Mu Alpha

Mu Alpha is the Georgetown University chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) community service fraternity. Perhaps the most famous alumnus of the Mu Alpha Chapter is former president Bill Clinton.

50th Anniversary

The Mu Alpha chapter will celebrate its 50th anniversary in Spring 2006. MAAA launched a new project to record the history of the chapter before the 50th anniversary. Part of that project involves researching and asking others to contribute their knowledge of the chapter officers and important events in chapter history.

History of Mu Alpha Chapter

Alpha Phi Omega was introduced to the Georgetown University community by John Buckley, one of the founding members of APO at Florida State University. In the Spring of 1955, largely through word of mouth, 20 active individuals under the sponsorship of Dr. Frank Mann, began a program of service as part of the petitioning process.

Because only the School of Foreign Service (SFS) had fraternities, APO in its fledgling years was under the de facto control of SFS. Dirck Teller acted as President and during the 1955-56 academic year, the petitioning group organized fundraisers and worked with the children of a local orphanage.

In March of 1956, the national Fraternity granted the Georgetown Petitioning Group a charter. Mu Alpha became the 265th chapter of Alpha Phi Omega and had 29 original chartered members. The charter was granted to the chapter in a ceremony at the University of Maryland, College Park, home to Epsilon Mu Chapter. Fr. Fadner, SJ, the regent of the School of Foreign Service, was installed as an honorary Brother. The faculty members on the charter included Fr. Fadner, Fr. Collins, Henry Cunningham as the moderator (advisor), and Dr. James Hunter.

Largely affiliated with Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service Fraternity, Inc., at the outset, APO broke away from DPE under the leadership of chapter President Mark Phillips. Without affiliation with DPE, APO came to represent the campus as a whole instead of just the School of Foreign Service. The first non-SFS pledge, Jay Ossman, pledged in 1963. Since then, APO has had representation from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Walsh School of Foreign Service, the McDonough School of Business, as well as the Nursing and Language schools.

Mu Alpha Chapter has accepted women since 1977. Our first female President, Maureen Coghlan, was elected in December 1998. Women in Mu Alpha Chapter are referred to as Brothers on the National level, but have the choice to be referred to as either Brothers or Sisters at the chapter level.

Mu Alpha chapter is unique in many more of our traditions. We still pledge in lines, according to height, and number the lines according to the semester that they pledge. For example, the Spring 2005 line is the 99th semester that a line was initiated into the chapter. Therefore, the Spring 2005 line is known as Line 99 within the chapter. Other chapter traditions include line paddles, nicknames, pledge books, and our New Brother/Sister party, which is the culmination of each semester's pledging.

Strengths of Mu Alpha

Mu Alpha (hence described as APO) has many strengths. The first is service. APO runs volunteer projects every day of the week and also participates in one-day events such as The Walk for the Homeless, Hands on DC, Hoya-thon, Community Service Day, and Just One Day. Since the 1950s, when APO Mu Alpha brothers helped divert planes away from Georgetown for Commencement, APO has had a precedent of service to the university. APO brothers gave campus tours before the creation of Blue and Gray, and for years the campus community knew to call 7-1WAY to have an escort walk them home. Today, not only does APO help staff campus-wide events such as Late Night at Leavey and Georgetown Day, but it runs a five-day-a-week van escort service that takes people home free of charge anywhere in the DC metro area . Founded by APO brother Rabbi Robert Tobin in the mid-1980s in response to a series of sexual assaults near campus, our van escort service continues to provide peace of mind to Georgetown students who live off-campus.

Our brothers and sisters have been lauded by the University for their efforts. APO has won the VPS Outstanding Student Organization award in past years, most recently for the 2001-2002 school year, and individual members have won recognition such as the VPS Outstanding Student Award and many Landegger Service awards. Our members are also extremely active in other campus activities, including community service through other VPS groups, GUSA, cultural clubs, publications, and other campus organizations.

Two other strengths of Mu Alpha chapter are the brotherhood and the alumni network. Alpha Phi Omega is more than a service club because of the fraternal bond and loyalty created through the six-week pledging process, of which Mu Alpha has just completed its 99th semester. Because the fraternity builds a family, the brothers and sisters feel a special obligation to each other and thus continue to serve their communities together. The alumni, ranging from a former U.S. President to life-time Peace Corps employees, remain an integral part of the Mu Alpha chapter. Many stay active and all of them know that they are always welcome, even after decades of absence.

Service Projects

Mu Alpha's strength as an organization is due in large part to its service program. Participating in a variety of projects allows the chapter to more ably serve Georgetown University and the greater Washington, DC community. Brothers and sisters, as well as pledge lines, are encouraged to start and coordinate service endeavors, as it is that spirit of leadership that Alpha Phi Omega fully embraces. Below are a few of the projects running regularly throughout the semester.

Calvary Women's Shelter Mu Alpha provides overnight volunteers for the Calvary Women's Shelter on a weekly basis. Calvary Women's Services is a nonprofit organization in Washington, that provides housing and support services to homeless women. As volunteers, brothers and sisters interact with the women on an informal level, helping them see through their education and employment goals.

Food & Friends Mu Alpha volunteers every Thursday for Food and Friends, an organization that prepares, packages and delivers meals and groceries to nearly 1,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-challenging illnesses such as breast, lung and colon cancer throughout the greater Washington metropolitan area.

Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN) The Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN) Foundation is a nonprofit, volunteer organization that provides free one-on-one recreational opportunities for children and young adults with mental and physical disabilities. At each KEEN session, brothers and sisters are paired with participating Athletes as Coaches for a variety of age-appropriate sports and recreational activities.

Kid Power DC Kid Power DC offers structured after-school programs for at risk youth in the DC metro area. Mu Alpha's brothers and sisters help students with writing, research, filmmaking, and acting, all designed to give students a desire to help in their communities and promote positive social change.

Mary House Mary House is an organization that provides transitional housing services, shelter and support programs to predominately low-income Latin American, Bosnian and Kosovar families in Washington, DC. With ten sites in the Washington metropolitan area, Mary House serves an average of 125 people at a time, over half of which are children. Mu Alpha assists Mary House with many of its renovations and home improvement projects, with brothers and sisters demonstrating little to no expertise in general contracting, but having a great time helping out where they can.

Samaritan Inns Samaritan Inns is a program that works in conjunction with a recovery house for men and women recuperating from chemical addictions. Brothers and sisters provide meals for the residents, interacting with them as they strive to overcome the scourge of addiction. A lot of work goes into making sure the daily schedule runs smoothly, and Mu Alpha is there to help.

Van Escort In keeping with our tradition of service to Georgetown, the Van Escort Service provides students who live off-campus with a safe way home. Vans leave the Lauinger Library steps on the hours of 10pm, 11pm, 12am, and 1am. We also leave as late as 2 am, during the final exam periods in December and May.

Washington Home The Washington Home is a non-profit, long term care and hospice facility located in Northwest Washington serving the community since 1888. It provides nursing care and rehabilitative services to the frail, chronically or terminally ill. Volunteers visit invidual residents to read, write letters, or just sit and chat.

History of Mu Alpha Alumni Association

MAAA was founded in ????.

While we don't know that for sure, we do know it was incorporated in March 2005 by Jan Sacharko, Adam Doverspike and...... Daniel Dube.

List of Officers in Mu Alpha Chapter

List of Officers in Mu Alpha Alumni Association