Catching Up Wth Our Citizen of the Year Award Winner: Rev. Delmon Coates

An enduring legacy of Gamma Pi chapter is its strong ties with the local Prince George’s County Community. The chapter’s annual Achievement Week observance is always highly anticipated and demonstrates the community commitment in a very real way. On Sunday, December 21, a group of Gamma Pi chapter members, led by Bro. Patrick Johnson, presented the chapter’s Citizen of the Year award to Rev. Delmon Coates of Mount Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton. Rev. Coates was unable to receive the award in person during Gamma Pi’s Achievement Week on November 15 because he was leading a mission of 50 church members to Ghana. Another member of the chapter, Bro. Marcus Davis, serves as Music Director at Mount Ennon. The citizenship plaque was presented during both the 8 a.m and 11 a.m. worship services and several Omega Psi Phi Brothers from other area chapters joined Gamma Pi's Johnson, Davis and Brother William Reese (all members of the church) in making the presentation

Gamma Pi’s successful Achievement Week has been recognized in the local media. An article about the chapter's awarding of $20,000 in college scholarhips was published in the Prince George’s Gazette on December 18 and a full-page article about Achievement Week, including a photo, was published in the November 20-26 editon of The Washington Informer (scroll down to page 13 after clicking on the URL).

Because of the strength of our community service work, Gamma Pi is a three-time Chapter of the Year winner for the five-state Second District of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., most recently in 2006. We enjoy engaging the community and we appreciate those leaders (like Rev. Coates) and organizations that partner with us on a variety of projects from helping our seniors enjoy their golden years to working with our youth on geting a good start in life.

Our Role on the Pan Hellenic Council: How Black Greeks Make a Difference

by Bro. William Smith

On December 10th, the Prince George's County Council of the National Pan Hellenic Council met to finalize yet another drive to support county youth development and achievement. This time, local fraternities and sororities came together to raise approximately $3,000 in donations for a Uniform Drive in support of needy students at the Drew Freeman Middle School. This activity exemplifies the honorable and courageous history forged by Black Greek Organizations to influence the African American community, and position themselves at the forefront of civic action, community service, and philanthropy.

The National Pan Hellenic Council (NPHC), which serves as the organizing body of the nine Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs), including, of course, our Fraternity, was established at Howard University in May 1930. Brother Mathew Bullock (Omega Phi Phi) was appointed the first chairman. The NPHC mission is to coordinate and further program unity among its constituent members at colleges, universities, and communities in which alumni(ae) chapters are located.

Too often the deeds of BGLOs go unnoticed and the public often fails to acknowledge their contributions. While many of the accomplishments of the NPHC are often obscure in appearance, the need for and impact of their activities are nevertheless extremely profound. These organizations not only serve to solidify bonds among African American College students, but continue to have a vision for a sense of purpose – leadership development, racial uplift, and high scholastic achievement. It is no accident that best and the brightest African American leaders come from the ranks of these organizations. The aforementioned uniform drive by the Prince George's Council typifies how these ideals are perpetuated by BGLOs. Through their support of our community youth, future leaders and scholars are afforded opportunities they otherwise would not have experienced.

As an Omega man, I am proud of our legacy. While our legacy is impressive, we as Black Greeks have yet to reach our full potential. Our need to support students in Prince George's County is wide-ranging and urgent. With this in mind, I am soliciting your support in continuing our efforts at Drew Freeman and our other endeavors around the community. Our future depends upon the investments we make in our youth of today. Activities such as Project Enrich, Que Kids Daze, and Charles Drew Scholarship Foundation are additional opportunities available for interested parties to participate. I encourage you to get involved. We need your help now more than ever.
If you want to give back to our youth, please contact me at (301) 467-0530. You won't regret it!

More From Gamma Pi's Achievement Week 2008

Gamma Pi's Achievement Week programs have a history of attracting dynamic, thought-provoking speakers whose words remain with us long after the program has ended. There have been requests to publish this year's remarks and here are links to two well-received sets of remarks from this year's program: the keynote speech from Brother Dr. Mickey L. Burnim and some special remarks from Brother Roland Byrd, who spoke at the pre-Achievement Week Fraternity dinner held at Andrews Air Force Base on November 12. The links will take you to the remarks. You can print these remarks out from the links. Also, enjoy a short video clip of the Gamma Pi Chorale performing at Achievement Week 2008.

Chapter's Achievement Week 2008 A Big Success -- Bowie State President Offers Inspiring Message

A lot of people outside Omega Psi Phi Fraternity don't always readily associate the organization with its strong sense of community uplift and involvement. But every year, Omega chapters around the world have paused around the time of founder's week in November to recognize the contributions and achievements of African Americans in the local, state and national communities. Throughout the fraternity, it is called, quite simply, "Achievement Week." For Gamma Pi chapter in Prince George's County, Md., Achievement Week is a much-anticipated event every year in the chapter and in the greater community.

If you attended the Gamma Pi Achievement Week program this weekend, November 15, you witnessed community service in action and you enjoyed a truly uplifting experience. It was a dynamite program that inspired young and old, and, from a historical perspective, this year's program brought special meaning to the events of the past two weeks with the election of America's first African American president.

A crowd of about 200 people filled the auditorium at Drew-Freeman Middle School in Suitland for Gamma Pi's program. They heard a finely woven message about the purpose of friendships, relationships and fraternity from Bowie State President and Gamma Pi chapter Member Dr. Mickey L. Burnim, this year's keynote speaker. Dr. Burnim laid a nice foundation for understanding the fraternitywide Achievement Week theme of "Three Looks, One Focus: Family/Fraternity/Friendship." Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson, also a member of the chapter, participated in the event as a special guest, addressing the audience briefly about the importance of dreaming and dreaming big. He also joined Dr. Burnim in greeting scholarship winners and other awardees. County school board member Pat Fletcher also helped bestow scholarship honors.

Some of the best words of the day were put to music, courtesy of the Gamma Pi chorale, led by Brother Anthony Stewart. The chorus performed several selections that amplified the messages brought from the podium.

During the program, Gamma Pi presented scholarships to local students and awards to community leaders for Citizen of the Year (Rev. Delman Coates), Religious Leader of the Year (Rev. Thomas Byrd), Outstanding Educators (Ms. Earline Richardson and Mr. Stephen A. Stevens) and to two of its own in the chapter for their fraternity achievements: Man of the Year (Basileus, TeddyTaylor) and Superior Service (outgoing Keeper of Records and Seal, Gordon Everett), who very recently relocated to Cincinnati.