Their efforts will come to a close on Saturday February 25^th with The Black and Red Affair, an on campus semi-formal dance with a black and red attire theme in honor of the AIDS ribbon which is red and which also alludes to the fraternity’s traditional colors of scarlet and the supporting color black. The semi-formal dance will take place on the campus of NEIU at Alumni Hall from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am.

Senior and founding line member Denny Eskivel said that the idea of the project came after brothers came to know the alarming statistics regarding AIDS in the greater Chicago area.

AIDS, a virus often associated with imminent death, is one of three leading causes of death amongst African American males while amongst women, it is one of four. The NEIU Colony felt that their AIDS Awareness campaign and Black and Red Affair would be a perfect programming effort for Black History Month given the statistics and mortality rates amongst members of that racial subgroup.

Their main goal in putting on Black and Red Affair is creating awareness and consciousness regarding the Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome and its prevention as well as raising funds for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, an AIDS advocacy group whose mission is to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS and improve the lives of those affected by the epidemic.

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago often partners with community organizations, such as Omega Delta Phi’s NEIU Colony, to put together advocacy projects that fulfill their mission and to give hope to those fighting against the terrible disease. The brothers are taking donations up until the night of the event and would appreciate any and all contributions as all proceeds will go to the AFC. Donations can be made at the following link http://www.omegadeltaphi-neiu.com/events.html

Omega Delta Phi’s 25^th Anniversary National Conference has been tentatively set for July 12-15^th in Lubbock, TX, home of the Alpha Chapter at Texas Tech University. The conference theme will be “25 Years of Growth, Service, and Excellence: Entering the Silver Era” and will feature an undergraduate track and an alumni track for the brothers who choose to attend. A design contest for the conference logo has been announced by the conference committee.

The national office is hosting a design contest in which brothers will be able to submit their own creations to the national conference committee which will review all entries and choose the winner. As an incentive, the committee and the NEC are offering a complementary registration to National Conference as well as a $300 stipend for conference travel to the winner of the design contest.

Please keep in mind the logo will be used extensively in our marketing efforts, therefore should be tasteful and high quality. The logo design should embrace the conference theme, fraternal values, and be inclusive of our undergraduates and alumni. The deadline to submit all artwork is February 26, 2012 and all submissions must be sent to marketing@omegadeltaphi.com by the deadline in order to be considered.

The national conference committee is committed to making this the most successful conference to date and hopes that every single undergraduate brother, alumni, national founder, chapter founder and charter line member will make an effort to make it out to Lubbock in July to revisit the past, honor our history, and work towards a promising future in our brotherhood.

Respondents were asked to self report behaviors in seven key areas: critical thinking, self awareness, communication, diversity, citizenship, membership and leadership, and relationships. In summer of 2009, Dr. Mark Frederick of the Center for Measuring College Behaviors at Indiana State University contacted the NIC wanting to discuss the data that had been collected through UniLOA. Upon further analysis of the data, the NIC and Dr Frederick were able to find trends suggesting a clear and positive impact on fraternity members relative to their time as members of their organizations.

The UniLOA assisted the NIC in creating The Case for Fraternity Rights a compilation of their findings which highlights the growth and impact that is observable once a college male decides to seek membership. Upon reviewing their data, the UniLOA concluded that fraternity members experience personal growth more rapidly than do non-fraternity men. This means that fraternity men experience a spike in personal development from the moment they join and that builds from there throughout the rest of their undergraduate career.

This finding is particularly important because it is empirical in nature and can be used as an argument against deferred recruitment, a tactic which allows institutions of higher learning to block students from joining fraternities and sororities in their early days as undergraduates. This act will definitely pose a problem for the first finding, limiting the growth and impact that the fraternity has on a potential member.

One finding that was resonated with the researchers was one which stated that fraternity life builds better leaders and more active citizens. This meaning that fraternity men are far more actively engaged in their civic responsibilities and duties and are more likely to be leaders in their communities and at their places of employment than are non-fraternity men.

The fraternity experience has been under a magnifying glass in the modern era due to the negative stereotypes and negative media coverage regarding hazing allegations. The NIC’s UniLOA, however, has reaffirmed the far more positive impact that fraternity life has on its members. The NIC’s UniLOA and its empirical evidence may help change the minds of many men who are on the fence of seeking membership in a fraternity and may be the first step in changing the skewed and negative stigma that comes along with being a member of a fraternal organization.

The 2012 National Undergraduate Council gathered in San Antonio, TX this year to discuss fraternity business and partake in brotherhood and networking. The undergraduates set a NUC conference attendance record with 294 registered brothers of whom 228 checked in, and a grand total of around 300 brothers in San Antonio for the event making it the most successful one thus far.

The conference was planned by the Vice President of Undergraduate Affairs Jacob Aidan Martinez and his staff in cooperation with the Alpha Delta colony at the University of Texas- San Antonio and the Alpha Pi chapter at St. Mary’s University.

Opening ceremonies and roll call were held on Friday evening and each chapter and colony was able to make their presence known. This also served as a networking event where brothers were able to introduce themselves to each other and become reacquainted with those brothers they already knew.

On Saturday, the NUC was able to meet and discuss the concerns and suggestions of the undergraduates while the National Executive Council and the Board of Directors met also to discuss their respective business. National President Ivan Jaime gave a state of affairs address to the NUC and San Antonio Chamber of Commerce president Richard Perez gave the keynote address.

Dates for the 25^th Anniversary National Conference at Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX were tentatively set for the weekend of July 12-15, 2012. The Alpha Chapter is working diligently with the conference planning committee and Texas Tech University to finalize details.

For full Press Release Please Click Here. 

The article in the San Marcos Record went on to praise the brothers by saying “Omega Delta Phi has obtained honors such as most service hours per member in the Inter-fraternity Council, Chapter of the Year, Most Improved Chapter as well as athletic honors such as All University Intramural Football Champions, Intramural Football Greek League Champions, Omega Delta Phi National Football Champions, as well as Intramural Football Greek Co-Rec Champions.

Omega Delta Phi – Rho Chapter was given its own day in San Marcos back in 2007 by former mayor  Susan Narvaiz. The honor was bestowed upon the chapter by the previous Mayor and was continued on by the current Mayor Daniel Guerrero – and a founding Rho Chapter brother! The strength of our community service, and continued brotherhood is illustrated here and throughout the ODPhi nation. Congratulations Brothers!

We have come full circle, and truly “it grows as it goes” and what better way to commemorate our 25 years than where it all began?!? And to epitomize our monumental success, growth, and achievements set forth by our founders nearly 24 years ago with the ideas of Unity, Honesty, Integrity, and Leadership. But before we set our sights too far in advance, we have our National Undergraduate Conference in January 2012 in Las Vegas, NV!

Be on the look out for more updates (including our First National Rush Video), and if you are on twitter, follow us at: http://twitter.com/Omega_Delta_Phi