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Founders’ Day • November 17, 2026

Four founders.
One vision.

One hundred and fifteen years after Omega Psi Phi’s founding, we remember the three Howard University students and the faculty adviser whose vision set the fraternity in motion.

November 17, 1911Howard UniversityWashington, D.C.

The founding story

A meeting that became a movement.

On the evening of November 17, 1911, Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper, and Frank Coleman met with faculty adviser Ernest Everett Just at Howard University to found Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Its motto—Friendship is Essential to the Soul—and its Cardinal Principles of Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance, and Uplift would become a guide for generations of brothers.

Source: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. • Official History ↗

Founder profile 01 / 04

Bishop Edgar Amos Love

1891–1974

First Grand Basileus

Faith • Service • Leadership

Roots

Harrisonburg, Virginia

A young founder whose leadership would extend from Howard University to military chaplaincy and the episcopacy.

Edgar Amos Love was a Howard University undergraduate when he helped establish Omega Psi Phi on November 17, 1911. Six days later, he became the fraternity's first Grand Basileus. He went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts in 1913 and a Bachelor of Divinity in 1916 at Howard.

Love pursued further theological study at Boston University, earning a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1918. During World War I, he served as a U.S. Army chaplain. His subsequent career in ministry culminated in his election as a Methodist bishop in 1952.

His path connected spiritual leadership, public service, and institution-building—an enduring reminder that the fraternity's Cardinal Principles were intended to guide life beyond campus.

Milestones

  1. 1911

    Helps found Omega and becomes its first Grand Basileus

  2. 1916

    Earns Bachelor of Divinity at Howard

  3. 1918

    Completes further theological study at Boston University

  4. 1952

    Elected a bishop of the Methodist Church

The enduring example

Love's life links the fraternity's earliest leadership with decades of ministry and service.

Founder profile 02 / 04

Dr. Oscar James Cooper

1885–1972

First Grand Keeper of Records

Medicine • Stewardship • Continuity

Roots

Washington, D.C.

A founding student leader who carried a commitment to responsibility into a long medical career.

Oscar James Cooper was one of the three undergraduates who founded Omega Psi Phi at Howard University in 1911. He was selected as the fraternity's first Grand Keeper of Records—an office devoted to preserving the new organization's actions and history.

A graduate of Howard Academy in Washington, Cooper earned a Bachelor of Science from Howard University in 1913. He completed his Doctor of Medicine at Howard in 1917.

Cooper practiced medicine in Philadelphia for approximately fifty years. His story connects the work of maintaining a young fraternity's records to a career devoted to the care of patients and communities.

Milestones

  1. 1911

    Founding member and first Grand Keeper of Records

  2. 1913

    Earns Bachelor of Science at Howard

  3. 1917

    Receives Doctor of Medicine at Howard

  4. Later life

    Practices medicine in Philadelphia for approximately five decades

The enduring example

Cooper's example joins careful organizational stewardship with professional service.

Founder profile 03 / 04

Professor Frank Coleman

1889–1967

First Grand Keeper of Seals

Science • Teaching • Scholarship

Roots

Washington, D.C.

An educator and scientist whose work helped connect Omega's founding principles with academic life.

Frank Coleman joined fellow Howard students Edgar Amos Love and Oscar James Cooper to establish Omega Psi Phi in 1911. He served as its first Grand Keeper of Seals.

Coleman was a graduate of M Street High School in Washington, D.C., and received his Bachelor of Science from Howard University in 1913. He earned a Master of Science from the University of Chicago and pursued advanced training at the University of Pennsylvania.

He served as a professor and head of the Physics Department at Howard University, and he was a U.S. Army officer during World War I. His career embodies the fraternity's stated commitment to scholarship and perseverance.

Milestones

  1. 1911

    Founding member and first Grand Keeper of Seals

  2. 1913

    Earns Bachelor of Science at Howard

  3. After 1913

    Advanced study at Chicago and Pennsylvania

  4. Career

    Professor and head of physics at Howard University

The enduring example

Coleman's years in education show scholarship as a lifelong contribution, not only a collegiate distinction.

Founder profile 04 / 04

Dr. Ernest Everett Just

1883–1941

Faculty adviser and founder

Discovery • Biology • Mentorship

Roots

Charleston, South Carolina

A scientist from the Carolinas whose groundbreaking research made him an internationally respected biologist.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Ernest Everett Just studied at Dartmouth College and began teaching at Howard University in 1907. As the founding students' faculty adviser, he helped establish Omega Psi Phi in his office in Howard's Science Building on November 17, 1911.

Just was a pioneering experimental biologist who studied fertilization, cell surfaces, and the early development of marine organisms. He became the first African American to study and work at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, where his careful experiments became influential.

Just received the NAACP's Spingarn Medal in 1915 and completed a doctorate in zoology and physiology at the University of Chicago in 1916. Despite racial barriers in American academic institutions, he pursued research in European laboratories and developed a respected international scientific career.

His South Carolina roots give the Mighty Sixth District a direct geographic connection to a founder whose work changed how scientists approached the living cell.

Milestones

  1. 1907

    Graduates from Dartmouth and begins teaching at Howard

  2. 1909

    Begins work at Marine Biological Laboratory

  3. 1911

    Serves as faculty adviser and founder of Omega

  4. 1915

    Receives NAACP Spingarn Medal

  5. 1916

    Earns Ph.D. from University of Chicago

The enduring example

Just's groundbreaking research and mentorship reflect the fraternity's vision of excellence in scholarship and uplift.

November 17, 1911–2026

The best way to honor their vision is to carry it forward.

Iota Nu Nu continues the tradition through scholarship, mentorship, community service, and brotherhood in Eastern North Carolina.

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