Founding

Omega Delta Phi was founded by the following seven individuals in the fall of 1987 at Texas Tech University:^[4]

• Joe Cereceres
• Eugene Dominguez
• Arturo Barraza
• Juan Barraza
• Tommy Hurtado
• Dwight Christopher Forbes
• Elliot Bazan

According to members of Omega Delta Phi, the fraternity was the brainchild of Joe Cereceres. Joe Cereceres is credited as being the founder who came up with the idea of starting the fraternity. Cereceres, seeing how a male organization with a similar fraternal structure could be beneficial, began searching for others that would share in his vision. After getting together six other men they began to have weekly meetings. These meetings consisted of informal discussions about what they were going to do as a group. At the time not everyone was on board with starting a Fraternal organization because of the negative stigma that surrounded Fraternities. However, after many lengthy meetings the group decided that they could change that stigma through positive actions. They decided to focus on graduation and service as the main goals of their new organization. On November 25, 1987,^[5] the group was officially recognized as a Fraternity and granted Charter status from Texas Tech University. In 1988 Omega Delta Phi initiated its first class with 12 new members that would later be known as the Charter Class.

Early History

Much of Omega Delta Phi's early history dealt with finding an identity. It was at this time that many of the first traditions of the fraternity were born. The Crest, as well as the sacraments, and motifs were adopted during this time. It was also at this time that the practice of consumption of any alcohol while wearing Omega Delta Phi paraphernalia was forbidden. An identity issue that arose was whether or not the organization would identify itself as a social or service organization. In the end the organization identified itself as a "service/social" organization. During this early history, word has spread about Omega Delta Phi to another man named Jaime Mendez. Mendez seeing the potential in the organization started his own chapter of Omega Delta Phi at the University of Texas at El Paso. The chapter was founded without the consent of the original Texas Tech Chapter. After some minor controversy, the chapters reconciled their differences and set up an expansion strategy that spread across the country.^[6]

Modern History

By the early 1990s, Omega Delta Phi chapters were established in university systems such as the Texas A&M University System, University of Texas System, New Mexico and Arizona systems. Later on, because of the increasing popularity of the Internet, the fraternity experienced growth and chapters were founded in cities such as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area, Houston, and Seattle. The fraternity established a short-lived international colony in Mexico City, Mexico, as well.^[7][8] In 2000, Omega Delta Phi founded an alumni association to provide a support group for its alumni base.^[9] The fraternity now has several alumni chapters throughout the U.S. and Mexico The organization now has chapters, colonies, and clubs on both the west and east coasts and is still expanding to many universities and colleges in the United States.

Wounded Warrior Project

On December 6, 2022, Omega Delta Phi announced a new philanthropic partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project that is set to begin in January 2023.^[10] The philanthropy was chosen primarily due to the large number of veterans and servicemen within the fraternity.

Previous Philanthropies

In 2009, Omega Delta Phi became the second Greek Letter Organization to officially partner with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).^[11]

CASA is a national organization that supports court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children. While you must be 21 years of age to become a court-appointed advocate for a child in need, each undergraduate entity partners with their local CASA office to assist the philanthropic organization. The members of Omega Delta Phi provide CASA with both manpower at local CASA events and assist in raising funds for CASA.^[12][13]

Prior to CASA, Omega Delta Phi has also partnered with Boys and Girls Club and United Way.^[14] By 2020 however, all partnerships with CASA, United Way and the Boys and Girls Club have been lost.

National conference

Each summer, Omega Delta Phi hosts an annual conference where all entities and alumni are invited to attend. Brothers participate in meetings, workshops, networking sessions as well as showcases where teams from entities compete in various competitions. The National Alumni Association also has hosts their meetings, as well as the board of directors. Brothers also have a chance to hear from the future leaders of the fraternity during election years.

National undergraduate conference

Each winter, Omega Delta Phi entities meet in a similar conference to the one during the summer, but on a smaller scale (known as "NUC"). The conference is heavily focused on meetings and workshops to prepare for the upcoming spring semesters.

Texas Tech Room

In the summer of 2002,^[15] Texas Tech University, where the fraternity was founded in 1987, honored the fraternity by dedicating a conference room to Omega Delta Phi. Currently, the organization is collecting donations to fund a renovation of the room.^[16]

NALFO Awards

Prior to leaving the NALFO council (Omega Delta Phi is currently a member of NIC), Omega Delta Phi received the following awards from NALFO.^[17]