THE STORY BEHIND THE FOUNDING

This is the story behind the creation of Alpha Phi Omega. It is also the story of the beginning of the first Chapter - the Alpha Chapter - at Lafayette College. Above all, it is the story of the dreams of one man for an organization through which men might better the conditions of other men, as well as of themselves. This man is FRANK REED HORTON.

DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR, I served as an ensign in the United States Navy aboard a minesweeper in the North Sea. Our ship and its partner exploded more than 1,000 magnetic mines. My law school background at Boston University led to my appointment to try court martial cases in our Division. When we reached ports some of the sailors ran wild. Many court martial cases resulted. I saw young boys in their teens getting into trouble.

Because of these experiences, I made a firm resolution within myself that if I returned alive, I would try to do two things and do them with all my power. First, do my best to help young people get the right start in life by holding up before them a "standard of manhood" that would withstand the test of time! Second and just as important, try to help the nations of the world settle their disputes in a more sensible and legal manner than by war.

After the war, I became a student at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. One evening, while attending an American Legion banquet during my sophomore year, I sat next to an inspiring man named Herbert G. Horton. We were not related but we became fast friends. He, too, had been a naval officer but was now serving as the local Scout Executive. He helped me to become a Deputy Scout Commissioner. One of the troops needed a leader, so I became a Scoutmaster as well.

Through these experiences, I found that the Scout Oath and Law were what I had been seeking - a standard of manhood that would withstand the test of time and a code of ideals created and accepted by some of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.

The summer of my junior year was spent as an Associate Camp Director at the Easton Scout Reservation. Here I was impressed with the religious tolerance in the hearts of the boys. This I have not found so easily among older people. Scouts of the Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant faiths worked together in everything at camp, and everyone had an opportunity to worship on his Sabbath in his own way.

My Brothers in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity house, where I lived, who were outstanding for high ideals and clean living, were all former Scouts. I felt a college organization should be formed that would strengthen men in these ideals, and give them an opportunity for Leadership experience and for Service to others.

As a senior at Lafayette College, I talked to some of the men with a Scouting background and the response was good. These men would join an organization based on the ideals of Scouting. I created the name Alpha Phi Omega, the motto and the Greek words and their meaning and wrote the Ritual. Everett W. Probst designed the pin and drew the Coat-of-Arms. Thane S. Cooley suggested the handclasp. Ellsworth S. Dobson and Gordon M. Looney helped write the Constitution and Bylaws.

Fourteen undergraduates signed as charter Members. Scouting advisors were Dr. Ray O. Wyland and Herbert G. Horton.

The Lafayette College Faculty approved the petition for recognition. On December 16, 1925, I conducted the Ritual Initiation at Brainerd Hall, second floor, and Alpha Phi Omega was born.

My purpose was to make Alpha Phi Omega an organization for college men who cooperated with all youth movements, especially Scouting. I also anticipated that our Service program would expand to help people in need everywhere and to do service on the campus of each Chapter.

As Scouting is worldwide, so should Alpha Phi Omega be worldwide, gradually in the colleges and universities of all the nations. Alpha Phi Omega can help bring about, through the future statesmen of the world, that standard of manhood and international understanding and friendship that will lead to a better, more peaceful world in which to live and in which to make a living and a life.

PHILIPPINE APHIO

After World War II, Sol Levy, a Scouter and an APO alumnus, went to the Philippines. At a conference, Levy shared the idea of a Scouting-based fraternity and left APO publications with the Filipinos in attendance, among them Dr. Librado I. Ureta. Starting in 1947, Dr. Ureta organized Alpha Phi Omega at Far Eastern University in Manila where he was a graduate student. The response from fellow Eagle Scouts was good.

By the year 1950, when Dean Arno Nowotny, Alpha Rho Chapter, was National President, and APO already had more than 200 American Chapters coast to coast, the Filipinos were ready for official recognition by the school administration. On March 2, 1950, in Room 214 of the Nicanor Reyes Sr. Memorial Hall, the first organization of APO outside of the United States was established by Dr. Ureta's group of over 20 Scouts and Advisors. Far Eastern University became the Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega of the Republic of the Philippines.

Later in the same year, with the participation of other Scouts in Manila, including those from the nearby National University (named the Beta Chapter on March 24, 1951), the Alpha Phi Omega International Service Fraternity became a national organization and Dr. Ureta became the first National President. On September 13, 1953, APO of the Philippines held its first National Convention in Manila. A Philippine College or University may become an APO Chapter on the petition of at least 15 students (all-male or all-female) of the school. To date (January 10, 1999), 255 Fraternity Charters and 104 sorority charters have been granted: From Alpha through Kappa Omicron. Whichever organization by gender is established on campus first, the Fraternity Brothers and Sorority Sisters share the same Chapter name.

In the past, sisters belonged to sororities of different names. Women were first admitted into the APO ranks on September 17, 1968, when the first sorority Chapter was given official recognition. On December 18, 1971, Alpha Phi Omega Auxiliary Sorority took legal from ("Auxiliary" was later dropped).

On October 13, 1976, the APO National Executive Board started to grant recognition to alumni associations on the petition of 15 Life Members from the fraternity or sorority. To date, 92 Alumni Associations based on location, region, profession, or Chapter are official APO service resources throughout the Philippine archipelago and abroad. Among countries with active alumni groups are: Australia, England, Japan, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In North America, local Chapters may contact these Filipino alumni associations in British Columbia, New York, Florida, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey, San Francisco Bay area (2 associations), Houston, Montreal, San Diego, Toronto, Seattle, Winnipeg and Guam. Many of these alumni associations are Members of the Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Council of North America.

The National Office in the Philippines is located at the Residencia Breaganza Suite 3-A, Ermin St., Cubao, Quezon City, Metropolitan Manila, Philippines, Tel. No. 632 724-0808. It is staffed by volunteer Brothers and Sisters.

While APO through the years has acquired an identity separate from the Boy Scouts, and native culture has influenced the biggest fraternity and sorority in the Southeast Asian country, the Philippine Alpha Phi Omega always adheres to Dr. Horton's cardinal principles of Leadership, Friendship, and Service. If there is one difference, it is that the handclasp is based not on the original APO Member Thane S. Cooley's, but on teh boy scouts' handshake.

source: apo.org

CHAPTER HISTORY

From its humble origins arose an institution which had grown through the years. By 1950, it already had 227 chapters from coast to coast of the United States. 0n March 2nd of the same year, Librado Ureta, an Eagle Scout and graduate student of Far Eastern University in the Philippines, founded the first Philippine APO chapter at Room 214 of Nicanor Reyes, Sr. Memorial Hall in FEU with 10 fellow students. It was on this fateful day that an idea became a reality; thus, was founded the first international chapter of APO. Three years later and after seven chapters had been chartered in Luzon and Visayas campuses, APO was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock, non-profit, and non-dividend corporation.

Eliseo "Dad" Clamor learned about Alpha Phi Omega in 1952. With six fellow students and three advisers, he organized the first APO chapter in Quezon City and the first in the whole University of the Philippines System. A year later, on February 10, 1953, the UP Diliman campus became ETA - the seventh chapter of APO in the Philippines.

ETA Chapter immediately undertook the task of exemplifying the ideals and principles of the Fraternity. From a fledgling organization surrounded by other collegiate institutions, the UP APO has risen into a mammoth of an institution, a veritable monolith in campus affairs, and a sturdy force to be reckoned with; but just as APO is universal, it cannot be limited to mere campus affairs. For, after all, being an APO member does not end when the sheepskin changes hands.

With the aim of continuing the ideals and principles of the fraternity, the Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Association of ETA Chapter was formally organized on December 12, 1976. The Articles of Incorporation were drafted and the By-Laws adopted with minor amendments. On the same occasion, the members of the Board of Directors were elected with Roy Eduardo Lucero as its first President and Chairman. The UP APO AA was registered with the SEC on February 12, 1977. The Alumni Association has gained momentum with the addition of newly graduated members thereby infusing the vitality and enthusiasm of youth. It has undertaken numerous projects hand-in-hand with the resident brothers and has been the initiator and provider of many more; and, with the creation of the Alumni Association, the brotherhood within the Chapter had never been stronger.

As of today, many of ETA Chapter's alumni have gone on to lead APO Alumni Associations in different countries. The Chapter prides itself on the election of its first alumnus to become National President of APO Philippines. FELIX "CHATO" MARIŅAS, JR. served during the biennial years 1993 - 1995. During these years, Chato was able to equip the National Office with computers and communication systems needed to cope up with the advent of high technology and the immense growth of the world's largest fraternal organization.

Filipino women, early in APO's history, had been involved in its activities. However, the women of APO carried different names. APO Philippines began to grant recognition to Sororities affiliated with the Fraternity in 1968; then, at the 1971 APO National Convention, the names were standardized into APO Auxiliary Sororities and the term "Auxiliary" was eventually dropped.

ETA Chapter's Sorority was founded on September 22, 1972. The Brothers of ETA were instrumental in gathering together 25 coeds to form the Charter Batch. The Sorority was formally recognized by the APO National Council on September 12, 1976. To date, there are about 500 residents and alumni who adhere to the ideals of APO. Service to fellowmen particularly inspires them.

The Sisters of ETA have continuously treaded the path of Service. They have since been raising funds for charitable institutions and have entertained the patients of the Veterans Memorial Hospital providing food and variety shows. They continue to visit the Boy's Town Founding Home, giving love and joy to young kids who knew nothing. They have been serving as Guide and Light in their capacity as Board Member of the Movement for the Filipino Blind. They have also assisted the Dumagat tribesmen settlements. The Sisters of ETA always give part of themselves to others. For they are, foremost, women of APO who commit themselves to the promotion of a healthier and happier community; and, for as long as women are so committed, the principles of APO - "Be a Leader, Be a Friend, and Be of Service" - will continue to live in the hearts of all. This is Alpha Phi Omega with ETA Chapter. This is the dream which had inspired Frank Reed Horton, Librado Ureta, and Eliseo Clamor. The dream remains and the dream is reality. From a germ of idea arose a monolith of greatness.

source: members.xoom.com/_XOOM/apophil/etalist.html

PAST GRAND CHANCELLORS OF ETA CHAPTER

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