Omega Psi Kappa

Omega Psi Kappa is the world's first camping fraternity for men. Formed in 2004 in North Springfield, Pennsylvania, United States, Omega Psi Kappa unites in brotherhood all men who enjoy camping and the outdoor experience.

Name

The Fraternity's Greek letters (ΩΨΚ) are derived from a poor acronymic translation of the Native American word "Ot-Yo-Kwa." Psi is traditionally considered the Greek equivalent of the English letter "s". However, due to its visual similarity to the English letter "y", the fraternity chose to incorporate psi into its name. The name Ot-Yo-Kwa has powerful historical and symbolic meaning for fraternity members. In some native American languages, Ot-Yo-Kwa means "all for one and one for all." This phrase best represents the association's belief in unity and cooperative action.

The history of Omega Psi Kappa

Omega Psi Kappa began as the second attempt for the creation of a service fraternity amongst the directorship of Camp Fitch’s Boys Camp. In 2003, the first fraternity, Kappa Phi Beta, limited itself to director-only membership and died out quickly as it failed to recruit new members. Seeing the errors of their predecessors, the founding members of Omega Psi Kappa opened its membership to include all levels of staff in Boys Camp. With this new philosophy of membership, Omega Psi Kappa started strong in 2004 with fourteen charter members and 4 pledges. The group has had a successful summer of recruiting every year since.

Membership

Membership in Omega Psi Kappa has traditionally been reserved for male members of a camping staff; however, there have been periods in its history where females have been pledged into the group.

In 2005 Omega Psi Kappa added an international chapter, headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

Community Service

Omega Psi Kappa focusses on service to the community. Thus far, the fraternity has participated in the following activities: