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In my experience of 42 years as a Que, there is a type of duality to the Men of Omega Psi Phi. In the popular imagination there is a common stereotype of Omega as the "wild guys" fraternity as told by the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (APhiA). My wife uses the terminology of "gregarious" to describe us. It is true. But there is another aspect too: a very strong, traditional Christian ethos rooted in our our origins and history. When I was pledging in the Spring of '80, my line had to put on a social event. We threw a keg party. We had visiting Brothers there and the normal hazing happening. One Brother spoke to me "off the record" and told me a couple of things that would serve me well as a Brother: one was that the Fraternity is religious, that is, is very much rooted in Christian tradition. It is a matter of pride for me, even though we do have some religious diversity. It is a strength. It used to be that pledgees had to attend church on Sunday. A lot of our songs are based on African American Spirituals. Today that traditional continues. Districts hold Revival Services, chapters have Church Visitation, some chapters have Bible Study, etc. It is important that we reamin true to our heritage, not in a prejudiced or narrow sense but as holding true to a life-giving Reality that has been the foundation of African American people in our struggle for freedom, justice and human dignity.
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