OMEGA PSI PHI FRATERNITY, INC

 63^rd Eighth District Meeting

Kansas City, Missouri April 12^th – 15^th 2012

“Home of the Fountain City Ques”

Host Chapter: Beta Omega Chapter

Location: Holiday Inn Kansas City CoCo Key Water Resort Kansas City, MO

District Marshal: Brother Dr. Michael Till

Click Here For Details

                                                                                                      SPOT LIGHT ON.........

I  am pleased to inform you that the updated scholarship information is now posted online at www.oppf.org/scholarship. As communicated at the Midyear meeting, deadline for submission to me is March 16, 2012. It is important for the candidates to start working now to complete their applications. I am truly excited about the caliber of young brothers in the Eighth District, and I look forward to an overwhelming response. My committee will work hard for the District, and our hope would be that the Eighth will be well represented on the International level. Please share this information with the district.

Harry O. Willis

8th District Scholarship Chairman

FOUNDERS: Dr. Ernest E. Just, Brother Frank Coleman, Dr. Oscar J. Cooper, Bishop Edgar A. Love

Brother (Reverend Dr.) Robert C. Scott

Centennial Eighth District Representative

P. O. Box 1148

Florissant, MO 63031

8thDistrictDR@oppf.org

314.609.2144 cell; 314.839.1297 home



NOTICE FROM BROTHER (REVERENED) ROBERT C. SCOTT
8TH DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE
PLEASE READ AND TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ACTIONS AS NECESSARY

January 10, 2012





Brother Keith Crowell                                                     
Kansas City, Missouri 64156

Re: Interim Suspension

Dear Brother Crowell,

Last week, I have received a number of disturbing reports alleging that you virtually single-handedly created several disturbances during (and immediately after) the tenth annual Omega Ball, which was held Saturday, December 31, 2011, at the Overland Park, Kansas, Sheraton hotel.  Those reports include allegations that you verbally berated a hotel bartender who refused to serve you after he observed you to be visibly intoxicated.  After this refusal, you are alleged to have gone behind the bar and forcibly attempted to get a drink notwithstanding the bartender’s refusal to serve you.  In addition, you are alleged to have entered the ladies bathroom and crudely announced your intention to use their bathroom.  And finally, you are alleged to have been the catalyst for two fights in the main hotel lobby in front of party guests and other hotel staff resulting in a decorative vase being destroyed.

         As such, if any or all of the foregoing allegations are true, I am deeply concerned about your ability to control your rage such that you pose a significant danger to yourself and others around you.

       Therefore, I have ordered Brother Stefan C. Hughes, Eighth District Counselor, to investigate these allegations and report his findings to me.  In the meantime, pursuant to the Fraternity Member Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Policy, Chapter II, Article VIII, Section 1, I am immediately placing you on “interim suspension” pending the conclusion of this investigation.

Indeed, in my humble judgment, and under these circumstances, I feel compelled to place you on “interim suspension” to ensure the safety and well-being of brothers, other individuals as well as the preservation of property.

Note that during this “interim suspension” you are denied access to [any and all] Fraternity activities unless, in my sole judgment, I expressly permit you to participate in such functions. 

·         You shall cease from wearing fraternal paraphernalia.

·         You shall cease from identifying yourself as a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated.

         Furthermore, I will notify the Eighth District Keeper of Records and Seal to publish this order on the Eighth District website.  Likewise, I will request this matter be published on the Fraternity’s website so that all brothers are notified you are strictly prohibited from attending any Fraternity functions pending the conclusion of this investigation.

In closing, I take these allegations very seriously and should any of the allegations be substantiated, I will strongly consider sanctions provided for within the Code of Conduct including expulsion! In the meantime, I expect you to govern yourself accordingly and for you to fully cooperate with the district counselor’s investigation.

Respectfully,

Brother (Reverend Dr.) Robert C. Scott
Eighth District Representative

Copies (via email) Furnished to:

Brother Andrew Ray, Grand Basileus

Brother Tony Knox, First Vice Grand Basileus

Brother Christopher Cooper, Esq., Grand Counselor

Brother Curtis Baylor, Grand KRS

Brother Kenneth Barnes, International Executive Director

Brother Johnny Lynch, Tenth District Representative (courtesy copy)

Brother James Ball, Eighth District KRS

Brother Stefan C. Hughes, Esq., Eighth District Counselor

Brother Glenn E. Rice, Immediate Past Eighth District Representative

Brother Frank Scott, Basileus, Omicron Xi Chapter

                              



AMERICA'S LARGEST BLACK FRATERNITIES UNITE WITH BIG BROTHERS BIGSISTERS TO HELP BOSYS WITH ABSENT FATHERS SUCCEED!!

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and leaders of the nation’s largest African American fraternities enter National Mentoring Month 2010 with a bold action plan to significantly increase the number of black Big Brothers, beginning this year.

The plan is the result of Big Brothers Big Sisters African American Mentoring Summit in Atlanta in December. Sponsored by the Arby’s Foundation, the Summit was the culmination of Big Brothers Big Sisters recently launched collaborative partnership with Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi fraternities aimed at getting more black men engaged in long-term mentoring. Recognizing that children of color, particularly African American boys, disproportionately represent children waiting to be matched, Big Brothers Big Sisters and its African American Roundtable (internal and external advisors) have made engaging black men a priority.

During the summit, Big Brothers Big Sisters’ national president, Karen Mathis, hosted agency leaders, heads of the Alphas, Kappas and Omegas, mentoring advocates/supporters,100BlackMenandSusanTaylor’sNationalCaresMentoringMovement. Georgia Congressman John L. Lewis and Rev. Dr. W. Wilson Goode, Jr. shared strategies with the national non-profit and fraternity leaders about how to build national movements. Goode, former Philadelphia mayor and member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, is the father of the national non-profit’s successful Amachi Mentoring Children of Prisoners programandservesontheboardofBigBrothersBigSistersSoutheasternPennsylvania. Lewis,arenownedcivil rights leader, is a member of Phi Beta Sigma, another fraternity expected to join the national black fraternity mentoring collaboration.
Details of the plan include specific actions by fraternity leadership and chapters as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and its agencies, particularly those identified as serving the largest number of African American families.

Fraternity Chapter Action Plan
· Build relationships with other chapters in the community, Big Brothers Big Sisters, elected officials and other community leaders to support children through mentoring.
· Actively recruit volunteers, particularly men.
· Organize recruitment and awareness events such as Barbershop Recruitment, Final Four Parties, social mixers that increase awareness of how the fraternity is activating citizens to make a difference through mentoring with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

· Work in houses of worship, work places, and in the community to encourage others to participate.
· Seek leadership roles as board members and other key volunteer positions with Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies.
· Consider career opportunities with Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies.
· Support local agency fundraising activities, such as “Bowl for Kids’ Sake”, golf tournaments and other activities.
Individual Fraternity Member Action Plan

· Contact mentoringbrothers.org to learn how to become a Big Brother in the community-based or school based program or support Big Brothers Big Sisters with a donation.
·Actively recruit other volunteers, particularly men. ·    Work in houses of worship, places of work, and in the community to encourage others to participate. ·    Seek leadership roles as board members and other key volunteer positions with Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies. ·Consider career opportunities with Big Brothers Big Sisters. ·    Support local fundraising activities, such as “Bowl for Kids’ Sake”, golf tournaments and other activities. Fraternities’ Region, Providence and District Action Plan
·Integrate the partnership into region’s strategic direction and programming and to drive performance by including progress reports at board meetings, leadership conferences, national conventions, regional conventions and in house journals.
·Appoint leadership at the region, providence and district levels.

In addition to joining forces with Big Brothers Big Sisters to develop new national initiatives, the fraternities will expand successful programs launched in recent years by individual local agencies and fraternity chapters.  Big Brothers Big Sisters is also working to build partnerships with two other historically black fraternities -- Phi Beta Sigma, which has a tradition of formal mentoring through its Sigma Beta Club, and Iota Phi Theta, which has a history of participation in Big Brothers Big Sisters.
 
Existing Big Brothers Big Sisters engagements with the Omegas include:
 
Omega Psi Phi
Through Operation Lamp Light the fraternity is working with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit to adopt a Detroit high school and build a relationship with a core group of 13- to 14-year-old boys... Some Omegas are spending one-on-one time with boys while the larger fraternity supports bimonthly workshops or field trips to museums and sporting events.
 
Syndicated sports radio hosts and Omega Psi Phi members The 2 Live Stews (Doug and Ryan Stewart) biological brothers who are also Big Brothers are leading a viral campaign sending men to MentoringBrothers.org, a micro site established with a grant from the Arby's Foundation.
 
In Louisville the Theta Omega chapter created its Men of Quality Program, which mentors youth based on the fraternity's four cardinal principles - Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance and Uplift through a Lifestyles Choices Forum.
 
About Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. is an organizational Brotherhood consisting of over 750 chapters throughout the world.  The fraternity is a historically Black fraternal organization that provides and promotes programs of social, cultural and economic uplift to the communities we serve.  For almost a century, we have recruited, trained and deployed men of color for leadership roles in service to humanity. Our social action programs touch the lives of hundreds of thousands of families and individuals each year. Whether our efforts result in entertaining an audience, educating a group of young people; or simply helping those in need, we have developed a reputation for delivering programs and projects that make a difference in the lives of those we serve.
 
About Big Brothers Big Sisters
Big Brothers Big Sisters helps vulnerable children beat the odds.  The organization depends on donations to help conduct background checks on volunteers to ensure child safety; and provide ongoing support for children, families and volunteers to build and sustain long-lasting relationships, key to successful mentoring.  Big Brothers Big Sisters is proven by independent research to improve children's odds for succeeding in school, behaving nonviolently, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and breaking negative cycles.  Headquartered in Philadelphia and with nearly 400 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves more than a quarter million children.


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