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

Omega Phi Alpha holds a national convention every other year. There, its national executive board is elected, including its president, vice president of business operations, executive secretary, vice president of communications, vice president of alumnae relations, vice president of leadership, vice president of expansions, vice president of advancement, membership director, and vice president of finance. The sorority's national board includes the executive board, its immediate past president, and the college chapter presidents.

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 at Lafayette\|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

Alumni groups

Omega Phi Alpha created an alumni society program at its 2005 convention. Historically, the sorority also had alumni chapters, but these were all closed around 2002 and were removed from its constitution on July 16, 2022. It now has alumni groups, which are allowed by the sorority's tax exempt status.
Following is a list of Omega Phi Alpha alumni chapters, with active chapters in bold and inactive chapters in italics.

Name	Charter date and range	Area	Location	Status
Omega Alpha	xxxx ?–before 2004	Connecticut	Connecticut	Inactive
Omega Beta	xxxx ?–20xx ?	Michigan	Roseville, Michigan	Inactive
Omega Gamma	xxxx ?–20xx ?	Greater Atlanta Area	Atlanta, Georgia	Inactive
Omega Delta	xxxx ?–20xx ?	Greater Nashville	Nashville, Tennessee	Inactive
Omega Epsilon	xxxx ?–20xx ?	Chattanooga area	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Inactive
Omega Zeta	xxxx ?–20xx ?	Austin area	Austin, Texas	Inactive
Omega Eta	xxxx ?–20xx ?	Knoxville	Knoxville, Tennessee	Inactive
Omega Theta	xxxx ?–20xx ?	Louisiana	Louisiana	Inactive