Nu Psi Omega

On September 5, 1981, Nu Psi Omega was chartered by Gloria S. Smith, Great Lakes Regional Director at Utica College, Utica, New York under Barbara K Phillips, International President. Chartered in the Mohawk Valley which is known for its rich history, including its role in Native American culture and the American Revolution. Eighteen dedicated and daring women worked to add to that rich history.

The chartering members and first officers were: Mae Jackson-Williams, President, Cleta Jackson, 1st Vice-President, Florence Miles Barnett, 2nd Vide-President, Catherine Burke, Secretary, Marcelline Simien Bilton, Assistant Secretary, Patricia Sims, Financial Secretary, Jean Baird Davis, Corresponding Secretary, Caroline Jones, Treasurer, Marie Walker, Parliamentarian, Mary Johnson, Ivy Leaf(r) Reporter, Geraldine Webb, Graduate Advisor for Iota Rho Chapter at Utica College, Vanessa Thomas, Assistant Graduate Advisor, Geraldine Provost, Hostess, Geraldine Webb, Sergent-at-Arms, Gertrude Brooks Brown, Historian, Sharon Belle, Member-at-Large, and Marion Griggs. Nu Psi Omega Chapter's first initiates were: Margaret Burke, Barbara Freeman, Frances Murray, Helen Phillips, and Deborah Rice. They were initiated March 1, 1982.

Nu Psi Omega Chapter Ivies Beyond the Wall are Dorothy Wilson Betton, Alice Marie Walker, Margaret Bucko, Geraldine Webb, Gertrude Brooks Brown, Patricia Sims, Marcelline Simien Bilton, Blanche Home Bell, Mary J. Johnson, Helen Phillips Hannah and Florence Barnett.

Programs center on educational advancement and service. The small, but mighty chapter strives for excellence in all facets of the chapter's varied programs. The annual High School Senior Recognition Night was instituted in 1982, and scholarship winners were announced and all students in attendance received certificates for successfully completing their high school course of study. Following that custom, in 2025, the chapter awarded two $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors. Nu Psi co-sponsorship the Black Heritage Scholarship at Utica College; and had 100% membership in EAF. Isabella Brown implemented the NAACP's ACT-SO program in Oneida County and Nu Psi Omega Chapter members regularly participated. In the past, contributions have been made to the United Negro College Fund and Meharry Medical College.

In the 1980s, the Chapter was successful in securing a grant for the Reading is Fundamental (RIF) program and used it to purchase and distribute books to children attending the Cosmopolitan Center in Utica, New York. The Chapter also held a weekly story hour at the Cosmopolitan Center along with a tutoring program. A tutoring program was also implemented in Rome, New York. As part of its focus on healthcare, Nu Psi Omega Chapter sponsored several health fairs at local shopping malls with screenings for diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, and flu shots were administered by Oneida County Health Department. Other organizations participated and distributed materials.

Nu Psi Omega members serve as representatives of the chapter on various Boards of Directors and committees in the Mohawk Valley Region. Programs of local churches and community organizations are supported in an effort to build collaboration and linkage of human financial resources. These include Oneida County and Rome Branches of the NAACP, Afro-American Heritage Association, Inc., African American Coalition of the Mohawk Valley, Mt. Calvary Church, Rome, New York, Hope Chapel AME Zion Church and St. Paul's Baptist Church in Utica, New York. The chapter has also supported the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Program Committee of Oneida County, and Alpha Theta Chapter of Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc. Nu Psi sponsored a yearly activity with the Cosmopolitan Center's Bessie E. Hicks Memorial Senior Citizens Club.

The community supported overwhelmingly the fundraising dinner-dances sponsored-by Nu Psi Omega Chapter. Three of these included an art auction with the artwork of Black artists furnished by gallery owners from Rochester and Syracuse, New York The Chapter has sponsored a Jazz Brunch as a fundraiser for the past several years.

Nu Psi Omega and Iota Rho Chapters have hosted the Western New York Cluster Meetings several times. On two occasions, public luncheons were held with the Honorable Arthur 0. Eve, former Deputy Speaker of the New York State Assembly and the Honorable William Johnson, former Mayor of the city of Rochester, New York, as guest speakers. The chapter last hosted Cluster in 2022.

Regular attendance and participation at Leadership, Great Lakes Regional Conferences and Boules are an integral part of the heartbeat of the Nu Psi Omega Chapter. The community and sorority activities of Nu Psi Omega resulted in its finest hour by winning "Chapter of the Year" at the Great Lakes Regional Conference in Pittsburgh, Pa. in 1985. Currently, the chapter has 187 students participating in CHIPPs. They received support of $5,000 from one donor. Nu Psi was recently awarded a grant of $35,000 from the Onieda County Executive Director, Anthony Picente, Jr. These funds are slated for use with CHIPP and other Empower our Family Initiatives. Nu Psi Omega Chapter members continuously strive to capture a vision fair with greater laurels to win and greater tasks to begin as we work "Greater Together" to serve and soar in our community.