Chapter History

The Eta Delta Delta Chapter was chartered July 29, 1988 at the 65th annual Grand Conclave in Dallas, Texas by nine dedicated undergraduate brothers.

After only a year of being chartered, the chapter made a strong presence at the 1990 District Meeting when Brother James Parham was recognized as 3rd District Undergraduate Basileus. This led into the 1991 District meeting when the chapter made a clean sweep winning all undergraduate awards. The chapter was recognized as the 3rd District Undergraduate Chapter of the Year as well as brother Stanwyn Becton was awarded as Undergraduate Omega Man of the Year and Basileus of the Year.

Our charter members exhibited exceptional qualities of leadership across all walks of campus life. Just to name a few, brother James Parham was NPHC president as well as President of the Association for the Advancement of Black Males. Brothers Vernon June and Corey Cokes were also active members of the George Mason track team.

Even at its early beginnings, the Eta Delta Delta Chapter has made a significant impact on the George Mason University Campus. Brothers Roderick C. Young and Meddie Brown were the first students to graduate from the GMU Summer Transition program designed for minority students developed in the early to mid-1980. Although they were not a part of the first recruiting class, they were the first to graduate from the program. The chapter also began the “Roderick C. Young Scholarship” which was given to one Mason student annually. One of the biggest programs the Eta Delta Delta chapter put on for the Mason community was the “Bridging the Gap” program. Coming from one of the most culturally diverse universities in the country, there came about a lot of hostility and misconceptions specifically between the black and white Greek letter organizations on campus. The purpose of the program was to unite the GMU campus. In doing so our brothers set up a bonfire in which they uniformly broke down the misconceptions that black Greeks just beat each other up and go around yelling all the time, and that white Greeks just get drunk and rowdy and never engage in community service. It was a teaching moment about the rich history of black Greek organizations and the life time commitment to community. It was also a teach moment about how much community involvement there is within the white Greeks. Out of that, we had a forum, the first of its kind, for incoming freshman with NPHC President Brother James Parham, the president of the IFC and the Pan-Hellenic Council.

With the chapter’s next era of membership, the brothers continued to persevere through adversity and maintained the high standards set forth by the charter members. Brothers Louis Sales and Perry Gaskins made some of the greatest athletic accomplishments that George Mason had ever seen. Brother Louis Sales was an All-American in the 4 x 400m relay as well as the 400m hurtles, member of the 1996 Olympic festival team, a participant in the 1996 Olympic trials, as well as a leading force on when George Mason finished 2nd place in the NCAA National Indoor Track & Field Championships. Brother Perry Gaskins also competed in the 1996 Olympic festival and Olympic trials. Perry Gaskins was also an All-American in the Shot Put and an IC4A Champion in the Shot Put. To this day Perry still holds the record at George Mason for the shot put and discus. Andrew Fingall was a member of the George Mason Basketball team and eventually went on to play professional basketball over in Luxembourg and China after graduating from GMU. Antonio White and Deonn Henderson were also notable athletes on the George Mason Football team and Track team respectively.

The brothers of the Eta Delta Delta Chapter made many notable accomplishments in the field of athletics; however, this did not deter the brothers from making their impact on the campus community. Between the years of 2006 and 2008, this chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. made some of the biggest accomplishments from any organization that this campus has ever seen. In the 2006-07 academic year, the chapter was recognized as the highest GPA in all of Fraternity and Sorority Life. That same year, the chapter was awarded the Council of Student Umbrella’s award as well as the Community Service of the Year Award. On Saturday May 5th, 2007 the chapter was recognized by the GMU Chapter of NAACP at their 2nd Annual Freedom Fund Banquet for our commitment to not only the African-American community, but to the Mason community as a whole. Specifically, the school recognized brother Tarek Hbeichi for the Student Leadership Award as well as Brother Leonard Coleman being recognized as the New Member of the Year. On Sunday April 29th, 2007 Craig E. Ellis and Tarek Hbeichi were inducted into Order of Omega Greek Honor Society. On Sunday May 6th, 2007 Tarek Hbeichi was elected President of the GMU NPHC and Leonard Coleman was elected to his second term as Secretary.

After being absent from campus for a few years, the chapter was revived in 2011. Once again the chapter brought a long string of leaders that heavily impacted on the environment of George Mason. On the athletic side, Brothers Bryce Lewis, Isaiah Tate, Paris Bennett, Mike Morrison, and Sherrod Wright were all members of the Division I George Mason Basketball team. Brothers Tate & Morrison eventually went on to play professional basketball in European Leagues overseas. Brothers Jaaziah Bethea and Seth Robertson were also notable members of the George Mason Wrestling Team. As well as in the Mason community Brother Garrett Joyner was responsible for chartering the GMU chapter of the National Society of Black Accountants (NABA). Likewise Brother Lorne Powell was a part of founding the organization G.E.N.T. Men established for the development of the collegiate black male. Brother Seth Robertson also served as the president of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) as well as being the Universities first recipient of the Black Endowment Scholarship presented by the GMU Alumni chapter. On April 20, 2013 The Eta Delta Delta Chapter was once again recognized as the Third Districts Undergraduate Chapter of the Year.

Through it all this chapter as continually year after year completed all mandated programs to the highest standards of Omega as well as exemplifying the cardinal principles of Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance, and Uplift in their everyday walks of life. From the quality of leadership in athletics and organizations this chapter has set forth a high standard of excellence to be upheld by its members.

Chapter Powerpoint: Click Here

 

 

 

©2007 Eta Delta Delta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Inc. All Rights Reserved