General Pledge Book Instructions

General Pledge Book Instructions

All of this information should be covered in your weekly pledge meetings, however for a quick reference here are some guidelines for you to keep in mind while working on your Pledge Book.

• All 200 Pages of your pledge book must be numbered (front page is labeled 1 and back of same page is labeled 2 and so on)
• All information listed in the table of contents is required to be in your pledge book and on the page specified (it can go over, as long as there is a page after it that is not specified for another purpose)
• Any pages not listing a specific information requirement are to be used at your discretion (as to what you would like to place there; anything from photos of events, doodles, stickers, to even leaving it blank.)
• Your pledge book can reflect your personality and choices in how you present the information provided in the packet; you can reformat anything from font, color, size, and even shape, it’s all up to you. The pictures provided are NOT required, you may choose other photos or to simply not include photos for our Fraternity traditions. Again … it’s all up to you! 
• “Divider Pages” simply refers to the page coming before a section. For example it can be done as simply as writing “Advisors Signatures” on the page before your advisor signatures progress chart (the chart for their actual signature, rather than the page they do the interview on)
• An interview should consist of at least 5 questions with the person you are interviewing, however some advisors and active brothers have variations as to how they do their interviews, so variations of this basic interview format are welcome.
• Hint: It is a wonderful idea to have your personal history section done before interviewing advisors. In addition most brothers enjoy being able to look at the general progress of your book as well as the personal touches that you may have added.
• Bottom Line:Have fun with your book! It’s your record of the history of APO and your pledge period; it can be as simple or as intricate as you want it to be!

Table of Contents

Page #

1Title Page

(Greek  letters)

Alpha Phi Omega

Alpha Delta Iota Chapter

Pledge class Namesake

Virginia Commonwealth University

3Table of Contents

5Our Common Goal

7-8Chapter History

10Interest Group Officers and Petitioning Group Officers

11 Chartering Officers

12 Current Officers

14 Toast Song

15Traditions

16Scout Oath and  Oath of Loyalty and Service

17Scout Law

18-22Personal History

23 Advisors Signatures Divider Page

24Advisors Signatures Progress Chart

25-36 Advisors Signatures

37Active Brothers’ Signatures Divider Page

38Active Brothers’ Signatures Progress Chart

39-110Active Brothers’ Signatures

111Pledge Brothers’ Signatures

112Pledge Brothers’ Signatures Progress Chart

113-140Pledge Brothers’ Signatures

141Special Signatures Divider Page

143-160Special Signatures (Alumni, Associates and Other Brothers)

161Photos and Mementos Divider Page

162-186Photos and Mementos

187Big Brother Signatures Divider Page

188-194Big Brother Signatures

195-196Service Hours Chart

197Greek Alphabet

198Family Tree

199-200Group Photo of Pledge class

Back CoverPledge class Roster

Our Common Goal

During World War I, Frank Reed Horton, our Founder, was discouraged by the young people getting into trouble. He resolved to help young people get the right start in life by holding them up to a standard of manhood that would withstand the test of time. He also wanted to help the nations of the world settle their disputes in a more sensible and legal manner than by war.

Alpha Phi Omega was established in 1925 for the purpose of assembling college students in a National Service Fraternity, in the fellowship of the principles of the Boy Scouts of America as embodied in the Scout Oath and Law. Our goal is to develop Leadership, promote Friendship, and to provide Service to humanity; and to further the freedom that is our national, educational, and intellectual heritage.

Alpha Phi Omega’s program of service reaches out to the members of the Fraternity, to the campus, to the community, and to the Nation. The responsibility for the success of Alpha Phi Omega’s service program lies within each individual member. The spirit of friendliness, humility, charity, and good will direct us toward a program of unselfish service. Service to others makes our world and our lives more meaningful and enjoyable. Much pride can be taken in being part of an organization that is willing to give its time and energy to help others.

Alpha Phi Omega captures the best parts of what Fraternity is all about. Alpha Phi Omega is a common bond, an alliance that is life-long. This unselfish sharing of ideas, interests, successes and even failures is what makes Alpha Phi Omega strong.

Alpha Delta Iota Chapter History

Alpha Delta Iota (ADI) Chapter began with the idea that Virginia Commonwealth University needed an outlet and an organized opportunity for students to perform community service. Coming from the Zeta Beta (ZB) Chapter at Virginia Tech, John and Jamie Conover set out to begin the process for VCU to obtain a charter of APO.

While attending the 1993 Spring Banquet at Zeta Beta, John and Jamie contacted members of the Section 82 Staff concerning APO at VCU. Following this introduction, Lee Avery, then Section 82 Chair, had John and Jamie register as the Interest Group for VCU. On August 28, 1993, John and Jamie met with Vince Indelicato, Section 82 Membership and Extension Chair. They discussed the chartering process for an APO chapter.

After making contact with Mr. Victor Collins, Interim Director for Student Affairs, John and Jamie readied posters and arranged a room for the first Interest Group meeting to be held on September 19, 1993. The campuses were, "plastered" with posters on both the Monroe Park Campus and on the MCV Campus.

A third previously inducted brother, Maria Spencer-Etienne of Chi Gamma (CG) at James Madison University, assisted in connecting John and Jamie with the VCU Volunteer Coordinator, Nancy Just, who was overjoyed to see Alpha Phi Omega come to campus.

John, Jamie, and Maria staffed an informational table approximately one week before the first meeting with good results. Students who had heard of Alpha Phi Omega came by, as well as some who were curious enough to want to come to the meeting.

In Business Building room 1108, at 7:00pm, the first meeting took place. John, Jamie, Maria, and Vince Indelicato presented Alpha Phi Omega to 10 VCU students (5 inducted brothers and 5 interested students), and a delegation from the Big Brother Chapter, Nu Rho (NR) from the College of William and Mary. Just before the meeting ended, Lee Correll, Region III Director, and Erik Rozelle, Region III Parliamentarian, paid a visit. They were impressed with the level of information, planning, and foresight in the Interest Group.

Service projects in the month of September included: By-laws/Service meetings, VCU Volunteer Services Fair, and the VCU Volunteer Services information table. Service projects in the month of October included: American Diabetes Association's Walktoberfest, BSA Camp Brady Saunders clean-up, the Richmond Children's Festival, and Monroe Park, "Adopt-a-Spot".

On October 18, 1993, the application for Petitioning Group status was submitted to the Alpha Phi Omega National Office in Independence, Missouri. This application was submitted for fourteen students and four advisors. It contained a total of eight service projects, with a total of 165 man-hours of service to the campus, community, nation, and brotherhood. -From the pledge book of a charter brother- October 1993

On November 20, 1993, Section 82 Staff and visiting brothers performed the petitioning group ceremony, and the VCU Petitioning Group began. The first set of Petitioning Group officers were installed, and the group became one more step closer to becoming a chapter.

Starting with the spring of 1994, the petitioning group began to grow, expanding to do even more service. Once the semester was done, the Petitioning Group had performed 1,228 hours of community service in a variety of service projects to the campus, community, fraternity, and nation.

The charter application was sent to the National Office on September 12, 1994. The charter application was approved by the national office and won unanimous approval from Section 82 at the Fall NCPC & Pledge Pow-Wow, held on October 29 and 30, 1994.

The Chartering Ceremony was held on Saturday, November 19, 1994, at the ACCA Temple Pavilion. Schools from all over Region III attended to welcome Alpha Delta Iota Chapter into Section 82. The chapter received its official charter from the National Fraternity.

With the chartering ceremony barely over, the newly designated ADI Chapter actively searched for the next carrot. At the behest of Region III Director Lee Correll, the chapter was encouraged to submit a bid to host the 1995 Region III Conference. A call for a brother to write the bid packet went out, and Lee Pambid volunteered. He wrote the text for the schedule and descriptions of the roundtables, and John, Jr. and Jamie Conover combined it with lodging and transportation information.

At the 1994 National Convention in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, John and Jamie Conover made a presentation and submitted the bid for the Region Conference. Delegates in the Region selected between having the next Region Conference at either Virginia Commonwealth University or Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Virginia). VCU won the bid, and with less than a year left, the process of hammering out the details began in earnest.

A year's worth of planning for the Region III Conference culminated into bringing together hundreds of brothers on October 27-29, 1995. The logo for the conference was designed by Karen "Cricket" Barton.The conference ended with the traditional banquet and dance, held in the Commonwealth Ballroom in the newly renovated VCU Student Commons.

Over the next three years, the chapter’s membership continued to grow, service opportunities were thriving and the chapter was looking for its next major hurdle. A decision was made to organize a bid to host the 1999 Section 83 (northern, central and eastern Virginia) Conference. After lots of hard work putting together a bid, the brothers of Section 83 voted to award the bid to Alpha Delta Iota! We immediately began to assemble a committee to plan for the conference. Outgoing President Kimberly Gardner was selected to sere as a chair of the conference committee on April 19, 1998, and another meeting was held April 22, 1998 to designate chairs for the other subcommittees.

The conference was held April 2-4, 1999. The theme of the conference was “Leave Your Mark.” Approximately 120 brothers from all over section 83 traveled to VCU to participate in the conference, which was a huge success. We had everything from workshops on how to run a meeting, Robert's Rules, service projects, fun and games like an inter-chapter Assassins game, and of course, the banquet in the Larrick Center at MCV at the end of the Day. The main conference was held in the Hibbs Building, while conference attendees also stayed in the Days Inn on Broad St. near campus.

At the end of the year, the Chapter was awarded the Best All-Around Student Organization Award at the annual student activities recognition ceremony (April 28, 1999). Sharon Malazich, VCU's Volunteer Coordinator, also gave us a special Certificate of Appreciation for everything we've done to help out.

By the spring of 2000, in order to keep up good relations with our chapter’s ever-growing alumni, our Alumni/Corresponding Secretary, Derek Cashman, began publishing an alumni newsletter, which was then called the, “Sturdy Oak.”

Also, to keep in touch with alumni electronically, the APOADI-L alumni listserv was created in April.

Interest Group Officers

John Conover, Jr.

President

Carleen Fink

Service VP

Kendra Shiflett

Membership and Friendship VP

Amy Wilcox

Secretary and Treasurer

Maria Spencer-Etienne

Historian

John Conover, Sr.

Advisory Chair

Petitioning Group Officers

Kendra Shiflett

President

Carleen Fink

Service VP

Leander (Lee) Pambid

Membership VP

Tabitha (Tab) Stone

Friendship VP

Mellissa (Mo) Siddons

Secretary

Jamie Conover

Pledgemaster

Maria Spencer-Etienne

Historian

John Conover, Sr.

Advisory Chair

Chartering Officers

Melissa (Mo) Siddons

President

Larry Moore

Executive V.P.

John Conover, Jr.

Service V.P.

Jackson Yang

Membership V.P.

Vivian Le

Friendship V.P.

Jeff Mitchell

Treasurer

Katie (K.T.) L. Hannah

Secretary

Jamie L. Conover

Pledgemaster

Todd Brooker

Historian

Michael (Moose) Purches

Sergeant-At-Arms

Joani Hayman

Alumni/Corresponding Secretary

John Conover, Sr.

Advisory Chair

Current Officers

(Spring 2011)

Tara Shea Franklin

President

Leslie Taylor

Leadership VP

Swetha Vuyyuru

Friendship VP

Erin Willis

Service VP

Tina Yang

Membership VP

Aditya Chebolu

Treasurer

Arvachi Patel

Secretary

Ashley Gray

Sergeant-At-Arms

Megan Bailey

Pledgemaster

John Connover, Sr.

Advisory Chair

Current Chapter Advisors

John “Fitz” Fitzpatrick

Scouting Advisor

John and Victoria Conover

Community Advisors

Beth Ward and Dr. Jennifer Wayne

Faculty and Staff

Toast Song

Here’s to Alpha Phi Omega, Loyal Brothers We,

True to self and to each other, firm in loyalty,

Daily working daily striving evermore to be,

Men of Alpha Phi Omega, Our Fraternity.

Brothers clasp the hands of Brothers, strong the circle we,

Ever mindful, ever serving all humanity.

Now we raise our grateful voices, in our song to thee,

Men of Alpha Phi Omega may we always be.

This song is traditionally sung at the conclusion of every chapter, sectional, and regional meeting, as well as at the conclusion of every national convention. It is sung to the tune of, "Alma Mater." While the Fraternity has included women as full Members since 1976, the National Fraternity recognizes the importance of the term, "Brotherhood," to mean the general brotherhood among all people. The words of the toast song were left unchanged, and to this day they are interpreted by the Fraternity to include all Members of the Fraternity.

Fraternity Symbols and Traditions(please feel free to cut pictures to add to this list)

Jewel: Diamond

The most precious of all gemstones the diamond represents brilliance, luster, and is an expression of the greatest love when given as a gift.

Flower: Forget-Me-Not

A perennial flower with royal blue blossoms; it is everlasting, and always remembered.

Tree: Oak Tree

The mighty oak tree starts from but a small acorn; it is sturdy, stately, and sheltering.

Bird: Golden Eagle

At the 1976 National Convention the delegates chose another symbol to enrich our history and traditions. They declared the golden eagle as a new Fraternity symbol. An eagle is often found as a standard or as a part of the seal of a nation. The golden eagle symbolizes strength, grace, keen vision, and endurance.

Colors

Royal Blue

Royal blue is a sign of pure deed and thought, and often associated with elegance. It is also a color in our Nation’s flag.

Old Glory Gold

A color also found in the Nation’s flag (fringe and tassels), it also represents high value, respect, royalty, and is a sign of love.

Scout Oath

“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”

Scout Law

“A Scout is; trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”

 Oath of Loyalty and Service

“I will do my best to exemplify the principles and to advance the organization of Alpha Phi Omega by taking part in the activities of this Fraternity and by obeying the laws of this Brotherhood. I furthermore promise that I will give unselfishly of my time and energy, building a program of service for my Fraternity, for my college, for the youth of all Nations, for my community, and for my Nation as a participating citizen.”

Service Hours Chart

Activity / Individual
/ Group / # of Hours / Date

Greek Alphabet

Pledge Book Check List

Title Page
*Greek Letters
*Alpha Phi Omega
*Alpha Delta Iota
*James Jim Chandler
*Virginia Commonwealth University
Table of Contents
Common Goal
Chapter History
Interest and Petitioning Officers
Chartering Officers
Chapter Officers
Toast Song
Traditions
Scout Oath and APO Oath
Scout Law
Personal History
Advisor’s Divider
Advisor’s Progress Chart
Advisor’s Signatures
*Mom Conover
*Dad Conover
*Dr. Wayne
*Beth Ward
*Jon Fitzpatrick
Active Brother’s Divider
Active Brother’s Progress Chart
Active Brother’s Signatures
*Aditya Chebolu
*Anthony Vanness
*Ashley Gray
*Arvachi Patel
*Carolyn Jones
*Emily Bramnick
*Erin Willis
*Kiara Coger
*Isaac Booth
*Lauren Tisdale
*Leslie Taylor
*Megan Bailey
*Merisa Horgan
*Salina Davidson
*Swetha Vuyyuru
*Tara Franklin
*Tina Yang
Pledge Brother’s Divider
Pledge Brother’s Progress Chart
Pledge Brother’s Signatures
*Mohammad Qali
*Natalie Martos
*Christopher Naji
*Chamia White
*Daniel Navarro-Orozco
*Jennelle Pearce
*Mary Coleman
*Jamie Roth
*Catherine Buttner
*Desiree White
*Grace Diamond
*Colleen Gately
*Ronnie Thomas
*Brittany Nash
*Hubaida Fuseini
*Ishani Patel
*Suchita Basnet
*Valeria Saravia
*Katherine Klamans
*Glenda Ngo
*Deborah Karp
Special Signature’s Divider
Special Signatures
Photos and Memory’s Divider
Photos and Memory’s
Big Brother Signature’s Divider
Big Brother Signature’s
*1
*2
*3
*4
*5
Service Hours Chart
Greek Alphabet
Family Tree
Group Photo
Pledge Class Roster
*Mohammad Qali
804-836-0660
*Natalie Martos
804-301-9909
*Christopher Naji
571-403-4463
*Chamia White
804-912-9103