A historical journey of the founding of Omicron Chapter at Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts.

On the 9th of March in 1973, Iota Phi Theta Fraternity was established as the first black Greek men’s fraternity on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston, MA, and was the fraternity’s first expansion into the New England Region. The charter line, ‘Lost Colony”, was a city-wide line comprised of thirty-two members; twenty-five members from Omicron Chapter at Northeastern, six from Pi Chapter at Boston University, and one from Massachusetts of Art College. In fact, Lost Colony still holds the record for the largest line in the fraternity’s history. In the summer of 1974, Bro. Brutus ‘Skip’ Wright, a member of ‘Lost Colony’, met an untimely death. As a result of his passing, the Omicron Chapter established the first black fraternal scholarship in his name at Northeastern University. Omicron’s founding in New England led to the chartering of Delta Omega Alumni Chapter in 1975, Boston College; Chestnut Hill, MA, Sigma (1974), American International College; Springfield, MA, Tau Chapter (1974), Boston State College, now UMASS-Boston, Chi Chapter (1976), and the growth of chapters in western Massachusetts; Western New England College, Omega Chapter (1976), CW Post/LIU Alpha Zeta Chapter (1978) was the first in NY state, Alpha Iota chapter in Wilberforce University (1979).
The first chapter in Ohio, Westfield State College; Westfield, MA, Alpha XI (1981), University of Massachusetts-Amherst, MA, Beta Beta Chapter (1983), and Pi Omega Alumni Chapter (1983) in New York City. In Connecticut, Tau Omega Alumni Chapter (1985), University of Hartford; Beta Zeta Chapter (1986). This summarizes the North Star of Iota expansion of the New England region to the MidAtlantic Region that is now called the Atlantic Coast Region (ACR) and the Ohio Valley Region (OVR). The credit for the establishment of the fraternity in New England goes to Bro. Clyde Travis (Nu Chapter, University of Maryland), Former Grand Polaris Bro. Thomas ‘Tex’ Dean and Former Grand Polaris Bro. Edgar A. Johnson along with the support of two Founding members, Honorable Founders John Slade and Webster Lewis. The first black Greek women's origination on the campus of Northeastern University was Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Many other black Greek and non-Greek organizations formed a collaboration to support many initiatives at the University as well as to support a variety of local community organizations. Omicron chapter collaborated with and supported other black Greek organizations citywide. Locally on campus, Iota Phi Theta Fraternity and other black organizations endowed essential black student activities at the African American Institute.
The African American Institute provided the essential support of all black studies and student activities. The Institute celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. The brothers of Omicron and Pi have long served with distinction throughout the Fraternity’s history, such as National Iota Foundation Board Members, Regional Polaris, Grand Historian, Grand Vice-Polaris, and International Grand Polaris.
The 50th Anniversary Committee welcomes all to join the celebration at Northeastern University, September 22-24, 2023. The schedule and details of the weekend activities are available on the website - www.omicron50th.com; Facebook (Omicron Iotaphitheta), IG (Omicron Iotaphitheta, and Twitter (Omicron Iotaphitheta).Send any inquiries to the email - omicron50thanniversary@iotaphitheta.org Sincerely, The 50th Anniversary Celebration of Omicron chapter planning committee.Bro. JM (James Martin)Bro. Irving BellBro. Keith MotleyBro. Shelley StewartBro. Cosby Smiley
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. Building a Tradition, Not Resting Upon One
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