Welcome to Alpha Phi Omega

Alpha Phi Omega is a nationwide Co-ed service fraternity based on the fundamentals of leadership, friendship, and service. Originally founded on the principles of the Scout Oath and Law, we engage in many events, ranging from ourfour fields of service (campus, community, nation, and fraternity) to a wide variety of fun fellowship events

What sets Alpha Phi Omega apart from other community service organizations is evident from our name. We are a fraternity. Although we are open to members of both sexes, we keep the name fraternity as it is symbolic of the bonds of brotherhood that are formed between members. What sets us apart from traditional fraternities is that these bonds come from our service together.
LEADERSHIP

You will have the opportunity to serve as a chapter office or to plan and execute any number of service and social programs. You also will have the chance to participate in a variety of leadership development programs sponsored by the Fraternity.
FRIENDSHIP

We believe by participating in a wide variety of social programs helps build a strong feeling of fellowship. Our social activities, which range from local chapter parties to weekend gathering involving members from many chapters, provide opportunities to make new friends for life.
SERVICE

Our projects serve young and old, campus and community, the nation and our own members. Each chapter plans its own service program, so each member has the opportunity to offer ideas and suggestions on how each and every activity plan gets executed/planned.

Alpha Phi Omega of the Philippines

In 1950, the Republic of the Philippines then was only four years old. The Boy Scout movement founded by LORD BADEN-POWELL in Great Britain was organized in the Philippines in 1923; in 1950, as now, many Filipinos where actively participating in the movement. One evening that year, Scouters in Manila were invited to a conference with a certain SOL LEVY from Washington State, USA. Brother Levy expressed the desire to organize Alpha Phi Omega in the Philippines. He gave a short talk and distributed some copies of three APO publications: Questions and Answers, National Constitution and By-Laws, and Ritual Rites and Ceremonies.DR. LIBRADO I. URETA, an Eagle Scout (and then, a graduate student at Far Eastern University in Manila) was among the audience. Inspired by Brother Levy's words, he read the publications and shared them with fellow Eagle Scouts and students on the FEU campus. He asked their opinion about Brother Levy's desire and the response was good. On 2 March 1950, Alpha Phi Omega International Service Fraternity was founded at Nicanor Reyes Sr. Hall, Room 214, FEU. After early preparations, a petition for official status and copies of the publications were sent to the FEU administration. Few days after, the university recognized the organization.Alpha Phi Omega grew rapidly in the Philippines and now there are several hundred active Alpha Phi Omega chapters throughout the country.

ALPHA PHI OMEGA IN THE PHILIPPINES

After World War II, Sol Levy, a Scouter and an APO alumnus, went to the Philippines. At a conference, Levy shared the idea of a Scouting-based fraternity and left APO publications with the Filipinos in attendance, among them Dr. Librado I. Ureta. Starting in 1947, Dr. Ureta organized Alpha Phi Omega at Far Eastern University in Manila where he was a graduate student. The response from fellow Eagle Scouts was good.
By the year 1950, when Dean Arno Nowotny, Alpha Rho Chapter, was National President, and APO already had more than 200 American Chapters coast to coast, the Filipinos were ready for official recognition by the school administration. On March 2, 1950, in Room 214 of the Nicanor Reyes Sr. Memorial Hall, the first organization of APO outside of the United States was established by Dr. Ureta's group of over 20 Scouts and Advisors. Far Eastern University became the Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega of the Republic of the Philippines.
Later in the same year, with the participation of other Scouts in Manila, including those from the nearby National University (named the Beta Chapter on March 24, 1951), the Alpha Phi Omega International Service Fraternity became a national organization and Dr. Ureta became the first National President. On September 13, 1953, APO of the Philippines held its first National Convention in Manila. A Philippine College or University may become an APO Chapter on the petition of at least 15 students (all-male or all-female) of the school. To date (January 10, 1999), 255 Fraternity Charters and 104 sorority charters have been granted: From Alpha through Kappa Omicron. Whichever organization by gender is established on campus first, the Fraternity Brothers and Sorority Sisters share the same Chapter name.
In the past, sisters belonged to sororities of different names. Women were first admitted into the APO ranks on September 17, 1968, when the first sorority Chapter was given official recognition. On December 18, 1971, Alpha Phi Omega Auxiliary Sorority took legal from ("Auxiliary" was later dropped).
On October 13, 1976, the APO National Executive Board started to grant recognition to alumni associations on the petition of 15 Life Members from the fraternity or sorority. To date, 92 Alumni Associations based on location, region, profession, or Chapter are official APO service resources throughout the Philippine archipelago and abroad. Among countries with active alumni groups are: Australia, England, Japan, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In North America, local Chapters may contact these Filipino alumni associations in British Columbia, New York, Florida, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey, San Francisco Bay area (2 associations), Houston, Montreal, San Diego, Toronto, Seattle, Winnipeg and Guam. Many of these alumni associations are Members of the Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Council of North America.
The National Office in the Philippines is located at the V.V. Soliven Complex, 2nd Floor, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, San Juan, Metropolitan Manila, Tel. No. 632 724-0808. It is staffed by volunteer Brothers and Sisters.

While APO through the years has acquired an identity separate from the Boy Scouts, and native culture has influenced the biggest fraternity and sorority in the Southeast Asian country, the Philippine Alpha Phi Omega always adheres to Dr. Horton's cardinal principles of Leadership, Friendship, and Service. If there is one difference, it is that the handclasp is based not on the original APO Member Thane J. Cooley's, but on the Boy Scout handshake.