(We respectfully acknowledge and thank
Dr. Clifton O. Dummett, charter member of Omicron Omicron
Chapter, for this use of his previously published account
of the early development of Omicron Omicron Chapter
of OKU)
In June 1943 the Secretary of the Supreme Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon received the first communication from the Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry relative to the possibilities of initiating a component chapter at this dental school. Upon receipt of information about the method of establishing such a chapter, the machinery was set into action. In June 1944 a letter was received from the Supreme Chapter to the effect that the petition for the establishment of a component chapter at Meharry had been denied. The reasons for this denial were not stated, but these were later revealed in the remarks by the President of the National Fraternity, Dr. Robert E. Blackwell, at the annual meeting in March 1944. These were reprinted in the April, 1944 issue of the Journal of Dental Education. The following is a quotation from the remarks:
"During the year an incident occurred which has served to raise the question as to what kind of organization we really are, whether we are an honor society or a social fraternity or both. The incident referred to was the application of Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry for a charter."
" So far as I know this is the first application for charter by the faculty of a school for Negro dental students. Upon receipt of the application your secretary sent ballots to the subordinate chapters, as required by our by-laws. At the expiration of 30 days, the constitutional limit, 14 affirmative votes to 4 negative had been received-an insufficient number of votes to decide the question."
"The important point is not the number of ballots cast but rather the reasons for the negative votes. Letters accompanying the ballots indicated that some of the negative votes were cast because Meharry College is a school for colored students and because social complications would arise, which might be embarrassing in some quarters if a charter were granted."
"It should not be necessary to remind you that gentlemanly conduct, scholarship, character, industry, ability, even genius, are not confined to the white race. We have no such monopoly. Suppose George Washington Carver had been a dentist! In some of our schools we have had colored students of the highest scholastic attainments and they have competed for honors and won them without question. I personally know of several colored men who wear the key of Omicron Kappa Upsilon with credit to themselves and to our Society. Why a school should be denied a charter for the single reason that its students are Negroes is beyond my comprehension. I think there is only one question to be considered in this case: Is the standing of Meharry College sufficiently high to justify a charter in that institution? In my judgment it is. Perhaps a few years ago it was not, but the same might be said of some other schools."
"For those who are seriously concerned about the possible social complications let me say that, according to our constitution, the active members of our Society are those and only those who are faculty members and honorary members have no vote or any legal connection with the active chapters."
"Finally, may I say that at this critical time in the world's history when men are fighting to keep some semblance of democracy alive, we should use our influence, little though it may be, to preserve and to extend that democracy. By recognizing ability and achievement among men and among schools regardless of color or creed, we are doing something to further that objective." It is not an exaggeration to state that to Dr. Blackwell goes all the credit for later developments in which the charter was awarded.
Upon the suggestion of the National Secretary, a second petition was made in November, 1944, following the report by the Council on Dental Education which listed Meharry's School of Dentistry among those institutions fully approved. And in October, 1945, news was received that favorable action had been taken on the petition for membership and the chapter would be known as Omicron Omicron.
Since the establishment of the chapter every attempt has been made to maintain the highest standards of dental scholastic excellence, as indicated in the original statement of organization of the National Fraternity.
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History of Meharry's Omicron Omicron Chapter of
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