Drew University’s A.P.O. chapter was nearly disbanded after most members graduated during the COVID-19 pandemic, but has held steadfast and continued to operate on Drew’s campus. Luckily a graduate student had enough time on their hands to help bring it back.
Alpha Phi Omega, or A.P.O., is a coeducational service fraternity that prioritizes developing leadership, promoting friendship and providing service to society. Through A.P.O. students can gain volunteer experiences, help organize fundraising events and get involved in their community. A.P.O. is also a national organization with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25,000 students and over 500,000 alumni members. This means that Drew members of A.P.O. have the opportunity to join events from schools such as Rutgers University and Seton Hall University, which also have A.P.O. chapters.
Currently, the group is up to 14 members and beginning to become a lot more active in the Drew community. Throughout the previous and current semesters, they have held various exciting events, with no plans to stop any time soon.
Events that they have already been able to accomplish have been the Red Cross Blood Drive in April 2022, a food drive with local stores around Madison and a volunteer event at Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter. Upcoming events planned for next year include a Relay for Life event, volunteer work at Morristown Neighborhood House, a Red Cross blood drive, a Gift of Life event and more. The organization is also very open to new ideas brought by new members, and are flexible as to what volunteer and fundraising opportunities they offer.
Along with A.P.O.’s own events, they also partner with other clubs and organizations at Drew. A frequent club partner is C.H.O.I.C.E., the Community for Humanitarian Outreach & Intercultural Engagement. The mission statement of C.H.O.I.C.E. is very similar to A.P.O. which is to encourage collaboration among people with different values through meaningful and civil engagements. A.P.O. is also looking to collaborate with other clubs as well to allow more students to get involved and informed of volunteer opportunities and events in their community. Action Scholar students and Baldwin Honors students can also gain volunteer hours and leadership skills by being a part of A.P.O. At the spring semester club fair, A.P.O. will be accepting new members and is looking forward to expanding at Drew.
Lindsay Orr is a sophomore majoring in psychology and minoring in philosophy.
