Kai Paterson was no stranger to fraternities or sororities when he was a freshman at Hampton University.  Before pledging Omega Psi Phi at Indiana State University, he joined a high school fraternity, whose members were from several high schools throughout Northern New Jersey. "I initially did not have a clue what organization I was interested in becoming a member in college, but I was impressed with the Greek Letter Organizations and social clubs at Hampton.  "They put a great deal of effort into their organization's image, and controlled most of the campus' social activities".  "They were all having fun enjoying their memberships within their organizations, and wore the organizations colors proudly. 

"In my freshman year, my financial aid required that I participate in a work/study program that helped pay my tuition and provided me some additional cash".  Kai Patterson was assigned to work in the Hampton University Library Archives, which contained all of the university's personal documents and history.  "While working in the library's archives, I was required to file several personal documents".  Some of the documents included legal documents, letters to past administrators, letters from parents, and financial documents".  I used the time to research the Greek Letter Fraternities, to help me decide which organization I would become a member, if any".

"While working in the archives, I read several letters concerning each organization, including legal letters, parent complaints and documents that exposed some of the traditions of the organizations".  "There were several letters from parents to the university with complaints that their children were not allowed to become members.  Some letters were from individuals that were ranking national members within their organization, yet their children were not allowed to join their organization because of their complexion".  "One organization had internal problems.  "Of course I immediately excluded that organization, and I'm sure they would not have cared considering my complexion.  "I'm not saying they outwardly treated people differently, but they just had a history of a complexion code that eventually went away by my senior year".

Omega Psi Phi Inspires Kai Patterson

In my freshman year, Omega Psi Phi had a Lampados Roundup at Hampton, which consisted of members and pledges from several chapters coming to a single campus for a weekend".  "I was amazed at the brotherhood the members of Omega Psi Phi exemplified".  "I was in a high school fraternity, but never did I see members display the intense love for each other that I witnessed.

"After researching each organization thoroughly, I was impressed that astronauts Frederick Gregory, Ronald E. McNair (Deceased) and Charles Bolden were members of Omega Psi Phi, in addition to the brotherhood I witnessed at the Roundup".  Of the first four African American Astronauts selected and flew on missions, three were members of Omega Psi Phi.  That was very impressive to me, considering my goal was to be an astronaut someday".  Charles Bolden was also previously a Marine Corps Test Pilot and was recently appointed the NASA Administrator.  "Charles Bolden was a person that had three things I wanted in life while I was in college; to be a Marine Test Pilot, Astronaut and a member of Omega Psi Phi".

"When I worked at NASA Langley, I discovered that I was assigned to work in the same office and sat at the same desk used by Brother  Fredrick Gregory".  "By the time I was hired by NASA, I was already a member of Omega Psi Phi.  I felt it was my destiny to become an astronaut knowing that I was sitting in the same seat as my Fraternity Brother and fellow NASA employee, Fredrick Gregory sat.  Frederick Gregory was a test pilot engineer at NASA Langley prior to being selected as an NASA Astronaut.  "My office was in the same building as the test pilots, which provided unbelievable motivation".  Knowing I completed my OCS training and had a pilots contract with Marine Corps, many test pilots would stick their heads in my office to tell me what flight tests they were doing that day".

"Brother Ronald E. McNair was a true inspiration, because he was a mission specialist and a scientist astronaut".  While at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. McNair performed some of the earliest development of chemical HF/DF and high-pressure CO lasers. His later experiments and theoretical analysis on the interaction of intense CO2 laser radiation with molecular gases provided new understandings and applications for highly excited polyatomic molecules. 

"Unfortunately for Brother McNair and America, he boarded the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 26, 1996, which was his last mission".  "On that fateful morning, I was working at ITT Aerospace / Defense Division and watch the liftoff and explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger".  "ITT had a a computer onboard that flight, which was programmed by my coworker for a classified operation".  My heart sank and I'll always remember Brother Ronald McNair's smile as he boarded the elevator to climb atop of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Brother Charles Bolden

 Brother Frederick Gregory

Brother Ronald E. McNair (Deceased)

Fraternity Brothers Support Kai Patterson's Projects

"Becoming a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity is one of the best decisions I ever made in life".  I pledged Omega Psi Phi at Indiana State University (XΣ Chapter), where I transferred to take the necessary aviation courses to support my Marine Corps, NASA, ITT and AT&T careers".  "Over the years, many NFL Players became my associates because we were fraternity brothers.  Those relationships enabled me to acquire their support in the development of my NFL Analysis System called "Game Prep ", including Super Bowl 25 MVP and New York Giants Running Back Otis Anderson".  "There were many fraternity brothers in the NFL that instantly supported my efforts and took the time to provide me with their insight and knowledge to enable Game Prep to receive the endorsements and the purchase from the National Football League Office". 

"In addition to the many NFL players that supported the development of Game Prep, fraternity bothers such as New York Giants Corner Back Joey Smith and New York Giants Linebacker Carlton Bailey invested several hours to ensure Game Prep truly was a phenomenal and loved by the NFL".  "There have also been several fraternity brothers that were not in the NFL who invested in many of my products, for which I am very grateful".   

Brother MVP Otis Anderson