OMICRON DEUTERON HISTORY
“Founded in 1873, Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity has been a long-time leader among Greek organizations. Augmented and strengthened by merger with Phi Sigma Epsilon Fraternity in 1985, the Fraternity has a membership of more than 90,000 and can be found on many campuses nationwide.” (Source: PSK Webpage)
“Men and women for centuries have banded together into small social groups, seeking mutual pleasure and association from and with one another; and no two groups have been exactly alike in their aims and their idealism. The movement in America beginning shortly after the Civil War, more than a century ago, produced some of the longest-lived of such groups. Phi Sigma Kappa is one of those groups.” (Source: PSK Webpage)
The Omicron Deuteron Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa was initially founded at the University of Alabama, February 9, 1925. Prior to then it was organized as Phi Tau Omega, a local Fraternity with no affiliation to the current Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity. The first faculty advisor of Omicron Deuteron was Dr. Albert Moore for whom Moore Hall (where the current Department of Kinesiology is located) was named. The chapter existed at the University of Alabama for over sixty mostly prosperous years, though, like most fraternities, with some periods more successful than others. In 1942, the chapter was unofficially closed since most of the OD members had gone to serve in World War II. The chapter was reopened in 1945 after the war, with our house located at 801 10th Avenue, the residence known as the “old house” for many years. Brother Frank Massey, OD ‘48, was one of the original brothers that reopened the house in 1945. The chapter’s greatest success spanned the period from the mid-1950s to the late-1960s, when membership was stable, academic achievement outstanding, and participation in intramurals and campus organizations active.
Omicron Deuteron, not unlike most Greek organizations, had “down time” in the early-to-mid-1970s with sagging membership and an increased apathy towards the Greek lifestyle. Stabilization occurred somewhat in the late ’70s, but membership dropped through the ’80s despite recruitment efforts of active members. In 1988, the Grand Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa suspended the Omicron Deuteron charter, and the chapter essentially ceased operations for two years. It must be noted, however, that brother Gary Bowen, OD ’90, maintained the Omicron Deuteron presence on campus after the charter was suspended.
In the spring of 1990, the Grand Chapter launched an effort to bring the chapter back to the campus at the University of Alabama. Grand Chapter officers Todd Simpson, Director of Member Services, and Lou Redenbaugh, Director of Expansion, received assistance from the Kappa Deuteron chapter at Georgia Tech University and the Phi Deuteron chapter at the University of Kentucky to help recruit the new men of Omicron Deuteron. The new Omicron Deuteron Colony was established that spring with approximately twenty-five men, and was awarded a new charter 2 1/2 years later on October 24, 1992. The chapter made great strides early on, but by 1998 had fallen victim to poor recruitment, financial problems, member neglect, and limited alumni participation. The chapter closed in 1999, and the Grand Chapter withdrew the charter.
However, with tenacity and vision, a group of dedicated alumni bonded together in unparalleled brotherhood to develop in May 1999 the Omicron Deuteron Alumni Club of Phi Sigma Kappa. Today the Alumni Club has more active members than ever, and it is regarded as one of the top alumni clubs in all of Phi Sigma Kappa. From its inception, the primary goal of the Alumni Club was to re-establish Omicron Deuteron as a colony, and then mentor and guide that colony towards meeting all required criteria to re-establish ourselves as an official chapter at the University of Alabama. Our secondary goal, though really no less important, was to acquire a house for our chapter of which both they and the alumni would be proud, and in which the chapter could grow, thrive, and be successful for many years.
Semi-annual club meetings are held at the chapter house and well attended by alumni and chapter members. The first meeting is held during A-Day weekend, and the second meeting is held during Homecoming weekend. Also, at homecoming the Alumni Club presents a $500 scholarship to a member of the undergraduate chapter who has achieved academic excellence. The recipients are then eligible for a matching grant from the Phi Sigma Kappa Foundation. The “Outstanding Phi Sig of the Year Award,” and the “Founder’s Award” are both presented periodically to deserving active Club members.
Through the efforts of our alumni, many “lost brothers” have been found. A database of nearly one-thousand alumni is maintained with more than fifty of them dues-paying active members. The Club has an email directory of more than two hundred brothers and effectively communicates with each throughout the year via our semi-annual newsletter that is published and made available for viewing on the OD webpage (www.odphisig.com). The newsletter is free to anyone with an email address. Requests should be sent to the alumni club via the Contact page on this website.
Since 1999, the Alumni Club has grown significantly and several alumni have become very active not only with our Alumni Club, but also as volunteer officers for the Grand Chapter in both regional and national capacities. Active alumni have regularly attended the biennial Phi Sigma Kappa General Convention, the Shonk Leadership School, and regional conclaves, and the Club has made philanthropic contributions to the Phi Sigma Kappa Foundation. In 2007, the House Corporation, a separate but partner entity to the Alumni Club, was duly registered with the Alabama Secretary of State and now has official status as a Non-Profit Corporation in the State of Alabama.
In recognition of the Alumni Club’s significant achievements, the Grand President of Phi Sigma Kappa presented the Alumni Club the President’s Special Achievement Award at the 2002 Shonk Leadership School In Indianapolis, Indiana, the 2005 General Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 2007 General Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, the 2008 Shonk Leadership School in Indianapolis, Indiana, the 2009 General Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, and the 2011 General Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. Few alumni clubs can claim these achievements, and we are Damn Proud to have received them.
The Alumni Club experienced in 2002 a bit of fortuitous good luck towards our primary goal, when we were approached by two young men interested in forming a fraternity at the University of Alabama. These initial conversations resulted in the Omicron Deuteron Interest Group. The Interest Group experienced their share of ups and downs, not the least of which was convincing the Grand Chapter of the Alabama group’s readiness and worthiness of becoming an official colony of Phi Sigma Kappa. After a period of more than four years of bonding and growth, as well as some struggles too, the Interest Group that was founded in 2002 became a colony in late 2006. During the weekend of September 22-23, 2006, twenty-five young men were officially associated into Phi Sigma Kappa, thus starting the Omicron Deuteron Colony.
The Omicron Deuteron colony rapidly met the requirements for becoming a chapter, and on Saturday, April 21, 2007, the Omicron Deuteron Chapter at the University of Alabama was re-chartered, returning to the campus after an eight year absence. Thirty-one new brothers were initiated into Omicron Deuteron by a ritual team comprised of brothers from the Gamma Triton chapter at the University of South Carolina and the Upsilon Septaton chapter at Clemson University. PSK Grand Council Director, Glenn Roby, presented the Charter to Tom Childress, President of the OD Chapter.
The weekend activity was culminated with a formal banquet held at the Four Points Sheraton in Tuscaloosa, Alabama., and was attended by new brothers and their dates, parents of the new brothers, Omicron Deuteron alumni, and special guests from the Grand Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa and the PSK International Headquarters. On hand for the ceremonies held during the weekend were PSK Grand President, Dave Spreitzer; PSK Grand Council Director, Glenn Roby; PSK Foundation Trustee and President of the Omicron Deuteron Alumni Club, Dr. Scott Lyons; PSK Director of Expansion, Grant Neckermann; Omicron Deuteron Chapter advisor/PSK District Governor, Jim Craig; and PSK District Governor, Frank Tortorici.
Now that we had achieved our primary goal (obviously with significant contributions and work from the undergraduate chapter members as well), it was time to make acquiring a chapter house our top priority. In November 2006, the Alumni Club experienced another stroke of unexpected luck when we were notified that Brother James Maxwell Brown, OD ‘27, had bequeathed through his Charitable Trust funds in excess of $232,000 for the purpose of providing housing for the Omicron Deuteron Chapter. With these funds and the funds we raised in the Alumni Club housing fund, we were in a position to secure appropriate funds to purchase a house once one came available.
Former chapter house locations at the University of Alabama include the house located on 10th Avenue that was razed to provide room for an early expansion of Bryant-Denny stadium; the house that was the original Kappa Sigma house on University Boulevard (now “Old Row”) that was razed to make room for the new street adjacent to the Education library; the old Delta Gamma/Gamma Phi Beta house that was razed to provide room for an additional expansion of Bryant Denny stadium; twin houses located on Campus Drive across from the old Bryce Hospital property affectionately known by the brothers as the “Musgrove Houses”; the old Sigma Chi/Theta Xi/Tau Kappa Epsilon house on University Boulevard; two different houses in Smith Woods Circle at the end of Jefferson Avenue; and the old Sigma Phi Epsilon house on University Boulevard adjacent to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house.
As some of the fraternity chapters at Alabama had started building new houses on University Boulevard east of the Kappa Alpha house, we knew that there would be opportunities to purchase a house “soon,” but we wanted to make sure we made the correct choice. After being outbid for the old Pi Kappa Alpha house, and deciding to pass on the old Sigma Chi house, we decided to proceed with a purchase of the old Theta Chi house, which is located on Jefferson Avenue almost right in the center of the row of houses. The House Corporation purchased this house for $1,674,000, plus an additional $500,000 for necessary repairs and updates, for a total mortgage of over $2.1 million. The James Maxwell Brown funds and funds raised through the generosity of our Omicron Deuteron alumni allowed us to secure this mortgage, underwritten by the University of Alabama, to acquire the house where our chapter currently resides.
As the Alumni Club had accomplished our two primary goals, since acquisition of the house we have continued to support the chapter wherever and whenever necessary or appropriate. The House Corporation owns the house and works with the chapter on developing their yearly budget, collecting room rent for the year, ensuring that the house is properly maintained, and employing a full-time House Director.
Contributors:
J.T. Craig, Jr., OD ‘60
T. Scott Lyons, OD ‘94
James B. Massey, OD ‘48
Frank Tortorici, OD ‘60
James Wilde, OD ’10
Omicron Deuteron Alumni Club 