Members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. welcomed the fraternity’s top leader Thursday at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, greeting Ricky L. Lewis with the fraternity’s signature “Omega Call.” Lewis arrived in the Virgin Islands for several days of meetings with fraternity leadership and local members.
As Grand Basileus, the president of the fraternity, Lewis traveled to the territory as part of a broader leadership gathering that included members of the organization’s Supreme Council, the fraternity’s governing body. The visit marks the first time the fraternity’s top leadership has come to the Virgin Islands as a group.
“This fraternity is a global organization with more than 200,000 initiated members in 18 countries across four continents,” Lewis said. “St. Croix is part of what we do. We wanted to hold our Supreme Council retreat here in the Virgin Islands.”
Lewis and his wife began their visit on St. Thomas before traveling to St. Croix to meet with local members and participate in leadership discussions about the fraternity’s future.
“We want our board of directors to come together and talk about how we continue to move the fraternity forward,” Lewis said. “We also want to hear from the brothers here about how we can continue helping them serve their communities.”
The Supreme Council, normally headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, relocated this meeting to the Virgin Islands due to construction at the Atlanta offices, giving the fraternity’s top leadership a chance to meet in a new setting.
For local members, the visit is a historic milestone.
“Having the Grand Basileus and members of the Supreme Council here is a very big deal,” said Quincy Lewis, Basileus of the Eta Iota Iota Chapter. “They have never been to the Virgin Islands as a group before, so this will definitely go down in the history books for our district.”
In addition to official meetings, the visit provides time for fellowship and strengthening the bonds of brotherhood.
“They’ll conduct their quarterly business review, but outside of that we’ll spend time fellowshipping and getting to know each other more as brothers,” Quincy Lewis said.
Freddie Thompson, IV, the fraternity’s 13th district representative, said the visit is significant not only for the local chapter but for the entire district, which spans Europe, Japan, Hawaii, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean.
“The 13th district is the district that truly makes Omega international,” Thompson said. “So for the leader of our fraternity to come here and spend time with this chapter is historic.”
Thompson added that the visit allows national leadership to see firsthand the work being done by members in the Virgin Islands.
“It motivates the brothers here to hear his message personally, but it also allows him to see the community service they’re doing on St. Croix,” he said.
Community service remains central to the fraternity’s mission. Omega Psi Phi is guided by four cardinal principles: manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift. Members regularly participate in service projects, mentorship programs, and scholarship initiatives.
One such program is the fraternity’s essay contest, which encourages student participation at the local, district, and national levels. The St. Croix chapter recently celebrated a student who won the district-level competition and advanced to the national stage.
Despite the territory’s small size, local leaders say the chapter continues to make a meaningful impact.
“We’re a small chapter on a small island,” Quincy Lewis said, “but we do big things.”
Fraternity leaders are also working to expand mentorship opportunities for young men in the Virgin Islands. Thompson said efforts are underway to establish undergraduate chapters at the University of the Virgin Islands on both St. Croix and St. Thomas.
“We want to give young men mentors and show them what responsible citizenship looks like,” Thompson said. “Our work doesn’t stop after college. We continue mentoring and serving the community.”
For the Grand Basileus, the visit is also an opportunity to reinforce the fraternity’s core values and the relationships that bind its members together.
“Our fraternity is about friendship and fellowship,” Lewis said. “Friendship is essential to the soul, and that’s what we try to live every day.”
He added that the service carried out by members would not be possible without the support of their families.
“We do this work as volunteers,” Lewis said. “Our families make sacrifices to allow us to serve our communities, and we are grateful for that.”
