A house RESOLUTION

 

TO CONGRATULATE MEMBERS OF THE SIGMA PI CHAPTER OF OMEGA PSI PHI FRATERNITY INCORPORATED ON THE OCCASION OF THEIR FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY AND TO WISH THEM CONTINUED SUCCESS IN ALL OF THEIR FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

 

Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly is pleased to pause in its deliberations to congratulate the Sigma Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated as it celebrates its fiftieth anniversary on April 19, 2025, in Aiken County; and

 

Whereas, officially chartered on April 19, 1975, the chapter's founding members included Nathaniel Dicks, Gene A. Bell, John R. Brightharp, Willie Stewart, William Clyburn, Theodore N. Peoples, Clifton S. Key, George L. Blalock, Loran Simpkins, Genovesi Mitchell, and Willie F. Wright; and

 

Whereas, with renewed energy the fledgling chapter set out to expand its ranks and, in the fall of 1975 initiated an inaugural line of four new members. The chapter continued to grow, committing itself to community service while living up to the fraternity's cardinal principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift; and

 

Whereas, Sigma Pi Chapter has a service area that includes Aiken, Edgefield, Barnwell, Allendale, and southern Lexington counties. Members focus on community service, scholarship programs, social action, voter registration, education, career development, food distribution, and is a Silver Life member of the NAACP. The annual Mother2Son Gala, derived from the poem by poet Langston Hughes, is a male-mentoring program for young men ages five to eighteen. Mothers attend breakout sessions that emphasize selfcare, and mental, physical, and spiritual upbringing; and

 

Whereas, Titans of Omega Male Mentor Academy, Sigma Pi's other signature program, is for those in eighth through twelfth grades, who come from at-risk and non-at-risk environments, who can benefit from academic, social, and economic uplift, and who have a desire to be nurtured and developed intellectually and spiritually through persistent and deliberate instruction; and

 

Whereas, Sigma Pi Chapter has awarded more than one hundred thousand dollars in scholarships for college-bound high school students; eighteen thousand dollars have gone to HBCUs in-and out-of-state; with other donations benefitting the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Museum and Childhood Home Place, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Ghana, Africa's "Bore Hole Well" construction project; and

 

Whereas, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated is a historically African American organization founded on the campus of Howard University in 1911. The fraternity focuses on a National Social Action Program in the areas of health, housing, civil rights, and education; and

 

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is honored to recognize the Sigma Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated as its rich history and storied legacy continues to attract and build a strong and effective force of men dedicated to its cardinal principles. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, congratulate members of the Sigma Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated on the occasion of their fiftieth anniversary, and wish them continued success in all of their future endeavors.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Nathaniel Dicks, Basileus of Sigma Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated.

----XX----