Early History | National Charter | Challenge Song | Fellowship Song

Early History (1931-1980)

October 2, 1931 - The first meeting was held at Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house.

March 17, 1932 - The charter was received. The charter now resides at Alibrandi Catholic Center.

Instead of wearing a pledge pin, the brothers chose to have the pledges wear the A Phi O Key.

Phi's first president was Richard Francis Grant, and the first advisor was Dr. Gurth Whipple of SUNY-ESF.

April 11, 1934 - Phi started the tradition of initiating each of SU's chancellors as honorary members. Chancellor Flint was the first to be initiated. Chancellor and Mrs. Shaw were initiated in Fall 1994. In the Spring of 1995, President Whalley and his wife were initiated as honorary members as well.

1935 - The idea of having an annual banquet was born.

The Camp Woodland service project was started.

1937 - Phi was awarded the Wallace O. Lee trophy as the outstanding chapter in the nation. Dr. H. Roe Bartle, “The Chief,” made his third trip to Phi to present the trophy.

1938 - The first blood drive was held. The infirmary had APO brothers on call at all times.

1938-1939 - The Eta chapter from Northern Illinois won the Lee Trophy. In '39, Phi won the trophy again, but the Eta brothers refused to give it back. In the seventies, Fred Pollack said that if any brother of Phi could get the trophy back, then he would award them a keg of beer. GO FOR IT!

A lot of information from this decade is missing due to the war. Eleven active or alumni brothers were either killed or M.I.A. A plaque was made for these brothers after the war.

1946 - The President's Gavel was made. The one the current president uses is believed to be the original.

1947 - Phi's Newsletter, “Philings,” was born.

1948 - Phi started the ride board which worked until a student was hurt by a driver who was not a student. After this, safety precautions were taken to prevent this from happening again, and eventually the University took over the board.

There were 71 active brothers and pledges.

Brothers visited the infirmary and brought small gifts or soup to ill students. This helped Phi's image and helped recruit possible pledges.

Phi started The Book Mart which sold and exchanged books. This later became known as the Book Exchange taken over by the University, but has recently been restored to APO with the help of NYPIRG and SGA. It is in 126 Schine on the wall.

1960 - The chapter participated in Ugly Man on Campus which was fairly successful. The name has been changed to Ugly Person on Campus to include sororities in this fundraising effort.

Phi brothers invested in a cottage in which they held a lot of their activities.

1967 - Phi brother Brian McLane focused his attention on the lack of handicap accessible buildings on campus. Fellow Phi brothers also found this inaccessibility a problem as they helped Brian around campus. Brian initiated a national campaign, Architectural Barriers, in an attempt to correct this problem. In 1969, Phi received support from the national office. As a result, Phi received the Arno “Shorty” Notowny National Service Award for 1968-1970. Dr. Bartle suggested this award.

Phi started hosting Christmas parties for handicapped and under-privileged children.

1968 - Women became unofficially involved in chapter activities. They were known as little sisters and figured they'd become a Gamma Sigma Sigma chapter after a year. Gamma Sigma Sigma was a service sorority for women. The women opted to remain little sisters of Phi.

1973 - Phi began participated in Dance Marathon and raised $1,740 which put them in fourth place. In '74 they raised $3,248. In '75 they raised $3,400.

1975 - Phi banned drinking from chapter meetings because brothers were too drunk to get anything accomplished.

1976 - Phi membership drastically declined. They remaining brothers felt they had nothing to offer SU and considered disbanding. Thankfully, this never happened. Membership increased from a morale boost that occurred during a project at the Jaycees Haunted House, which was held at the Fairgrounds. This event helped brothers work together again and refocus themselves on the purpose of Phi chapter.

1976-1977 - Phi traditions were recorded:

•  After chapter Sunday nights, everyone went to Chucks for 15 cent beers.

•  Pinball and Frisbee were the official Phi sports.

•  Brothers entertained themselves in the office by playing poker.

•  Brothers often road tripped to Blazer hockey games.

•  A spring banquet was held.

•  There was an annual softball game.

•  Galuppi's was the fraternity bar.

1976 - At the national convention in Atlanta, it was decided that if an APO chapter was going to accept the women into the fraternity, they must be treated as equals!!! The U.S. Congress ruled that service fraternities and sororities were not exempt from the Dept. of Health Education and Welfare's resolution to equal education.

1977 - In February, Phi voted to accept women as brothers. On April 23, the first pledge class was initiated of both women and men.

In the Spring, Fred Pollak graduated from SU's Law School. He was an active brother and advisor for eight years. In recognition of his work, the brothers established the Fred Pollak Service to Phi Chapter Award. This was given to an active brother or sister (as they were referred to then) who put time and effort to better Phi chapter.

The most memorable pledge prank took place when the APO office was located in Archbold. Word had drifted to brothers that the pledges were thinking about giving the brothers Ex-lax as their prank and due to the warped thinking of the VP Fellowship, this idea was incorporated into the chapter's prank. The highlight of the prank was when a couple of brothers threw pies in the pledges' faces as the PA system from a nearby van played “The William Tell Overture.” The pledges retaliated by stealing all of the furniture form the office, except the phone, master locator book, and the charter. They locked everything in the balcony overlooking the gym.

Original National Alpha Phi Omega Charter

CHALLENGE SONG
(Tune: "Field Artillery Song")

A. P. O. give a cheer as we go on through the year,
Spreading goodwill throughout all the land,
We will strive with our might for the cause we know is right,
Giving each man a firm helping hand.
For as you see, our fraternity,
Is guided by friendship old and new,
To succeed in this task, we must always ask,
For the help of our brethren so true.
-by Phi and Beta Iota Chapters

FELLOWSHIP SONG
(Tune: "Notre Dame Victory Song")

Here's to you, brothers, loyal and true,
You'll be a friend whate'er we go through.
You'll stand up through thick and thin,
Keep up your spirit, and strive to win;
Friendship and service - leadership, too,
Those were our guides as we grew and grew.
So all you men of A.P.O.,
Keep up the good work - Let's go.
-by Phi and Beta Iota Chapters

1980-1900

1980's - According to past president Steven Burd (1985-86), there are few historical facts from the 80s. Steve arrived here in 1985 as a transfer brother and student from Lebanon Valley College (Nu Delta). In late September, Bonna Burtt, a Phi alumni, contacted Steve saying that she was working with the sectional and regional staffs to reestablish Phi chapter. Apparently, for reasons unknown to Steve, the chapter had died a slow death in the early 80s. By '85, there was nothing left. Acting as members of the E-Board, Steve and an eight person pledge class took on the responsibility of rebuilding Phi Chapter. They acted as brothers and pledges at the same time and focused on service to members. In the Spring of '86 they grew slowly by initiating five new brothers. The next pledge class had between ten to twelve people. The last thing Steve recalls was being told that Phi would have to leave its office in Archbold Gymnasium. The thing that was most upsetting about this move was that the APO crest which had been painted on the wall by Judy Saita would be lost in the move. After Steve graduated in '87, he became chair of Section 92 in Northeastern PA for two years.

1990-2000

BBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGG History Gap!

1993 - In the fall, Father James P. Lang was initiated as an honorary brother and is one of our advisors to this day.

Phi hosted a sectionals conference in the Spring under the theme “World of Service.”

Spring 1995 - The office of Alumni Secretary was added to the Executive board.

1996 - The Spring pledge class pulled off a prank that now competes as the most memorable prank. Each pledge took something from the big brother and left a note telling them where and when to get it back. When the brothers arrived, the pledges had set up a game show similar to “Let's Make a Deal” where brothers had to win their stuff by answering A Phi O trivia or doing goofy things. The pledge class closed it off by singing “Lean on Me” to the brotherhood.

Six Phi brothers went to Washington, D.C. to help with the AIDS quilt while it was on display on the Mall. This may have been the last time the quilt will be displayed in its entirety.

A New York state proclamation was signed by Gov. Pataki calling for November 2, 1996 to be Officially Alpha Phi Omega National Service Day (we did that!).

The chapter had its first baking day at Alibrandi Catholic Center. It was a huge success with over 2,000 cookies made which were donated to the Rescue Mission for the winter holidays.

1997 - Phi held a blood drive in the Schine Student Center and it was the largest success of any blood drive on campus that the Red Cross could recall.

Phi received a Youth Grant of $250 from the National Office to put together a program for area youth at the Westcott Community Center.

Phi hosted a sectionals conference in the Fall under the theme “All Roads Lead to Service.” This was one of the most successful conferences ever as 300 people attended the banquet.

Phi received many national awards including one for leadership, one for their National Service Week projects, and one for their work with the Youth Grant.

Phi is featured on the cover of T&T for their work with the Youth Grant.

1998 - The chapter tied for second place in the NY region for most blood attained by a sponsor of blood drives.

Phi was the only chapter in our region to be awarded pins for our participation in National Service Week.

Jenni Hoffman and Father Jim Lang were awarded Distinguished Service Keys for their outstanding service

1999 - Lynne Mowers becomes an advisor for Phi Chapter

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