Alpha Phi Omega’s history deals with men — a very special group of men — who hold certain beliefs in common and who share a common heritage.

This is about a service fraternity — a story about men of all faiths, of all races of men, who come from every part of these United Stales and it is the story of our common heritage.

OUR HERITAGE is in Pennsylvania, less than a decade after the close of the First World War. The interesting story of our founding, and of some of the events that followed, are found, in part In the Pledge Manual, and in different issues of Torch & Trefoil, but in no single source is the complete story to be found. Nor has it ever been presented more colorfully, or completely, or with more feeling, than as told by Brother Frank Reed Horton, Founder, First President of the Alpha Chapter and First National President.

It is the FIRST WORLD WAR. A young naval attorney stands in the courtroom listening as, one after another, there unfolds before his eyes, the sad story of American sailors who had gotten into trouble while on leave in a foreign port. For many of them, it means the loss of precious civil rights.

Listening to their stories, this Naval officer makes a firm resolution to himself:

“If I return alive to the United States, I will do my utmost to help young men get the right start in life, by holding up before them a “standard of manhood” that will withstand the test of time.”

He also resolves to do all that he can to help the nations of the world settle their disputes by means other than war:

“I had been learning, at the Boston University Law School, how to help people settle their quarrels in a just and legal manner. Now I was thrown into a war, where nations were resolving their differences by killing each other. It all seemed so senseless. There must be a better way to resolve international differences.”

THE WAR IS OVER. The former naval officer is now a student at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. One evening, while attending an American Legion banquet, he got into a conversation with the man next to him at the dinner table – Herbert G. Horton. They were not related, but they became fast friends. Herbert Horton had been a naval officer in the late war, and was now the local executive of the Boy Scouts of America in the Easton, Pa., area. Out of their conversation, Frank Reed Horton became a Deputy Scout Commissioner. And because Herbert Horton told him of the crying need of a local group of boys for a Scoutmaster. Frank Horton became their leader. A classmate of Horton’s, Everett W. Probst (Eagle Scout, Gold Palm), taught him much about Scouting. Eventually, Frank Horton became an associate camp counsellor in a nearby Boy Scout camp.

“Here I saw Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant boys living and playing together in a spirit of tolerance and harmony so uncommon with their elders.”

Through this Scouting program, Frank Horton saw what he was seeking when, standing in the courts-martial room, he vowed to do something to help the young men of America:

“The Scout Oath and Law were what I had been seeking. Here was that “Standard of Manhood” that had stood the test of time I discovered that those who had been Boy Scouts, or who were still Boy Scouts, had not gone wrong when temptations had beset them.”

Back at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house where he lived, Frank Horton did some deep thinking. He looked silently at the lives of his brothers there. Those who were outstanding for high ideals and clean living; those who were the respected leaders on the campus: those who were noted for their unselfish service lo others, were ail former Scouts.

“I felt that there ought to be a college organization which would follow on the heels, so to speak, of the Boy Scout movement: one which would continually strengthen men in the high ideals that they had learned as Scouts, so that when they went out into the world they would be fully prepared to meet, and with stand, the challenges and temptations which would constantly confront them.”

At this same time, Frank Horton noted that a survey showed that, on a national basis, fifty per cent of the students then in college were former Scouts.

“This meant that Lafayette College, with 1,000 men, had five hundred who were former Scouts. It seemed to me that there should be some type of an organization in which these former Scouts could get together in college, pursue activities like they had done in Scouting, and form life-long friendships.”

An idea had taken root in Horton’s mind. A few days later he sat down and drew up the blueprint of a new Greek letter college fraternity, membership in which would be based upon prior Scouting association, and dedicated to the service of others. Other thoughts raced quickly through his mind as the organization took shape on the paper in front of him:

“This shall be an organization which will give its members an opportunity to demonstrate that they can, by deed, word, and action, lead others. This shall be an organization in which former Scouts can get together and form and mold life-long friendships. This shall be an organization where the members, working together, can render assistance where it is needed the most, in the spirit of the “good turn” and “troop community service.”

Almost magically, these ideas took an unusual phrasing on the paper in front of him:

Be a Leader! Be a Friend! Be of Service!

Hardly had the ink dried on the paper before Horton showed his Ideas lo a group of SAE’s whom he knew were former Scouts. “Would you men sign up as charter members of such a group?” he asked. Enthusiastically, each embraced this new fraternity, for this, too, was what they had been looking for in college.

Horton asked his friend, Everett Probst, if he would take the idea of this new fraternity to some of his Scouting brothers in the social fraternity of which he was a member. Probst belonged to a group known as the “Krescents” (now Kappa Delta Rho). Probst’s Scouting brothers enthusiastically embraced it, too.

While this was being done, Horton, with the assistance of a member of the faculty, Professor Harry T. Spengler, talked to the administration, and secured their approval, and recognition, ot this new fraternity based on service. Fourteen men were obtained for the new fraternity. These men were our Founders:

Of the fourteen charier members, eight were members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon social fraternity; five were from the “Krescents” social fraternity (now Kappa Delta Rho); and one, Lewis B. Blair, was an independent.

A first informal meeting of the charter members was called, and held, in a room at the SAE house. Other meetings were held in Everett Probst’s room. Probst lived off-campus. Horton asked Probst to draw up the insignia, pin, key, and coat-of-arms for the new fraternity, since Probst had done this for the “Krescents.” One day, while walking in the Colton Memorial Chapel, Probst happened to look up at one of the windows in the Chapel. It bore the coat-of-arms of Lafayette College. The sun’s rays had hit it at just the right angle, illuminating its beauty. So inspired was Probst by what he saw that it became a model for the coat-of-arms for Alpha Phi Omega.

Thane S. Cooley suggested the hand-clasp. Frank Horton, because he was studying Greek, created the letters of the fraternity — Alpha Phi Omega, he also wrote the Ritual, and drew up the first Constitution and By-Laws.

At at subsequent meeting, all of these ideas, as well as that of the fraternity itself, were adopted.

The formal initiation ceremony, conducted by Frank Horton, took place on the afternoon of December 16, 1925, in a second floor room of Brainerd Hall, on the campus of Lafayette College, in Easton, Pa.

And so an idea, designed to help young men withstand the challenges and temptations of life, as well as providing them with opportunities for continued Leadership, Friendship and Service, bore fruition, and became a reality with the Initiation of fourteen charter members.

Shortly after the first initiation ceremony, officers were chosen for the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega. The president was Frank Reed Horton; Everett Probst became vice president; the secretary was Gordon M. Looney, and the treasurer was Thane S. Cooley, Later, six advisors were added to the Alpha Chapter, including four members of the Lafayette College faculty, one local Scouting official, and one national Scouting official. The four faculty member were: John H. MacCracken, President of Lafayette College; Donald B. Prentice, Dean of the College; and two professors, D, Arthur Hatch and Harry T. Spengler. Herbert G. Horton, the local Scout executive, became the local Scouting advisor, while Ray 0. Wyland, the National Director of Education for the Boy Scouts of America, became the National Scouting Advisor.

Three problems were faced by the Alpha Chapter; first, should the Fraternity be secret or non-secret? Because of possible religious objections by some of the members as to secrecy, it was decided that it should not be secret. Second, should the Fraternity be small, like an honorary one, or large with fifty or more members? It was decided to have it large with 100, or as many members as possible. Third, what should the Fraternity’s main goal be? It was decided that this should be SERVICE.

The second initiation of the Alpha Chapter was held on the afternoon of May 20, 1926, in the same building. A banquet was held that evening at the Karldon Hotel, on Third Street, in downtown Easton. At the banquet, Dr. John H. MacCracken, President of Lafayette College, remarked to Dr. Ray O. Wyland that it was a very important day, since Commander Richard E. Byrd had just completed a flight over the North Pole that day. Dr. Wyland replied that, as important as this event was, that the college service Fraternity whose founding they were celebrating that night, might will be more far-reaching in its effects upon mankind. Time has certainly borne out his remarks.

Shortly thereafter, Frank Horton created a national organization for Alpha Phi Omega. Though really the National President from the inception of the Alpha Chapter on December 16, 1925, the national organization took legal form as of January 11, 1927, when the Beta Chapter was formed at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to Horton, the other first national officers of the Fraternity were; National Vice President, Everett W. Probst; National Secretary, William T. Wood, and National Treasurer, Thane S. Cooley.

During his tenure of office as the first National President, Frank Reed Horton saw the name and insignia protected by the U.S. Patent Office, and aided the creation of seventeen additional chapters. When he went out of office in 1931, in favor of Dr. H, Roe Bartle of Kansas City, Mo., six additional chapters were in the process of petitioning for membership in Alpha Phi Omega.

Following the chartering of Beta Chapter at the University of Pittsburgh, three more chapters were chartered in 1927 — Gamma at Cornell University on February 17, Delta at Auburn University on November 8, and Epsilon at Northeast Missouri State University on December 13, And with the chartering of the sixth chapter — Zeta at Stanford University — on May 19, 1928, Alpha Phi Omega had spread from the East, to the South, to the Midwest, and all the way to the Pacific Coast in its first four years. The Fraternity has continued to grow during its 50 years, having chartered more chapters than any other collegiate organization.

In the very early years, decisions of the National Fraternity were made by mail. The first actual assembly of delegates in convention was in St, Louis, Mo., March 1 and 2, 1931. By that date the Fraternity had grown to 18 chapters. Seven of the chapters were represented at the convention by a total of 23 students and advisors.

Twenty-three biennial National Conventions have been held (two were skipped in 1942 and 1944 because of World War II) and one special Constitutional Convention was held in 1967.

Convention attendance has, of course, grown tremendously. The largest registration thus far was 1,628 at Washington, D. C, in 1968, and the largest number of chapters represented was 231 at Dallas, Texas, in 1970.

As Alpha Phi Omega grew, state conventions were held in many states. Later, with the establishment of Sections, Sectional Conferences became a very important part in our Fraternity operation, and more recently some of the Regions have held Regional Conferences. All of these meetings foster good fellowship and helpful exchange of ideas for the advancement of our service program.

The 1974 National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri was one of the Fraternity’s most important, adopting legislation which allowed chapters to initiate women as affiliate members. Thus, in 1974, Alpha Phi Omega, for the first time, admitted women to its ranks.

This is the story behind the creation of Alpha Phi Omega. It is also the story of the beginning of the first chapter — the Alpha Chapter — at Lafayette College. It is also the story of the formation of the first national organization of the Fraternity. Above all, it is the story of the dreams of one man for an organization through which men might better the conditions of other men, as well as of themselves.

The history of Alpha Phi Omega then is a story of Leadership, Friendship and Service. Since the founding at Lafayette College in 1925, more than 140,000 men have participated in this nationwide Brotherhood. From a single chapter in 1925, this National Service Fraternity has grown to 577 chapters.

Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity, Torch & Trefoil ’75
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