Rice football players go Greek, join Omega Psi Phi fraternity

By Kristal Hanson     4/15/25 11:05pm

Rice has operated without fraternities or sororities since its founding. In their place, residential college systems have served as the core of student life. But this spring, three Rice students joined a fraternity for the first time in school history.

“People say that the residential colleges are supposed to be in place of Greek life, but having Greek life would add another facet to campus culture,” said Arden Napier, one of the three students who joined a fraternity.

Rice football players AJ Stephens and JaMarion Clark and former player Napier were initiated into the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity April 3. According to Clark, the fraternity was founded in 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is one of the nine historically Black Greek-letter organizations that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council, commonly known as the Divine Nine, according to the Council’s official website. 

---

---

Clark, a Martel college sophomore, said there is a broader legacy behind Omega Psi Phi. 

“There’s a lot of great African American men that people might know that they didn’t even know were Omega men,” Clark said. “Michael Jordan is an Omega man. Shaquille O’Neal, Omega man. Jalen Hurts, Omega man.”

The three joined through an initiative of Nu Phi, a Houston-based graduate chapter, which created an “undergraduate citywide line” that allowed students at institutions without Omega chapters to join. Three students from Houston Christian University also joined this spring to make up the inaugural line. 

For each Rice member, the decision to join Omega Psi Phi resulted from long-term exposure and personal influence. 

“My dad is a member of the fraternity,” said Napier, a Sid Richardson College senior. “Growing up around him and all of his fraternity brothers was inspiring. For him to still be connected and still hang out with them all the time, it’s played a big role in my life.”

Clark said some of his earliest role models were Omega men, like his coaches in Little League. 

“Very upstanding characters, very respectful, very hardworking,” Clark said. “They challenged me and brought me up with a lot of loyalty that motivated me to be blessed enough to come play football at Rice University.”

Clark also said the fraternity’s values align with his own.

“The biggest thing this frat brings to the table is another life of brotherhood,” Clark said. “Uplift is to lift as we climb. So as I’m climbing, I’m lifting people up with me as well.”

While Rice’s residential colleges offer built-in social support, Napier said he also enjoys being a part of Omega Psi Phi’s larger network. 

“It’s something that transcends the college campus,” Napier said. “The fraternity is global. Everywhere you go, you’ll meet someone who’s a part of the fraternity. Everywhere you go, you’ll have a friend and a brother.”

Napier said that the community of Black men offered by Omega is lacking at Rice. 

“For all of my life, I’ve gone to predominantly white schools,” Napier said. “I’ve always felt sort of disconnected from the Black community. Joining something that is historically Black makes me feel more secure … and that’s something that hasn’t been offered at Rice or any of the schools that I’ve gone to before.”

Clark said the fraternity aims to prepare its members for the ongoing racial and social challenges Black men face in the professional world.

“This fraternity was literally built to make sure that when the Black man leaves college, and he steps out in the world, he has every trait and is prepared to take on the challenges that he has to face just because of how he looks,” Clark said.

Stephens said the group wants others to feel welcomed into the Omega community. 

“Our goal is to keep the fraternity going, to keep building,” said Stephens, a Jones College sophomore. “We have opened that gate for everybody. We’re the first ones to go through.”

Reactions to the three students joining Omega were mixed on campus. While many students and faculty were quick to issue their congratulations, Clark said the group also received some pushback. 

“I had a friend that goes to Rice send me a screenshot from Fizz, and I’m like, ‘oh dang.’ The Fizz comments were 50% negativity,” Clark said. “We’re bringing positivity to Rice University. Before you judge something, go learn about it.”

Like most Greek organizations, Omega requires members to be in good academic standing and do community service. However, their gatherings are nothing like the raucous parties typically portrayed on TV, Clark said. 

“To be an Omega man is to be a thinking man,” Clark said. “That requires upstanding traits — having above a 2.7 GPA, a certain amount of credit hours, being involved in community service, a certain amount of recommendation letters.”

Stephens said pursuing membership in Omega Psi Phi was about more than campus boundaries for these three students. He said it was about identity, visibility and belonging.

“Black men, we already have a challenge with our lives in this day and age,” Stephens said. “It’s already a little hard out here for us. [Omega Psi Phi] is a brotherhood that you have with the other Black men that you connect with. I wanted to be a part of that brotherhood, that connection.”

Since news of their initiation spread, Stephens said other students have reached out in hopes of joining the line. 

“We were able to do it. I know you can do it too,” Stephens said. “Now, if they wanna come talk about joining, all they have to do is just come to us. We’re here, we’re on campus, we’re not hard to find.”

Clark said he hopes that joining Omega might open the door to more Greek life connections at Rice.   

“Throw a nickel in a wishing well that one day Rice will bring Divine Nine to their school,” Clark said. “It would literally change the whole culture of the school.”

---