CHAPTER HISTORY

"The youngest and mightiest chapter..." -Langston Hughes

History of Tau Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc
Records and documents of Beta Phi Chapter, Durham, North Carolina, as reviewed by Brother Evester Bailey (Fall 1967), reveal that Tau Psi Chapter was chartered on November 8, 1931. The chapter came into existence as a result of the efforts of Brothers J. W. Jones and W. D. Hill of Beta Phi.

The History of Beta Phi document as well as a letter found by Brother J. Jamar McKoy (Spring 2004) at the Omega Psi Phi International Headquarters in Decatur, Georgia, also identify the charter members and officers of the chapter: J. Edward Spaulding (Basileus), Otis L. Williams (Keeper of Records and Seals), Orlander Fortyce Jeffers (Keeper of Peace), William S. Taylor (Chapter Editor), T. Earl Lamberth (Keeper of Peace), Harold Claudius Pattillo (Dean of Pledgees), and Thomas A. Lacey (Chaplain). The letter, which was written by Brother Williams, Tau Psi's first Keeper of Records and Seals, to Brother Walter B. Mazyck, the Grand Keeper of Records and Seals, states that these charter members were initiated on Tuesday, November 17, 1931, and the chapter was formally organized two days later, on November 19, 1931.

The letter additionally discusses the many activities in which the charter members are engaged, the exceptional scholarship that they have exhibited, and the numerous awards that they have received at the North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham, now North Carolina Central University.

Since these outstanding pioneers first “crossed the burning sands” in 1931, some 700 men have become Omegas by way of the Tau Psi Chapter. Traditionally, the members of Tau Psi have been men of action and scholarship. They have consistently, as professional men, represented North Carolina Central University and Tau Psi well, and they have made extraordinary contributions to the nation and the world.

Since its chartering, Tau Psi Chapter has been continuously active except for a period between 1941 and 1945, and a brief period in the mid-to-late 1970's when Lambda Kappa Chapter served as the organ by which men at North Carolina Central University were able to become members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.