APO stroll/step team... what do you think?
 

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Your advisor was wrong for telling you that you couldn't step or stroll.

Stepping can be a great way to exhibit fellowship among the members of the chapter. However, make sure that it is something which the chapter wants to do and that it fits the culture of your chapter and your campus.

It may turn out that strolling or stepping is something only a few people want to do every once in a while, informally.

Or, you could have a service project that teaches kids how to step at a local elementary school.

Just be mindful that if you try to force a tradition on a chapter that doesn't want it or on a campus which won't culturally support it, you will be disappointed.

The question I would ask is why the NEED to stroll or STEP? The organization has seemed to grow without it. If it's based on making new revenue through stepping opportunities, then I could see it making sense, but if your adding stepping and strolling because you want to do it at parties, then that's a different question.

Yeah. A lot of us are fully interested in creating a stroll team. Just the few that are interested (and have rhythm) will be participating. I thought it would be a good idea to reach out to other chapters (those who are interested) therefore creating a greater bonding experience between chapters. A lot of thought had creativity has to go into this. I have a lot to discuss with my fellow brothers. I thought feedback would be a good thing first!

@ Dgreek... No we do not attend parties as such. Mainly to bring in new ideas and also to do so at meet the greeks or a club day. Many APO chapters incorporate stepping and strolling it is not a necessity it is just something new. Not to be social or followers but to try new things.

Are you a Brother of Alpha Phi Omega?

Six of us in the DC area used to be on a step team, five from my chapter (Mu Alpha) and one from University of Maryland (Epsilon Mu). It really was a great bonding experience. This was back in 2001 or 2002, I believe. We never performed publicly, but it was a lot of fun and allowed us to use the fraternity to express ourselves culturally, like any brothers might in other ways. (Such as sectionals having a swing dance or how some west coast chapters have Asian traditions)

There's no reason that you shouldn't be able to step, as long as it's something that the people in your chapter want to do and everyone in the chapter has the opportunity to try it out if they're interested in it. It's a fun way to build unity and have fun together. I get a little annoyed if it's not creative (e.g. a chapter uses specific elements that are already associated with other groups on their campus) but otherwise, why not?

I can see some potential downsides, depending on the campus. Some potential members at schools with ongoing racial tensions might be turned off by it, but I don't see it having a huge impact on recruitment in most cases anyway, and I would hope that most people interested in joining APO would be open-minded enough to respect people in the chapter that wanted to step. Also sucks a bit (from an individual perspective) if you have no sense of rhythm but want to try anyway. :)

I guess I didn't see any Asian traditions because, for us, they were just APO traditions? I mean, one time my chapter did Korean hip hop for roll call, and we help out at a lot of events that are somewhat targeted toward Asians (like the Chinatown YMCA run and dragon boat races), but yeah. And some of the other now-gone traditions *cough*Mr. and Ms. APO*cough* were not inherently Asian, I don't think. They were just strange.