100 YEARS
R The Columbia Univers i ty Chapter, the Omicron of Kappa Alpha Ps i , The Har lem Renai s sance Chapter Celebrates i ts Centennial
By Hwesu Samuel Murray, Esq. and Noel Hankin. Edited by Kevin P. Scott and Aaron Williams
W ith its chartering coin- cided with the dawn of the Harlem Renaissance, the Columbia University Chapter, the Omicron of Kappa Alpha Psi, celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2021. The Grand Board of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. chartered Co- lumbia University Chapter, the Omicron of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., on February 27, 1921. The chartering was a watershed event for the young frater- nity. The chapter was the fraternity’s first at an Ivy League institution and provided the fraternity with a chapter in New York City. The Fraternity previously attempted to establish a chapter on the Columbia University campus before 1921. Be- fore obtaining his master’s degree from Columbia University in 1914, Founder Byron K. Armstrong contacted Columbia administrators to propose establishing a chapter on campus. However, the idea was not supported at that time. Founder Paul Waymond Caine also made an un- successful proposal while also attending Columbia in 1917. Omicron eventually was established as the result of efforts led by C. Udell Turpin (Beta 1916), picured in the 1921 issue of The Kappa Alpha Psi Journal . At the end of World War I, Turpin enrolled at Columbia University, where he met John A. C. Jackson (former polemarch of the Lincoln (PA) University Chapter, the Epsilon of Kappa Alpha Psi), Henry G. Ridgley, also an initiate of Epsilon Chapter, and former football star and Charles C. Bruen from the Wilberforce University Chapter, the Delta of Kappa Alpha Psi. The Chartering of Omicron Chapter
pin, Jackson, and Ridgley, the chapter’s inaugural pledges were selected where a celebratory banquet in the private dining room of the local Y.M.C.A. and a smoker followed the initiation. The Omicron charter initiates were: W. Louis Davis; C. French Foushee; Robinson M. Hayden; Edward J. Levy; Alfred W. Tucker; Ernest M. Wood; and Deavor P. Young. The initiation of these young men marked the birth of the Omicron Chapter. The first officers were: Turpin as Polemarch; Tucker as Vice Polemarch; Young as Keeper of Records; Wood as Keeper of Exchequer; Levy as Strategus; and Davis as Lieuten- ant Strategus. Jackson and Ridgeley became members of Omicron. Later in 1921, William S. Parker, Archie J. Parsons, Alfred M. Layton, and Robert S. Boyd were initiated into the Omicron Chapter. Even at its inception, Omicron Chapter proved to be outstandingly suc- cessful. Just two years after the charter- ing of the Chapter, Polemarch Turpin established an inter-fraternity debating club. Under his leadership, the dynamic Omicron Chapter became the best debating team in the east. In 1925, Omicron Chapter hosted the 15 th Grand Chapter held in New York City. The chapter sponsored a reception ball held at the International House on Riverside Drive, just off the Columbia University main campus. The 1925 Grand Conclave was described as “… such a success that not even the most sanguine could imagine any improve- ment” for the 1934 Grand Conclave, also hosted by Omicron in New York City. Omicron Chapter continued to grow by adding chapter members from other schools in the New York City metropoli-
Turpin’s efforts to establish a chapter. Turpin’s approach to the University is reflected in letters received from the President and the Secretary. President Nicholas Murray Butler wrote, “I am much interested in the uplift of the Negro youth, and it is with pleasure that I welcome Kappa Alpha Psi.” The Secretary of the University, Mr. Frank D. Fackenthal, assured Turpin that “Columbia University has long looked for such an organization as you represent, and it is with plea- sure that we welcome your Fraternity on the University campus.” Turpin lived with two promising students, Deavor P. Young and Ernest M. Wood, at a place called “The Den,” located at 133 West 140th Street in Harlem. “The Den” became the meeting place for other students (in addition to Jackson and Ridgley), Alfred W. Tucker, C. French Foushee, Robinson M. Hayden, Edward J. Levy, and W. Louis Davis. Under the leadership of Tur-
Columbia school officials supported
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