FAQ: Is Alpha Phi Omega Greek?
 

Here is a question that I know a lot of brothers have struggled with. As we were drafting our website and our FAQ's, one of the "prefab" questions was "Is Alpha Phi Omega Greek?"

For me personally, my answer is yes. Obviously we are a greek-letter organization. We are a fraternity, therefore we are greek.

The chapter was split- half of the chapter was diehard "NO WE DON'T WANT TO BE KNOWN AS GREEK" and the other half argued if we aren't a Greek organization/Greek Fraternity, why in the world do we walk around with a Greek letter designation on our chest.

Where do you personally (and/or your chapter) stand on this issue?

What chapter are you from?

Alpha Zeta Iota. We don't fall under the school's Fraternity and Sorority life, but neither do any of the professional/honorary. The answer we borrowed was straight from Gamma Pi's chapter page.

The question itself is flawed.

It should read more like "Is Alpha Phi Omega a social fraternity?"

In fact, this is how your FAQ should read:

Q. Is Alpha Phi Omega a social fraternity?

A. No. We are a community service based fraternity with rituals, tradition, and a good sense of camaraderie and bonding among our members. Service, however, is our number one focus. We are not associated with the National Panhellenic Conference, Inter-fraternity Council, or National Pan-Hellenic Council - though we welcome both Greeks and non-Greeks to join.


Q. Do I have to go through a "rush" process to join APO?

A. Yes. During our "rush" period, we hold several events which are open to anyone interested in joining APO. These often include service projects and fellowship events like a movie or game night. It gives you a chance to get to know members of APO and see if it's something you'd like to be a part of. We extend the opportunity to pledge to anyone with a sincere desire to serve.


Q. What does it mean to be a "pledge" of APO?

A. Your first semester in APO will be full of opportunities to learn about the organization and find your place in it. That is the essence of the pledge program. You will participate in a pledging ceremony and be assigned to a "big" -- an older APO member who will answer any questions you have and help you figure out the ins and outs of APO.


The pledge period lasts from six to eight weeks. You will attend weekly pledge classes, which will help you to get to know other people as well as the history and purpose of APO. Pledges must complete a minimum of 12 hours of service. At least seven 7 hours must be completed through chapter organized projects. The pledge class must organize and participate together in a service project. Also during the pledge period, each pledge must attend a minimum of 1 general assembly meeting. You are initiated as an active member at the conclusion of the pledge period.

Q. Does APO haze?

A. No, absolutely not. Hazing is against Grand Valley State University and Alpha Phi Omega policy.

Q. Does APO have a house?

A. No. We do not have an office on campus either. We use many of the resources provided by the Student Organization Center (SOC), often holding committee meetings there. Our chapter meetings take place in the larger rooms of the Kirkhof Center.

Q. I already belong to a fraternity or sorority. Can I still join?

A. Absolutely. APO is open to any undergraduate student in good academic standing, and since we are not a social fraternity, joining APO does not conflict with your ability to join or remain a member of an NPC, IFC, or NPHC organization.

Q. What are APO's membership requirements?

• To be an active member, you must complete 20 hours of service per academic semester. At least ten of those hours must be completed through chapter organized projects.
• You must attend at least ten general assembly meetings per academic semester.
• You must pay dues.
• You must attend three fellowship events per semester.
• You must also participate in a minimum of one fundraising event per semester.
• You must attend a minimum of half of all recruitment events.
• There are options for members who encounter a particularly hectic semester and need to cut back (referred to as "Associate Membership").

Q. How much is joining going to cost me?

Alpha Phi Omega does have inexpensive dues. Dues for your first semester are roughly $60. In 2008-2009, the fall semester dues for active members were $60 and the winter semester dues were $25. You may have to pay small fees to participate in certain fellowship events. Each semester we order T-shirts and other APO gear, so there would be a cost for that if you are interested.

Q. I'm interested in finding out more. What's my next step?

Our contact information is given at the left. Please feel free to email our general account and to join the recruitment group on Facebook. We are eagerly waiting to hear from you!

Just from my experience, look out for the "OMG WE ARE NOT GREEK HOW DARE YOU ASSOCIATE US WITH THAT" type people. Oftentimes, they joined APO as a substitute for a social fraternity and are the ones who cause the most drama and backbiting that they look down on social Greeks for supposedly doing. You know - kind of like the people who tried out for cheerleader, didn't make it, and now take every opportunity to say how they can't stand cheerleaders (but would throw every friend they have under the bus if they had the opportunity to be on the squad).

Sen's last post should be on the webpage of every single chapter, as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you, 33. It derived from their actual chapter FAQ, located here: http://www2.gvsu.edu/~apo/becoming.html

APO doesn't have "new members." It bothered me so much to see it written so many times, I decided to just take five minutes and edit it. It was definitely written by one of the people that you described, or so it seems.

Though I've been out of school a few years I still feel that I can add to this question.

When I was chapter president we had many people who joined APO since they either did not deisire to join a social fraternity or they were rejected from a social Greek organization. This gave APO the reputation as a society of Greek rejects. It became a place where people could pretend to be Greek without having all the stereotypes of Greek life. I'm glad that APO was available at my campus to fulfill that role for students who needed it.

The problem becomes that when we distance ourselves from Social Greek organizations I've found we often distance ourselves from everything that might onnect us to them. By downplaying the term fraternity (with all its negative conotations) we see a change in our organization from a true brotherhood into a simple community service group, much like Circle K.

So yes, we must emphasize weare not a social Greek society but we cannot allow ourselves to seperate ourselves from them to such a degree that we forget we are a fraternity. I think too often people, even people in APO, associate fraterinty with Greek social orgs and relegate us to something less, which hurts us more than it helps.

I know someone on here (from another school) said that they weren't allowed to use the word "pledge" because it was hazing. Even though APO national says that is what pledges are to be called....I hate the term "new member" for everyone, not just APO. It's misleading. No matter how much your sorority treats you like a sister - you aren't officially one until initiation. That's not a putdown, just a fact of life. A dog is officially a puppy until it's a certain number of months old, period. Same deal.

Depends on the school. Short answer is if the school bans the term pledge, use something else. Otherwise, they are pledges. And the schools that do have an issue are sort of bi-modal. On the one hand, you've got the schools ultra-PC schools (mostly) in the Northeast that have killed off any social greeks that they had and have decided that if APO doesn't change terminology they are next and on the other hand, you've got the HBCUs that are trying to make all of the GLOs behave like NPHC members and get rid of the term pledge. These are also the schools where they put a maximum time length on the process and hopefully, that max time isn't 3 days.

Can you let us know what school? I'll be happy to research what rules they might really have in that regard. :)

Randy

^^^ Grand Valley State University

I think it was that school in NJ (I'm blanking now) that made APO be on IFC and consequently a female APO member ended up as IFC president. It was definitely your first example - it wasn't an HBCU/NPHC issue.

My chapter, for the most part, do not consider us to be Greek though I'm sure a few of us on a personal level believe we are (I'm one of them).

The chapter I come from doesn't have any kind of relationship with the NPC/IFC groups that are on campus because we have a history of them looking down their noses at us. They either pay absolutely no attention to us or downright insult us for no given reason (i.e. calling us "fake greeks" or "fraternity rejects"), however they've slowly started to come around in recent semesters since our recharter back in 2005.
It's kind of sad if you think about it because we were the first greek-rooted organization to be installed on campus that led to the establishment of all the NPC/IFC groups that are on campus today.

new member
 

University policy- we can't use the term pledge. Sucks, but we play by their rules.

My home chapter (which is in NJ) aren't technically allowed to use the term pledges - they also consider it hazing. They still do it, just not blatantly in front of administration. The administration does realize that our national organization uses the term pledge, and they also know that we don't haze, nor do we get caught up in odd hazing/risk management issues, so they generally leave us be on that regard.

They don't have any IFC affiliation, however. They are on the UCGC council (United Cultural Greek Council).