City of Tampa Assessing Successful Completion of Major Conference

A week after the conclusion of Omega Psi Phi 84th Grand Conclave in Tampa, city officials are breathing a sigh of relief.

“Thank God the Jackson House didn’t fall down while they were in town,” said Tampa City Official Glen Washerwoman, head of the city’s Department of Culturally Inclusive Tourism Events. “We dodged a bullet there! Not an actual bullet, of course. I meant metaphorically. I wasn’t implying any increase in firearm activity during… you know what, scratch that whole quote please.”

The event with an overall expected attendance between 20,000 to 25,000, is believed to have been the largest Conclave presented by the historically African-American fraternity which was founded in 1911, by three Howard University students, Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman and their faculty adviser, Dr. Ernest Everett Just, the first ever at a historically black university.

With 12,000 hotel room nights booked and attendees patronizing local restaurants and other businesses, the economic impact of the event is significant. 

“The last time Tampa hosted this event was over 40 years ago and since then we’ve had, um, some racially questionable history, such as the cancellation of Gasparilla instead of integrating the parade back in 1991 and mall merchants basically driving the Florida Classic football game out of town in 1994,” said Washerwoman. “So it would have been just my luck if the only boarding house in the city of Tampa that provided accommodations to African-Americans during racial segregation finally just fell completely apart when… well, you know. You know? You know.”