The 50s

During this era, social action became Omega’s primary organizational thrust. Thousands of Omega men became actively involved in the fight to eliminate racial discrimination.  Most notably, Omega men Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill and James Nabrit were part of the inner circle for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF). That group coordinated the court battles for racial equality. Their work culminated with the landmark decision outlawing segregated public schools, Brown v. Board of Education. In 1955, Brother Roy Wilkins was chosen to be the executive secretary of the NAACP and in 1964 he became its executive director.

The Los Angeles Grand Conclave in 1955 initiated a program whereby each graduate chapter would purchase a Life Membership from the NAACP. Tau Chi was founded in Monrovia, The Republic of Liberia on December 1, 1955 during the tenure of Grand Basileus John F. Potts.

Brother Wiley A. Branton, served as the principal lawyer in the civil rights case that desegregated the public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Ernest Green was the oldest among the nine students who integrated the all-white Central High School. Green later attended Michigan State University, where he was later initiated into the fraternity through Sigma chapter. Between 1955 and 1959, chapters contributed nearly $40,000 to the NAACP.