Omicron Alpha Tau

Omicron Alpha Tau was an historically Jewish fraternity founded in 1912. It merged with Tau Delta Phi in 1934.

History

Omicron Alpha Tau was founded at Cornell University in the Spring of 1912. Its founders were Benjamin Brickman, James Castelle, Jack Grossman, Abraham Haibloom, Jules Jokel, Joseph Seidlin, and Nat Shiren. At the time, the founders had no intention of forming a national Greek letter fraternity. Omicron Alpha Tau remained a local fraternity until 1915 when David Browman founded a second chapter at the Columbia University College of Dental and Oral Surgery in New York City.
Growth continued throughout New York, extending to eastern and southern schools. Its first Midwest chapter was established in 1924 at Valparaiso University. The fraternity became an international organization in 1927 with the formation of the Rho chapter at McGill University in Montreal. Additional Midwestern chapters were also established at the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago, also in 1927. Upsilon chapter was formed in 1928 at Marquette University; this may have been the last chapter formed; Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities notes "at least eighteen chapters were installed", ending its list with Upsilon. However, the 1930 edition of The Illio yearbook notes there were 21 chapters.
The fraternity held its ninth convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 28, 1935, with the Marquette chapter as host.
Baird's Manual notes that several chapters died during the Great Depression, predicating national dissolution. In 1934, Tau Delta Phi absorbed the chapters at Rutgers University, New York University, Marquette, and Cornell. The chapter at Syracuse University was absorbed by Phi Epsilon Pi. The chapter at the University of Pennsylvania merged into Phi Beta Delta.

Symbols and traditions

The fraternity's colors were orange and blue. Its flower was the goldenrod.
Omicron Alpha Tau was particularly known for their houses having adherence to traditional Jewish dietary laws. Several chapters maintained kosher kitchens. At Cornell, it was known as "the most Jewish of fraternities."
One of the songs of the fraternity was "Onward Our O.A.T.":
The fraternity's magazine, as of 1923, was called the OAT Digest and was distributed monthly. Later, the magazine's name was changed to The Oath and was issued three times a year.

Chapters

The chapters of Omicron Alpha Tau include:

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Alpha	1912–1934	Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Merged
Beta	1915–1925	Columbia University College of Dental and Oral Surgery	New York, New York	Consolidated
Gamma	1916–1927	Columbia University	New York, New York	Inactive
Delta	1916–1918	University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	Inactive
Epsilon	1919–1934	New York University	New York, New York	Merged
Zeta	1920–1930	Syracuse University	Syracuse, New York	Merged
Iota	1921–19xx ?	Harvard University	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Inactive
Theta	1922–19xx ?	Lafayette College	Easton, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Kappa	1922–19xx ?	University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	Inactive
Lambda	1922–1934	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Merged
Mu	1922–19xx ?	Fordham University	New York, New York	Inactive
Nu	1924–1930	Valparaiso University	Valparaiso, Indiana	Inactive
Xi	1925–19xx ?	University of Buffalo	Buffalo, New York	Inactive
Omicron	1927–19xx ?	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Inactive
Pi	1927–1932	University of Illinois	Urbana, Illinois	Inactive
Rho	1927–1934	McGill University	Montreal, Quebec	Inactive
Sigma	1927–19xx	University of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Eta	1927–1934	Rutgers University	New Brunswick, New Jersey	Merged
Tau	1928–1932	George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	Inactive
Upsilon	1928–1934	Marquette University	Marquette, Wisconsin	Inactive

Notable members

David Sarnoff, businessman