Omega Psi Phi (ΩΨΦ) is a is an international fraternity with over 700 undergraduate and graduate chapters. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911 by three Howard University juniors, Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty adviser, Dr. Ernest Everett Just. Omega Psi Phi is the first predominantly African-American fraternity to be founded at a historically black university. ^[1]

Since its founding, the Fraternity has worked to attract and build a strong and effective force of men dedicated to its Cardinal Principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift. Throughout the world, many notable members are recognized as leaders in the arts, academics, athletics, entertainment, business, civil rights, education, government, and science fields. A few notable members include Roy Wilkins, Benjamin Hooks, Vernon Jordan, Dr. Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., Rev. Jesse Jackson, William H. Hastie (U.S. Virgin Islands) and L. Douglas Wilder, Representative James Clyburn, Earl Graves, Bill Cosby, Tom Joyner, Charles Bolden, General William “Kip” Ward, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Vince Carter, Steve Harvey, Rickey Smiley, and numerous presidents of colleges and universities. Over 250,000 men have been initiated into Omega Psi Phi throughout the United States, Bermuda, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, South Korea, Japan, Liberia, Germany, and Kuwait.^[1]

In 1927, at the urging of fraternity member Carter G. Woodson, the fraternity made National Negro Achievement Week an annual observance and it continues today as Black History Month. Since 1945, the fraternity has undertaken a National Social Action Program to meet the needs of African Americans in the areas of health, housing, civil rights, and education. Omega Psi Phi has been a patron of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) since 1955, providing an annual gift of $350,000 to the program.

Omega Psi Phi is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), which is composed of nine predominately African-American Greek-letter sororities and fraternities that promote interaction through forums, meetings, and other media for the exchange of information, and engage in cooperative programming and initiatives throughout the world. The (NPHC) currently represents over 2.5 million members. ^[2]

Omega Psi Phi District Links[link]

• First District - Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut
• Second District - New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland
• Third District - Washington D.C. and Virginia
• Fourth District - Ohio and West Virginia
• Fifth District - Kentucky and Tennessee
• Sixth District - North Carolina and South Carolina
• Seventh District - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi
• Eighth District - Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota
• Ninth District - Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas
• Tenth District - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
• Twelfth District - Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho
• Thirteeth International District - West Germany; South Korea; The Virgin Islands, Nassau, Bahamas; Hawaii, Monrovia, Liberia; Panama Canal Zone; and Okinawa, Japan

Omega Psi Phi Chapter Locator[link]

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Chapters are located worldwide. Use the Fraternity's chapter locator to contact a local chapter.

Centennial Celebration[link]

Omega Psi Phi celebrated its centennial during the week of July 27–31, 2011 in Washington D.C., becoming distinguished as only the third African-American collegiate fraternity to reach the century mark.^[3] The Centennial Celebration recognized the impact of the Fraternity in communities over the past 100 years, honored Omega Men for achievement in all walks of life, reiterated Omega Psi Phi's commitment to providing unparalleled community service and scholarship, and charted the Fraternity’s future activities.

Internationally Mandated Programs[link]

Each Chapter administers Internationally Mandated Programs every year:^[4]

Achievement Week – A week in November that seeks to recognize individuals who have made notable contributions to society. During the Achievement Week, a High School Essay Contest is held and the winner usually receives a scholarship award.

Scholarship – The Charles R. Drew Scholarship Program is to encourage academic progress among the organizations undergraduate members. A portion of the fraternity's budget is designated for the Charles R. Drew Scholarship Commission, which awards scholarships to members and non-members.

Social Action Programs – All chapters are required to participate in programs that uplift their society. Many participate in activities like: voter registration, illiteracy programs, mentoring programs, fundraisers, and charitable organizations such as American Diabetes Association, United Way, and the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation.

Talent Hunt Program – Each chapter is required to hold a yearly talent contest, to encourage young people to expose themselves to the Performing Arts. Individuals who win these talent contests receive an award, such as a scholarship.

Omega Psi Phi chapter members marching in an Independence Day parade, Ypsilanti, Michigan

Memorial Service – March 12 is Omega Psi Phi Memorial Day. Every chapter of the Fraternity performs a ritualistic memorial service to remember members who have died.

Reclamation and Retention – This program is an effort to encourage inactive members to become fully active and participate in the fraternity's programs.

College Endowment Funds – The fraternity donates thousands of dollars to Historically Black Colleges and Universities each year.

Health Initiatives – Chapters are required to coordinate programs that will encourage good health practices. Programs that members involve themselves in include HIV/AIDS awareness, blood drives, prostate cancer awareness, and sickle cell anemia awareness programs.

Voter Registration, Education and Motivation – Coordination activities that promote voter registration and mobilization.

NAACP – A Life Membership at Large in the NAACP is required by all chapters and districts.^[5]

Membership[link]

Omega Psi Phi recognizes undergraduate and graduate membership. College students must be working toward a bachelor's degree at a four-year institution, have at least 36 semester credits, and maintain at least a 2.5 grade point average. For the graduate chapter, an applicant must already possess a bachelor's degree.^[6] The fraternity grants honorary membership to men who have contributed to society in a positive way on a national or international level. For example, Charles Young (March 12, 1864 – January 2, 1922) was the third African American graduate of West Point, the first black U.S. national park superintendent, the first African American military attaché, and the highest ranking black officer (Colonel) in the United States Army until his death in 1922.

National Pan-Hellenic Council membership[link]

In 1930, Omega Psi Phi became one of 5 founding members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). Today, the NPHC is composed of nine international black Greek-letter sororities and fraternities and promotes interaction through forums, meetings, and other mediums for the exchange of information, and engages in cooperative programming and initiatives through various activities and functions.^[7]

Grand Basilei[link]

a. Finished unexpired term of Atkins^[9]

List of Omega Psi Phi Grand Conclaves[link]

"Unofficial" practices[link]

Like many fraternal organizations, Omega Psi Phi has a rich tradition of terminology and practices that are officially unsanctioned by their national leadership. While some traditions are naturally secret, many are freely expressed in public. A popular one is referring to members as "Q Dogs" or "Ques" for short.^[35] Another is the practice of members voluntarily undergoing branding of the letters, or variations and designs based on them (such as two linked Omega symbols), on their skin. The brands often are displayed in public as a matter of pride; some new members first learn of the fraternity by seeing members bearing brands.^[36]

Footnotes[link]

African American portal

External links[link]

• Official website
• Omega Psi Phi Centennial Page on Facebook
• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Hymn sung at NYC's City Hall on YouTube (0.44 secs)
• Omega Psi Phi stack on Delicious.com

Kevin "K-Mac" McCall
Kevin McCall 2010 Photo Shoot
Background information
Birth name	Kevin McCall
Also known as	K-Mac
Born	(1985-07-25) July 25, 1985 (age 26)
Origin	Watts, California
Genres	Hip hop, R&B, Pop
Occupations	Singer, Songwriter, Producer
Years active	2007-present
Labels	CBE, Universal Music Group
Associated acts	Chris Brown, Big Sean, Tyga
Website	http://www.kevinmccalljr.

Kevin Lamar McCall, Jr., (born July 25, 1985), better known as Kevin McCall or K-Mac, is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and rapper signed to Universal Music Group and CBE (Chris Brown Entertainment). He wrote on "Last Train to Paris", and was nominated with Chris Brown for Deuces on the 2011 Grammys. He is as of African American and Chinese descent.^[1]

He is also a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

Kevin Lamar McCall Jr. was born on July 25, 1985 in, LA Watts, California. He is the 2nd oldest out of 3 sisters and 1 brother. Kevin affectionately known to friends and family as “K-MAC” was introduced to music at a very young age by his family who noticed Kevin’s desire, talent and interest for music early on. Like many artist Kevin’s love of music stemmed from his time singing in the church choir.

In 2007 Kevin graduated from Washington State University with a degree in Social Science and a Minor in Music and Ethnic Studies. Although Kevin taught himself piano, studying music in school allowed him to completely develop his skills as a songwriter and producer and artist.

Once back in Los Angeles, Kevin began networking and creating a buzz with his music as he saturated the web via Youtube, Myspace and Facebook. In his short time as a new songwriter and producer in the industry Kevin, has been fortunate to collaborate with both established and up and coming artist such as: Chris Brown, Keri Hilson, Tank, Trey Songz, Pleasure P, Keisha Cole, Kelly Rowland and Rich Girl just to name a few. As a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc, Kevin has created a name for himself on the college circuit from performances of his original songs and also songs he has written for his fraternity.

In 2009 Kevin jumped head first into the music industry by producing 10 tracks off Chris Browns First Mixtape “In my Zone”. The mixtape included hits such as Big Booty Judy (Remix) by Kevin McCall feat Chris Brown and Ludacris, Twitter, Too Freaky and Work wit it just to name a few.

In May 2010 Kevin was asked to produce tracks for another mixtape entitled Fan of Fan collaboration between Chris Brown and Tyga (Young Money). While many fans believe this mixtape could have easily been an album Kevin is ecstatic with the success of the mixtape which includes a break out hit Deuces by Chris Brown feat Tyga and Kevin McCall. Deuces has steadily been climbing the billboard hot 100 and R and B Hip Hop charts.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• A.D.H.D. (2012)

Mixtapes[link]

• Un-invited Guest (Hosted by DJ Ill Will feat. DJ Drama) (2011)
• The EargaZm (Hosted by DJ Ill Will) (2011)

Singles[link]

As featured artist[link]

Production and writing credits[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

• Grammy Awards
  • 2011, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Deuces" (nominated)^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

The Steve Harvey Show (also known as Steve Harvey) is an American sitcom that aired for six seasons from August 25, 1996 to February 17, 2002 on The WB Television Network. It was created by Winifred Hervey and directed by Stan Lathan.

Synopsis[link]

Steve Hightower (Steve Harvey) is a has-been 1970s funk legend who is now a music teacher/Vice-principal at Booker T. Washington High School on Chicago's West Side. Budget cutbacks meant Steve also had to teach drama and art, much to his surprise. Cedric Robinson (Cedric the Entertainer) is a coach at the high school, and Steve's long-time best friend. The principal of Booker T. Washington High is Steve's former classmate, Regina Grier (Wendy Raquel Robinson), who Steve affectionately calls "Piggy", due to the fact that she was overweight as an adolescent.

Steve seemingly meets his match in a pair of his students: Romeo Santana (Merlin Santana), a stylish, popular, self-absorbed ladies' man, and the equally vacuous Stanley Kuznocki, nicknamed Bullethead (William Lee Scott).

In 1997, the show introduced a new character, a secretary named Lovita Jenkins (Terri J. Vaughn), a woman who is fundamentally good in nature, but nonetheless, considerably unrefined in terms of disposition. Cedric and Lovita begin dating, and eventually marry and produce a child. The show also featured a succession of young actresses who served as female foils to Romeo and Bullethead; the longest-lasting of these was Lori Beth Denberg as the overachieving, socially inept Lydia Gutman. Rapper The Lady of Rage also had a recurring role as Coretta Cox, a physically massive, brutish teenaged girl in romantic pursuit of Romeo. She would also call Bullethead a "broke Brad Pitt" whenever he annoyed her.

Steve was part of a fictional singing group called "Steve Hightower and the High Tops," who would temporarily reunite to perform on occasion (the spelling of "High Tops" appears on a promotional poster that hangs on Steve's wall). The members consisted of Steve, T-Bone (played by T.K. Carter, later by Don 'D.C.' Curry), Pretty Tony (played by Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers), and Clyde (played by Jonathan Slocumb). Two of their signature songs (performed several times on the show) were "When the Funk Hits the Fan," and "Break Me Off a Piece of That Funk." Though Cedric was not an original member of the group, he usually sang with them on several events.

A few other recurring characters throughout the series included Cedric's grandmother named "Grandma Puddin'" (played by Cedric the Entertainer) and Regina's boyfriend, former NFL star Warrington Steele (played by Dorien Wilson). Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell appeared in several episodes as "Junior" and "Vincent." Wayne Wilderson portrayed Byron, a "bougie" type character who was a TV producer and a member of the Onyx Club (a professional men's group that Steve and Cedric tried to join). Dwayne Adway played Jordan Maddox, a professional basketball player who was briefly married to Regina before dying during their honeymoon. Ernest Lee Thomas made a couple of appearances as the Reverend who eulogized Maddox, and who married Cedric and Lovita.

Running gags[link]

There were a few recurrent gags throughout the series. For instance, Lovita had several relatives named after products or items (her brother's name was Duracell; she had cousins named "Kinko", "Bruschetta," "Clinique," and "Camay").

Steve also made several references to his well known hot spot "The Nasty Kitty" and his favorite working girl, Bubblicious, even though the strip club is never seen. Steve's topical humor of popular culture was also another recurring gag. One example of these jokes: "When I see that woman, I'm like Shaq doing Shakespeare- I just don't know how to act!". Another recurring gag on the show was despite being a one-time famous musician in the universe of the show, Steve was always mistaken for being other famous musicians. For example, in an episode guest starring Jerry Springer, he refers to him as "That Cop from the Village People." Another episode featured singer Teena Marie, who when Steve went to introduce himself to see if she'd remember him, answers "Oh Yes! Lionel! How are you? Give my best to the rest of The Commodores." (This was in obvious reference to singer Lionel Richie).

Though Regina blossomed into a beautiful, stylish lady, she sometimes displayed her insecurities, and was highly competitive (always displayed childlike exuberance whenever she won a trophy by yelling her signature catch phrase "Bam! In your face!", and once cheated Steve in a game of Scrabble because he played it better than she). In addition, the romantic tension between Steve and Regina eventually blossomed into a relationship.

A very well known gag was Cedric's story about being from Willacoochee, Georgia, where he was raised in a one bedroom shack. The story was never finished, the scene would change or someone would interrupt him. Cedric's love for decking out his Hyundai, which was never seen in the show, was another running gag, as well as offering to take Lovita out to dinner whenever he had a two-for-one coupon at the Sizzler restaurant.

Occasional gags referenced Bullethead's trailer park lifestyle, and Romeo's numerous names (he has used the names Romeo Miguel Jesus Pele Rojas Alejandro Santana). In one episode, he wrote all of his names on paper but never prepared his assignment, resulting in an "F." Lydia almost always displayed an obsession for her classmate/alleged lover, Arthur Rabinowitz (whom Steve referred to as "that polite Jewish boy that does his taxes"), and for her favorite entertainer, Barbra Streisand; however, she had total disdain for classmates "Heather the cheerleader" and "Jennifer the cheerleader". One other gag was that teachers would refer to a student (amongst themselves) due to a condition or appearance ("Helmet Boy" for wearing a special helmet in gym class; "Au Natural Girl" for having a strong body odor, and "Firestarter" for one kid who kept setting items on fire).

Cast[link]

Main cast[link]

• Steve Harvey – Steven "Steve" Hightower
• Cedric the Entertainer – Cedric Jackie Robinson
• Merlin Santana – Romeo Santana
• William Lee Scott – Stanley "Bullethead" Kuznocki
• Wendy Raquel Robinson – Principal Regina Grier-Maddox
• Terri J. Vaughn – Lovita Alizé Jenkins-Robinson (1997–2002)
• Tracy Vilar – Sophia Ortiz (1996–1997)
• Netfa Perry – Sara (1996–1997)
• Ariyan A. Johnson – Aisha (1997–1998)
• Lori Beth Denberg – Lydia Liza Guttman (1998–2002)

Recurring cast[link]

• Kel Mitchell – Vincent (1996–1999)
• Kenan Thompson – Junior (1996–1999)
• T. K. Carter – T-Bone (1996–1999)
• Ronald Isley – Pretty Tony (1996–2001)
• Jonathan Slocumb – Clyde (1996–2001)
• The Lady of Rage – Coretta "The Ox" Cox (1997–2000; credited during season 4 episodes as "Robin Yvette")
• Wayne Wilderson – Byron (1998–2001)
• Dorien Wilson – Warrington Steele (1998–1999)
• Samm Levine – Arthur Rabinowitz (2001)
• Don "D.C." Curry – T-Bone (1999–2001)
• Dwayne Adway – Jordan Maddox (2000)

Special guest appearances[link]

• Teena Marie
• Jerry Springer
• Bow Wow
• Jermaine Dupri
• Teddy Riley
• Snoop Dogg
• Sean Combs
• Kim Fields
• Isabel Sanford
• Judge Greg Mathis
• Antonio Fargas
• Busta Rhymes
• Brian McKnight
• Nikki Cox
• Boris Kodjoe
• Gabrielle Union
• Bumper Robinson

Seasonal ratings in the United States[link]

Series end[link]

In 2001, Harvey decided to pursue other projects. He wished to end the show after the fifth season, but at the insistence of the WB network, reluctantly filmed a 13-episode sixth season.^[7]

The series ended with Regina mulling over a job offer to be a principal at a private school in California. Steve, who doesn't want Regina to go, acts supportive despite his feelings. Regina ends up taking the job; with encouragement from Lydia, Bullethead, and Romeo, Steve decides to go after her to reveal his true feelings. Lydia, Romeo and Bullethead have all graduated by the series' finale. Meanwhile, Cedric and Lovita win the lottery and Lovita goes into labor (Terri J. Vaughn's real-life pregnancy was written into the show that season).

Death of Merlin Santana[link]

On November 9, 2002, nine months after the series ended, Merlin Santana was shot and killed while sitting in his car in South Los Angeles, California. He was 26 years old. The reason for his death is that one of the killers' girlfriend falsely stated that Santana tried to rape her. The airing of The Steve Harvey Show immediately following Santana's death was dedicated to his memory.

Syndication[link]

The series was first distributed to syndication to WB and UPN affiliates in the United States by Columbia TriStar Domestic Television in September 2001, and remained airing in broadcast syndication in some U.S. markets on various local stations (such as WCIU and Me-TV in Chicago) as late as 2008.

The series aired on BET until March 2009, and was on TBS in the United States until September 24, 2011, UK Channel Trouble. It was broadcast on Ion Television until March 16, 2009. TBS missed most of the first inning of Game 6 of the 2008 American League Championship Series, with viewers getting a rerun of The Steve Harvey Show instead. TBS picked up the game just prior to the last out in the bottom of the first, with announcer Chip Caray apologizing to viewers for "technical difficulties." TBS acknowledged there was a problem with one of their routers used in the broadcast transmission of the relay of the telecast from Atlanta.^[8][9]

DVD release[link]

In 2003, Sony Pictures released The Best of the Steve Harvey Show, Vol. 1, on Region 1 DVD. The disc features five episodes of the series.^[10]

Awards and nominations[link]