University of Pittsburgh’s Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to Celebrate Centennial Anniversary Jan. 18-21

PITTSBURGH—The year 2013 marks the centennial anniversary of the founding of the University of Pittsburgh’s Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the first intercollegiate Greek-lettered fraternity for African Americans. To commemorate the occasion, the Omicron Chapter will host a Centennial Celebration Weekend Jan. 18-21, featuring, among other events, a centennial exhibition dedication, a seminar on diversity issues, and a Martin Luther King Jr. candlelight vigil.

Headlining the weekend’s festivities will be the Omicron Centennial Ball and Dinner, at which Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg will deliver remarks, just as the late Pitt Chancellor Samuel Black McCormick did at the fraternity’s historic introductory banquet in 1913. Other presenters will include keynote speaker Chaka Fattah, U.S. Congressman for the Second District of Pennsylvania and an Alpha Phi Alpha member, and Mark S. Tillman, general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

The following centennial celebration activities are free and open to the public:

Friday, Jan. 18
Diversity for Breakthrough Performance
1 p.m.
O’Hara Student Center, 4024 O’Hara St., Oakland
A seminar on diversity issues, facilitated by award-winning author and 1985 Omicron Chapter initiate Thomas Brooks (ENGR ’88).

Omicron Centennial Exhibition Dedication
4 p.m.
Hillman Library, Ground Floor Lobby, 3960 Forbes Ave., Oakland
An exhibition featuring memorabilia and photographs revealing the history of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity on Pitt’s campus; exhibition will run through February 2013.

Centennial Stroll Competition and Step Exhibition
7 p.m.
O’Hara Student Center, 4024 O’Hara St., Oakland
A set of choreographed dance routines performed by fraternity members.

Monday, Jan. 21
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Candlelight Vigil
7 p.m.
O’Hara Student Center, 4024 O’Hara St., Oakland
Ceremony honoring King, a noted member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. A discussion will be held following the vigil.

About Pitt’s Omicron Chapter
Founded on Jan. 30, 1913, the Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has initiated numerous notable Pitt alumni, including journalist Frank Bolden (EDUC ’34), 1936 Olympic gold medalist John Woodruff (A&S ’39), and judge Paul Simmons (A&S ’46), President Jimmy Carter’s first African American judicial appointee and the first Black U.S. District Court judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

About Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
Founded on Dec. 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has continued to supply voice and vision to the struggle of African Americans and other people of color around the world. The fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Paul Robeson, Andrew Young, Edward Brooke, and Cornel West. The fraternity, through its more than 600 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.

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