“He saw men of similar attainment and ideals.”įor their part, the Tri Iotas saw a man who had been working toward uplifting the African American community and had exhibited clear leadership on that goal. Smith, who was the chapter president when Mulholland pledged several weeks ago. “Loki saw leadership and friendship,” says William A. So the filmmaker put in membership papers and the group vetted his application. He wanted to belong to a fraternity that shared his values: “brotherhood and coming together for a common cause and purpose of uplifting the community.” Omega was founded “in a time when lynchings were prevalent,” Mulholland says, and when Jim Crow laws were still in effect. She was the first white student to integrate Tougaloo College in Jackson, Miss., a historically black school, and is recognized as the first white “sista” in the largest and most prestigious all-black sorority, Delta Sigma Theta.ĭelta and Omega are brother/sister organizations. Though her Southern parents taught her racial superiority, her Christian beliefs pushed Mulholland to reject such discrimination. Seated at the counter, from left, are Tougaloo College professor John Salter,and students Joan Trumpauer and Anne Moody. (Fred Blackwell | The Clarion-Ledger via AP file) A group of white people pour sugar, ketchup and mustard over the heads of Tougaloo College student demonstrators at a sit-in demonstration at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson, Miss., on May 28, 1963. His mother was one of the white students who joined a sit-in at a Woolworth’s segregated lunch counter in Jackson, Miss., where she was spit upon by a crowd of angry white townspeople. Mulholland absorbed the fraternity’s principles from his earliest days, he says. Other projects include voter registration, health efforts, fatherhood initiatives and the annual back-to-school barbecue/backpack giveaway. Tri Iota brothers are leaders with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and numerous churches. Others hold prominent positions in education and medicine with the University of Utah and other institutions of higher education.” “Many brothers are members of the United States armed forces stationed at Hill Air Force Base and Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City. “Although a small chapter, we continue to have a big impact” across Utah, the group’s president, Emmette W. The men meet as a group monthly, while the numerous committees huddle more often. It currently has about 30 members, of which 26 are active. So, in 1990, several older members, who had come from other states, decided to launch a graduate chapter to be known as Iota Iota Iota or Tri Iota. Omega established its first undergraduate chapter at Weber State University in 1983, says the Utah group’s website, but within a couple of years, many members had graduated. How did it land in the Beehive State, which has a relatively tiny African American population? Virgin Islands, Korea, Japan, Liberia, Germany and Kuwait. Omega has grown now to include more than 700 chapters throughout the United States, Bermuda, Bahamas, U.S.
The frat’s “cardinal principles” - manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift - led to the creation of a national social action program “to meet the needs of African Americans in the areas of health, housing, civil rights and education.” It was “the first black national fraternal organization to be founded at a historically black college.” 17, 1911, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., according to the group’s website. The Omega Psi Phi fraternity was founded Nov. Lynch did acknowledge, though, that Mulholland “will bring diversity and inclusion.” How they got here The group welcomed its first white member “with open arms,” the pastor says. He has dedicated his life to the civil rights movement.” “There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for this community. “Loki represents our principles,” Lynch says. The chapter’s vice president, Marlin Lynch, the independent pastor of Kingdom Huddle in Salt Lake City, echoes that sentiment. Loki’s documentary filmmaking about race is a good attribute to commit to the black community.” “Ours is a service organization,” Burch says, “and we are always looking for men who will get out and do something for the community. It was Mulholland’s work and activism that prompted Robert Burch, an Omega member since 1980, to invite the white man to apply. His latest documentary, “ After Selma: The Fight for the Right to Vote Continues,” is further evidence of his lifelong focus on justice for African Americans.
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