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Omega Pi Alpha Scrapbook

An inventory of the collection at the Syracuse University Archives


Finding aid created by: Emily Banach
Date: 2021



Historical Note

Photograph of Omega Pi Alpha brothers and guest in front of Omega Pi Alpha house in 1957

Omega Pi Alpha was a fraternity at Syracuse University from 1949 to 1958. The fraternity had its first meeting in 1946 and was formally recognized by the Syracuse University Interfraternity Council in 1949. The fraternity was started by veterans of World War II when they decided they wanted "a new type of campus organization" that reflected the feelings of brotherhood and reliance on one another they had developed during their military experience. This mutual trust was unrelated to one's social, economic, religious, racial, or ethnic backgrounds, and the fraternity upheld principles of equality for all brothers. Omega Pi Alpha was the only completely integrated fraternity on campus at that time. It gained further recognition on campus when it was awarded the Tolley Cup, an annual award for the best fraternity, in 1952. The fraternity attributed a great part of this accomplishment to its "blend of varied heritages." Due to declining enrollment numbers and rising maintenance costs for the fraternity house, Omega Pi Alpha disbanded at the end of 1958.


Scope and Content Note

The Omega Pi Alpha Scrapbook contains a history of the fraternity, biographies of many of the members, and copies of photographs from a 2001 reunion. The scrapbook was compiled by two Syracuse University alumni and members of Omega Pi Alpha, Lee Balcom and Paul Martin, Jr.


Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions for this collection.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.


Related Material

More photographs of the Omega Pi Alpha fraternity can be found in the Syracuse University Photograph Collection.


Selected Search Terms

Names

Omega Pi Alpha.
Syracuse University -- History.

Subjects

Greek letter societies.
Higher education.

Types of Material

Scrapbooks.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Omega Pi Alpha Scrapbook,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Susan Wasser in 2020.

Processing Information

Materials were removed from a binder and placed in an acid free folder.


Arrangement

Materials are in their original order.


Table of Contents

Scrapbook


Inventory