Louisiana | Inactive | |
| Alpha Zeta | Kennesaw State University | Kennesaw, Georgia | Active | ||
| Alpha Eta | – | University of South Carolina Aiken | Aiken, South Carolina | Inactive | |
| Alpha Theta | Pennsylvania State University | University Park, Pennsylvania | Active | ||
| Alpha Iota | Notre Dame of Maryland University | Baltimore, Maryland | Active | ||
| Alpha Kappa | University of Kansas | Lawrence, Kansas | Active | ||
| Alpha Lambda | North Carolina State University | Raleigh, North Carolina | Active | ||
| Alpha Mu | Boston University | Boston, Massachusetts | Active | ||
| Alpha Nu | Texas State University | San Marcos, Texas | Active | ||
| Alpha Xi | University of Central Florida | Orlando, Florida | Active | ||
| Alpha Omicron | University of Florida | Gainesville, Florida | Active | ||
| Alpha Pi | West Virginia University | Morgantown, West Virginia | Active | ||
| Alpha Rho | Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, Virginia | Active | ||
| Alpha Sigma | Old Dominion University | Norfolk, Virginia | Active | ||
| Alpha Tau | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Active | ||
| Alpha Upsilon | University of Tennessee, Knoxville | Knoxville, Tennessee | Active | ||
| Alpha Phi | Binghamton University | Binghamton, New York | Active | ||
| Alpha Chi | Marshall University | Huntington, West Virginia | Active | ||
| Alpha Psi | University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Active |