Step up... Alpha Omicron Pi and Alpha Tau Omega
Women develop sisterhood, host long-standing Mr. MSU pageant
By: Casey Northcutt
Issue date: 2/17/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News
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Four young women joined together at Bernard College more than a century ago to create an organization that bound them in sisterhood and promoted the values and ideals they held most dear.
On Jan. 2, 1897, Helen St. Clair Mullan, Stella George Stern Perry, Elizabeth Heywood Wyman and Jessie Wallace Hughan founded Alpha Omicron Pi fraternity.
According to the Alpha Omicron Pi Web site, alphaomicronpi.org, Perry said the founders began the fraternity so members could continue to experience collegiate fellowship after their university days. Above all, they wanted to create an organization that strived to justify existence by reaching for worthy purposes.
AOPi spread beyond Bernard College and eventually reached Murray State, officially establishing itself on campus Feb. 18, 1961. Casey Humkey, junior from Lexington, serves as the president of the chapter.
"We strive to be the best we can in everything we do," Humkey said. "We realize that we are at this University to go to school and further our education, and that's really important to us."
She said AOPi women focus on scholastic goals and exert a lot of energy in community service. They promote the Arthritis Foundation as their official philanthropic organization and stage several events to benefit the charity.
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Fraternity emphasizes community service, friendship
By: Phil Dishon
Issue date: 2/17/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News
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Being a successful Greek organization requires respect, understanding and unity among its members. For the brothers of Alpha Tau Omega, these strong bonds represent the fraternity's original calling.
According to ATO's national Web site,
www.ato.org, the organization began Sept. 11, 1865, from the efforts of Virginia Military Institute student Otis Allen Glazebrook.
According to the site, Glazebrook founded the organization as a vessel of unification under the teachings of Jesus.
Chris Morgan, senior from Sydney, Australia, and ATO president, said the fraternity also helped strengthen the nation after the Civil War.
"(Alpha Tau Omega) was the first chapter formed after the Civil War so it was trying to unite the North and South through the principles of Christianity," Morgan said.
Instead of graduating last semester, he took on the role of chapter president.
It seemed like a reasonable way to give back to the organization responsible for giving him a permanent position on campus, a place to live and a sense of belonging.