Gamma Gamma Gamma Chapter of Madison, Wisconsin, was founded on January 6, 1984.  After several attempts and six years, Bro. John S. Epps, the the 10th  District Representative, confirmed the chapter charter.  Bro. Charles H. Brown drove the chapter application to the 1984 Kansas City Conclave and served as the first Basileus for three years.  He was followed by Brothers Charles Peevy, Milton Donald, Anthony Wade, Langston Evans, Percy Brown, Demetrius Williams, Charles Brown, Carlos Weeden, Willie Larkin, Andre Smalls, Richard Jones Sr., Sedric Morris Sr., and Rafeeq Asad, our current Basileus as of November 1, 2019. 

 

There were nine charter members:  Brothers Orlando Bell, Charles Brown, Alphonso Cooper, William T. Lewis, Daryl Madison, Charles Peevy, Lewis Ritcherson, Jerry E. Smith, Jr., and Rev. James C. Wright.  Brothers Bell, Peevy, Ritcherson,  Madison
and Wright are now in OMEGA Chapter.

 

In 1994, the chapter undertook a revolutionary idea and implemented it.  In that year the 501c(3) Carter G. Woodson Scholarship & Community Service Foundation, Inc. was founded.  Today the Woodson Foundation handles virtually all the service efforts of the chapter.  Bro. Anthony Wade served as the first president of the foundation.  The foundation has an aggressive fundraising campaign and has remained financially sound.

 

Since its inception 25 years ago, the chapter has maintained a strong commitment to scholarship.  We have had minority scholarship and/or book award recipients for all the years we’ve existed.  Gamma Gamma Gamma also recognizes community service as an essential function of Omega Psi Phi.  Therefore, the chapter has been actively involved in uplifting the Madison community.  The chapter had continued the Thanksgiving Food Drive to feed needy families and individuals for 12 years before the Woodson Foundation took it over for the last 15 years.  In its early years, the chapter sponsored a workshop at the South Madison Neighborhood Center on “Teenage Human Sexuality” for African-American males.  

 

Gamma Gamma Gamma  has received many accolades and commendations over the years.  The chapter received certificates from the 10th District Reclamation Committee and the Assault on Illiteracy Committee. Gamma Gamma Gamma has also received commendations from the District on outstanding reporting practices.

 

The chapter has had an extraordinary level of participation at the District level.  We’ve had several District chairmen including Budget & Finance, Regional Intake, Undergraduate Housing and Time and Place.  Bro. Charles Brown served as State Representative for seven consecutive years.  Gamma Gamma Gamma is a chapter of leaders.  The chapter had its first elected district officer, Bro. Demetrius Williams, to the post of District Director of Public Relations for 5 years.

 

The graduate chapter continues to work with its undergraduate chapter, Epsilon Theta, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Gamma Gamma Gamma chapter has taken the lead in the District on graduate-undergraduate relations.  Gamma Gamma Gamma is a small but dynamic chapter whose role is to improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged and downtrodden.

 

In closing, we leave with Bro. George Mears’ reference to OMEGA as a FAMILY.  He said, “No family worthy of the name ever counts one of its members out until many, many attempts have been made to reclaim him.  Omega is a family by the Greek definition, and each member has a responsibility to any other member whose zeal for brotherhood has cooled.”  His words are still relevant if not more relevant today.

 

Long live Gamma Gamma Gamma and Omega Psi Phi!