The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity was founded on Friday, November 17, 1911 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The founders of the Fraternity were three students: Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper, and Frank Coleman and their first faculty advisor Ernest Everett Just. The Fraternity's motto is "Friendship is Essential to the Soul." Omega Psi Phi was the first Black fraternal organization founded at a Black university or college. From its inception, the Fraternity has worked to build a strong and effective force of men dedicated to principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance, uplift, and capable of giving expression to the hopes and aspirations of an unfree people in the land of the free. Since 1945, the Fraternity has undertaken a National Social Action Program to meet the needs of African-Americans in the areas of health, housing, civil rights, and education. In 1927, the Fraternity made National Negro Achievement Week an annual observance and it continues today as Achievement Week. In its continuing support of African-American education, the Fraternity gives a gift of $50,000 each year to the United Negro College Fund. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. has supported the UNCF since 1955.