History

In The Beginning . . .

We, the Alpha Phi Omega Petitioning Group of Virginia Commonwealth University, had our beginnings as an Interest Group on September 19, 1993. We soon became a group of fourteen students (including 5 brothers transferred from other chapters) interested in the three cardinal principles of APO: Leadership, Friendship, and Service. As an Interest Group, we elected officers, began a Big Brother/Little Brother program, and began the process of becoming a fully recognized Petitioning Group. We strengthened our friendship among the members by beginning weekly, "trivia" questions, movie nites, dances, and informal get-togethers. Service-wise, we participated in a variety of projects encompassing the four fields of service: campus, community, nation, and fraternity. We accomplished over 190 hours of service, with such organizations as the American Diabetes Association, Richmond Ballet, VCU Career Services Center, Boy Scouts, and many others.

We worked hard, and on November 20, 1993, the Petitioning Group Ceremony was administered by Section 82 Staff and our big brother chapter, Nu Rho of the College of William and Mary. The pride all of us felt at that moment was truly immense.

Even after we received PG status, we continued to perform service, logging in another 167 hours before the fall semester ended.

When we returned to school after break, we ran our first "rush" in order to get even more VCU students interested in APO. Despite weather problems and, "Murphy's Law," we attracted a cross section of the VCU student population who were interested in belonging to APO.

The PG'ers and "pledges" worked hard to increase our strength in the three cardinal principles. We ran a "pledge" program, complete with quizzes, "pledgebooks," "pledgeclass" officers, and increased our big brother/little brother program. We continued our friendship activities we had started in the fall, and even planned our first end-of-the-year banquet. We continued our informal gatherings, and had informal get-togethers at the couches in the Student Commons. We also expanded our service program. Over the course of the spring semester, we participated in numerous service projects, accounting for over 820 hours for the spring semester alone (note: actual final count was later determined to be 1,228, according to SVP records). Some of the organizations we worked with were the VCU Anderson Gallery, March of Dimes, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Virginia Blood Services, MCV/VCU Child Life Center, and many more.

On April 16, 1994, we welcomed 25 new PG members into APO, increasing our membership roster to 38. We pride ourselves in our diversity of membership: traditional and nontraditional students, male and female, straight and gay, undergraduate and graduate, various ethnic/racial groups, and various majors. We are very proud of our representation of the VCU student population.

During the Spring, we also formulated our first set of bylaws and policy manual, and set up ground work to continue in the coming fall.

The academic year may have ended, but our work as APO did not. Members who live in the Richmond area met weekly to plan and prepare for the new school year. We participated in several service projects, such as Special Olympics, Jammin' on the James for the Daily Planet, Richmond Senior Center, and American Diabetes Association. We also had four members attend the Chapter Presidents' Workshop held at the University of Maryland. We are ready, willing, and able to continue the great traditions started here at VCU.

With this Charter Kit, we respectfully submit our hard work, our hopes, and our future as Alpha Phi Omega at VCU. We look forward to being welcomed as a full chapter to carry on Leadership, Friendship, and Service on the Virginia Commonwealth University campus.

-from the Charter Application Summary- September 1994