The seed for Omicron Mu Chapter was planted in 1979 when a young man from California accepted a football scholarship to Weber State College (now University) in Ogden Utah. This young man’s (whose name was Bro. Lawrence Livingston) father at that time was the First Vice Grand Basileus, and eventually became the 39th Grand Basileus of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. His name was Bro. L. Benjamin Livingston. This young man also had an older brother in the fraternity. So, as you can see this young man grew up with Omega and very much wanted to become a part of it. Only problem was that there wasn’t an Omega Psi Phi Fraternity chapter at Weber State College. In fact, there weren’t any chapters of any national black fraternity or sorority in the entire state of Utah at that time.
So, after his freshman year at Weber State College, Lawrence Livingston returned to California to pledge into the fraternity. After doing so, he returned to Weber State College to begin the process of building a chapter. A task that was not easy because blacks in Utah had not seen the black Greek experience and did not realize nor understand the dedication and commitment necessary to pledge into Omega. In fact, during the first year (1981) of building an Omega Psi Phi Fraternity presence on campus, eight men expressed interest and joined the Lampados Club. Unfortunately, of the eight only one entered the fold of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. That one brother was Bro. Elert Gray, who went on to play professional football in the United States Football League for the champion Michigan Panthers. The next fall (1981), two more brothers entered the fold of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Brother Joe Thomas and Brother Steve Baty.
At this point there are a couple of interesting facts to be remembered. First, although many young men up to this point had tried to enter Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., only three demonstrated the dedication and the leadership characteristics to see it through. These three brothers had all seen and learned about Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and the black Greek system from their respective parts of the country. Brother Gray from Las Vegas, Nevada, Brother Thomas from Alabama and Brother Baty from Kansas City, Missouri. Second, that now the seed had begun to blossom from an idea to a small reality, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. in Utah had now become a small entity, an organization with a presence. For the first time young black men at Weber State College could see Omega men in action via social action programs that uplift the community, which helped in keeping the campus and community culturally aware and connected in a true spirit of togetherness.
Because of these efforts, young men who didn’t know about the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. a year ago were now becoming members. Brothers such as Brother Paul Shi, the first non-black member at Weber State College as a Mexican American. Brothers like Fred Cook, the first Utah resident to become a member of our Fraternity and the first one to be initiated in the state of Utah (all the members before him had to travel to California for their initiation ceremonies).
During this time a graduate brother from Denver, Colorado named Brother Wallace Reese accepted a job at Weber State College and became a great help to the brothers as he became the first graduate advisor. In the spring of 1983, almost three years after the building process had begun, the brothers started a line of three Lampados which included Brother Emanuel Crockett, Brother Karl Wilson, and Brother Steve Brown. Eventually a transfer pledgee from California, Brother Gustavus Lawler, was allowed to join the line. This gave the brothers the number of members necessary to petition for a charter.
The dream that started as a small seed, blossom into reality on August 14th, 1983 at the Grand Conclave in Kansas City, Missouri where the Supreme Council approved the petition and Omicron Mu Chapter was born. In doing so, Omicron Mu Chapter became the first chapter of any national black fraternity or sorority to be established in the state of Utah.
Unfortunately, by 1985, the last member of Omicron Mu Chapter graduated and over the following years, the chapter became inactive.
As the doors of Omicron Mu Chapter at Weber State College permanently closed, it wouldn’t be until another 32+ years later that Omicron Mu Chapter was reactivated and reemerged as a graduate Chapter in service of the San Fernando Valley communities across the greater Los Angeles CA area.
The San Fernando Valley has historically been home to numerous men of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Since there was no established Chapter presence in the San Fernando Valley west corridor, in an effort to remain active in the fraternity, brothers in the Valley travelled and joined chapters across the more distant areas of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, over time the distance and elongated travel time required to attend chapter meetings or chapter related functions had become increasingly challenging. As these brothers began too slowly disengage and, in some instances, become inactive from the fraternity, the need to establish a chapter presence in the Valley became critical.
In 2016, the energy of the 80th Grand Conclave in Las Vegas and
In 2016, a spark to galvanize together as brothers was ignited as concerns over local political and social matters across the San Fernando Valley resulted in brothers gathering often to discuss what could be done to address such concerns. One seminal event that fueled the brother’s passion to unite was the ouster of one of the Valley’s few Black female elementary school principals. It became clear that an organizing presence of Omega men was needed in the Valley to help address these types of injustices that began to occur all too frequently. These meetings that the Valley brothers were hosting quickly drew the attention and support of the 32nd 12th District Representative, Brother James Watkins. Support and backing from Brother Ricky Lewis and Brother Kwame Dow, soon followed. It wasn’t long after the brothers of the San Fernando Valley were then encouraged to begin the chapter formation process to bring a viable graduate chapter presence to the Valley. The brothers that attended these initial meetings and contributed to the chapter formation efforts were Brother William Wright, Brother Steven Webb, Brother Kip Wilson III, Brother Darren Witcher, Brother Roland Lewis, Brother Courtney Armstrong, Brother Brian Broughton, Brother Andrew Thomas, Brother Rich O’Neal, Brother Marvin Sims, Brother Lance Gatewood, Brother James Anderson, Brother Stacey Hardnett, Brother James Lockhart and Brother Steve Tolbert.
After a year-long process, the Omicron Mu Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. was chartered on December 8, 2017, as a graduate chapter. The Chapter’s first leadership team comprised of Brother Andrew Thomas as Basileus, Brother Darren Witcher as Vice Basileus, Brother Steven Webb as Keeper of Records and Seal, Brother Rich O’Neal as Keeper of Finance, Brother Wally Wright as Chaplain, and Brother Danny Ritter as Keeper of Peace. The senior brother in the chapter was Brother Marvin “Marvelous” Sims (Kappa Sigma, 1967).
Later that month the brothers of Omicron Mu immediately responded to the call of service by donating food, gifts, gifts card, cash and rent support to a single mother and her son. This effort was recognized as the chapter’s first outreach event.
In May 2018, the brothers of Omicron Mu Chapter participated in its first district meeting during the 73rd 12th District meeting hosted in Long Beach, CA.
Since its inception, the brothers of Omicron Mu Chapter have continued to proudly serve and uplift the communities of the San Fernando Valley through it mandated programs, mentorship initiatives and numerous social action outreach events.
Chartered members of Omicron Mu Graduate Chapter. Top row, Brother James Anderson, Brother Danny Ritter and Brother Stephen Webb. Front row, Brother Richard O’Neal, Brother Darren Witcher, Brother Andrew Thomas, Brother Steve Tolbert and Brother Lance Gatewood
The lineage of Omicron Mu Chapter began and ended with the following lines:
Summer 1980 – The Top Notch Two (Brother Lawrence Livingston and Brother Ralph Porter)
Spring 1981 – The First Prospect (Brother Elbert Gray)
Fall 1981 – The Two Awesome (Brother Joe Thomas and Brother Steve Baty)
Winter 1982 – The One in a Million (Brother Raul Shi)
Winter 1983 – The Lonely Old Man (Brother Freddie Cook)
Spring 1983 – The Lonely E Nu (Brother Karl Wilson)
Fall 1983 – The Mighty First Three O.G.’s (Brother Emanuel Crockett, Brother Gustavus Lawler and Brother Steve Brown)
Spring 1984 – The Four Sons of Thunder (Brother Montone White, Brother Patrick Johnson, Brother Alonzo McDaniel and Brother Darryle McDaniel)
