Three undergraduate students and their faculty advisor founded Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., on November 17, 1911, on the campus of Howard University. The students were Edgar A. Love, Oscar J. Cooper, and Frank Coleman. The faculty advisor was Dr. Ernest E. Just. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., was incorporated on October 28, 1914, and is the first fraternity founded at a historically black college or university.

From the initials of the Greek phrase meaning, "Friendship is essential to the soul," The name Omega Psi Phi was derived. The phrase was selected as the motto. Manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift were adopted as cardinal principles.

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity has initiated more than 130,000 members and has over 550 chapters in forty-four states, the District of Columbia, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands and Panama