APO BLAST

What is a fraternity - a group of people associated or formally organized for a common purpose, interest, or pleasure.

There are known fraternal organizations which existed as far back as ancient Greece and Rome, and analogous institutions in the late medieval period called confraternities, which were lay organizations allied to the Catholic Church. These confraternities evolved into purely secular fraternal societies such as Freemasonry, which in turn was used as a model for many modern fraternal orders and societies.
The development of modern fraternal orders was especially dynamic in the United States, where the freedom to associate outside governmental regulation is expressly sanctioned in law.[2] There have been hundreds of fraternal organizations in the United States, and at the beginning of the 20th century the number of memberships equaled the number of adult males. (Due to multiple memberships, probably only 50% of adult males belonged to any organizations.)

In 1944 Arthur M. Schlesinger coined the phrase "a nation of joiners" to refer to the phenomenon. Alexis de Tocqueville also referred to the American reliance on private organization in the 1830s in Democracy in America.

There are many attributes that fraternities may or may not have, depending on their structure and purpose. Fraternities can have differing degrees of secrecy, some form of initiation or ceremony marking admission, formal codes of behavior, disciplinary procedures, very differing amounts of real property and assets.
In the recent spate of incidents, we recognize that Alpha Phii Omega has been in the lime lights. The hazing incident which killed one aspiring member is one, and the La Salle bombing which implicated an APO to be the culprit. It is easy to throw in the towel against Alph Phi Omega because in many occasions some of its members have abused their sworn oaths as scouts who are there to lead, to serve and to be a friend.
It cannot be denied that an Alpha Phi Omega member can really do such horror to the community but these are individual calls. APO is not what it is painted today. It is perhaps of the dirty politics of the nation where they choose to dwell on the APO issue and focus on its bad reputation to associate Vice President Binay and taint his reputation, but it will not in anyway affect what Alpha Phi Omega stand for.

Alpha Phi Omega (ΑΦΩ) (commonly known as APO but also A-Phi-O[4] and A-Phi-Q) is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members. There are also 250 chapters in the Philippines and one in Australia.

Alpha Phi Omega is a co-ed service fraternity organized to provide community service, leadership development, and social opportunities for college students. Chapters range in size from a handful of active members to over 200 active members, independent of each college's size.

The programs of the fraternity are centered around developing its three Cardinal Principles: Leadership, Friendship, and Service. Many chapters plan a several local service projects throughout the year, including blood drives, tutoring, charity fundraising events, Scouting events, used book exchanges, Boy Scout Merit Badge days, campus escort initiatives, and housing construction/rehabilitation. Signature projects include the annual National Service Week, in the first full week of November, and the Global Spring Youth Service Day in April. Many of the operations of individual chapters are left to their own discretion, though most chapters have membership requirements which require a certain number of hours of service each semester. In the United States, on April 14, 2003, the fraternity received the Daily Point of Light Award in recognition of its members, who give unselfishly of their time and energy on a daily basis, and who cumulative donate an average of over 300,000 hours of community service each semester.

The purpose of the fraternity is "to assemble college students in a National Service Fraternity in the fellowship of principles derived from the Scout Oath and Scout Law of the Boy Scouts of America; to develop Leadership, to promote Friendship, and to provide Service to humanity; and to further the freedom that is our national, educational, and intellectual heritage." Unlike many other fraternities, APO's primary focus is to provide volunteer service within four areas: service to the community, service to the campus, service to the fraternity, and service to the nation as participating citizens. Being primarily a service organization, the fraternity restricts its chapters from maintaining fraternity houses to serve as residences for their members. This also encourages members of social fraternities and sororities that have houses to join APO as well.