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 ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY INC. - OMICRON CHAPTER Italic text

HISTORY
 * Following the favorable election of the Fifth Convention, President Garvin made Omicron Chapter at the University of Pittsburgh on January 30, 1913. Brother Dickason, the General Secretary, was appointed to this task of establishing the chapter, but found that school duties interfered and President Garvin carried out the commission. Seven candidates were selected out of twenty-five black male students at the university. These students had formed the Phi Lambda Mu Club in October, 1911, and this organization had continued to maintain itself. The students selected as candidates were W. Robert Smalls, Richard Fowler, W. Ray Banks, A.D. Stevenson, J.P. Dancy, Nathaniel Brown and T.W. Primas.

The officers selected for the chapter were Richard M. Fowler, Jr., president; William Robert Small, vice-president; W. Ray M. Banks, secretary, and Arthur D. Stevenson, treasurer. On the following night a banquet was given to the new chapter by the alumni of the university. Chancellor McCormick of the university was the principal speaker, in honor of the university’s recognition of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

At the beginning of the school year, 1914, Omicron Chapter occupied a chapter house which consisted of nine rooms and two baths. It was said to be beautifully furnished. This chapter brought the total numbers of chapters to sixteen. Twelve of those were reported as active by the General Secretary and they were reported as “located at some of the best universities in the country.”

Today, Omicron has continued to contribute to the campaigns of the entire fraternity. Our chapter assists the alumni chapter with Project Alpha, and advanced education for the young African American community in the city of Pittsburgh.

Distinquished Omicron Chapter Alumni of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc: Bold text

1) Rayford Logan - Omicron - First Executive Director of the National Urban League; Member of President Franklin D Roosevelt's Black Cabinet; 2nd Executive Director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); 1980 Spingarn Medal recipient; 15th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha

2) John Woodruff - Omicron - 1936 Olympian, Track and Field. Winner of the 800 metres at the 1936 Summer Olympics.  Born in Connellsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, U.S., "Long" John Woodruff was only a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh in 1936 when he placed second at the National AAU meet and first at the Olympic Trials, earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Despite his inexperience, he was the favorite in the Olympic 800 metre run, and he did not disappoint. In one of the most exciting races in Olympic history, Woodruff became boxed in by other runners and was forced to stop running. He then came from behind to win in 1:52.9.

3) Malvin Russell Goode - Omicron - First Black news correspondent for ABC as a United Nations reporter.  Education and Early Work Goode was born in White Plains, Virginia, educated in the public school system of Homestead, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1931. Starting in high school, he was employed for twelve years as a laborer in steel mills, until five years after his graduation. Appointed to a position in the Juvenile Court as a boys work director at the Centre Avenue YMCA, he spearheaded the fight against discrimination in the Pittsburgh branches of the YMCA. Goode worked with the Pittsburgh Housing Authority for six years and joined the Pittsburgh Courier in 1948, where he remained for 14 years.

A year later he began a career in radio broadcasting with KQV radio, doing a 15-minute news show two nights a week. Soon, he had a five-minute daily news show on WHOD, where he was named that stations news director in 1952.

In 1962 he became the first Black network news correspondent for ABC television network as a United Nations (UN) reporter. He allegedly received this position after baseball player Jackie Robinson, who was the first Black player in the major leagues, complained to ABC executives about the lack of Black reporters. Goode's first assignment was covering the Cuban Missile Crisis; he distinguished himself with incisive TV and radio reports during the long hours of debate at the UN.

For two months in 1963 he joined three of his peers to conduct courses in journalism for over 100 African students in seminars in Lagos Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Goode was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African-Americans, and in 1968 covered the assassination of fellow fraternity brother, Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1971, Goode became the first Black member of the Radio and Television News Directors Association.

In 1990, the National Association of Black Journalists inducted Mr. Goode into its hall of fame.

Malvin Goode died of a stroke on September 12th, 1995 at the age of 87 in Pittsburgh.

4) Frank Bolden Jr. - Omicron - one of just two black journalists granted access to U.S. combat troops during World War II. The veteran Pittsburgh newshound reported from the Pacific theater and then covered the Allied invasion of Italy, and his stories were widely syndicated in the leading African-American newspapers of the day. They also provided an invaluable glimpse into the last years of a racially segregated U.S. military. Bolden's death in August of 2003 brought tributes from his successors, who hailed him as a pioneer minority journalist.

Omicron Alumni Association Bold text

This is the unofficial alumni association for the alumni member of Omicron Chapters (many of the member belong to official "Alumni Chapters" of the national organization but maintain an informal relationship with each other through the Omicron Alumni Association. Today the alumni of the Omicron Chapter reunite on an annual basis to fellowship and support the undergraduate chapter, national organization and University.