Omega Psi Phi reestablishes local chapter on campus after 31-year absence

BY ANGUS YIP The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Apr. 18, 2023.

On April 8, four students — Cameron Maddox ’24, Joey Richmond ’24, Q Jones ’25 and Satchel Williams ’24 — took part in a new member presentation commemorating the re-establishment of a local chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity on campus. The new member presentation, held outside Dartmouth Hall, “celebrated the revitalization of the Theta Beta Beta chapter that has not been active at Dartmouth for 31 years,” according to an April 10 newsletter from assistant dean of residential life and director of Greek life Josh Gamse. Theta Beta Beta is Dartmouth’s local designation from Omega Psi Phi, which attributes unique Greek lettering to each of its chapters, according to the national organization’s website.

founder go to a college, and yet that college does not have [the fraternity] on campus?”

Jones said that he and Richmond became interested in re-establishing a local chapter of Omega Psi Phi on campus last year after attending a conference in Boston organized by the fraternity headquarters.

“We got to meet some of the [members of other chapters] and had a good time … we were like, ‘this energy is what we need back on campus,’” Jones said.

According to the Ofce of Greek Life handbook, a student group that wishes to establish a new or returning National Pan-Hellenic Council organization must submit a written petition to the Ofce of Greek Life. The Ofce of Greek Life and the national or international organization will then determine whether the petitioning group will be “viable and a healthy addition to the campus.” the library workers. The unionization announcement comes about one week after GOLD-UE won their union vote and one year after the College recognized SWCD.

Following these developments, SWCD raised the hourly pay of Dartmouth Dining Services student employees to $21 an hour in February, and the College then increased the minimum wage of all non-union student employees to $16.25 an hour.

Scholarly publishing librarian and a member of the union’s organizing committee Stephen Krueger believes that “everyone should just have a union,” adding that the group’s organizing “wasn’t necessarily an indicator of something that is wrong with the institution or workplace.”

“This is just a fundamental way for workers to have our rights heard and respected,” Krueger said. “We’re not trying to antagonize [the College] … We’re not seeing the library leadership or the campus leadership as any kind of enemy.”

After marching to Parkhurst Hall, the group answered questions from the public about their plan in Howe library. According to Abosso, next steps include getting support from the community and holding a vote on unionizing in the summer. Wolfe said that he thinks they will have “far more” than 50% support from their colleagues when the issue goes to a vote.

Classics senior lecturer Jennifer Lynn said she hopes the College community engages with the union because of how “integral” the work of the librarians is to academics at Dartmouth.

“My teaching and research is so dependent on the library,” Lynn said. “They’re so integral to the intellectual life of the College, so of course I support them.”

Dean of libraries Susanne Mehrer declined to comment.