Alpha Phi Omega (ΑΦΩ), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25,000 students, and over 500,000 alumni members. There are also 250 chapters in the Philippines, one in Australia and one in Canada. The 500,000th member was initiated in the Rho Pi chapter of Alpha Phi Omega at the University of California, San Diego.
Alpha Phi Omega's "Beauty and the Beast" contest at the University of Texas at Arlington, circa 1960s
Alpha Phi Omega's first female national president, Maggie Katz, addressing the delegates of the 39th biennial national convention in Louisville, Kentucky, immediately following her election.
Signing of the ICAPO charter at the 1994 National Convention in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
From 1990 to 2016, the APO-USA National Office was located in Independence, Missouri. The national office has since moved back to Kansas City.
Fraternities and sororities
In North America, fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student but continues thereafter for life. Some accept graduate students as well. Individual fraternities and sororities vary in organization and purpose, but most share five common elements:Secrecy
Single-sex membership
Selection of new members based on a two-part vetting and probationary process known as rushing and pledging
Ownership and occupancy of a residential property where undergraduate members live
A set of complex identification symbols that may include Greek letters, armorial achievements, ciphers, badges, grips, hand signs, passwords, flowers, and colors
The fraternity system in North America began at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776.
The Kappa Kappa Gamma house at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, pictured c. 1877, was the birthplace of Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu sororities
Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members assist the Georgia Air National Guard during a George Floyd protest in Atlanta in June 2020