Community service is here to stay at Quinnipiac University, due in part to Alpha Phi Omega (APO), the newest co-ed fraternity on campus.

According to the Quinnipiac website, APO was started for the purpose of assembling college students in the fellowship of principles derived from the Scout Oath and Law of the Boy Scouts of America: To develop leadership, promote friendship, provide service to humanity and to further the freedom that is our national, educational and intellectual heritage.

The fraternity is based on community service on and off campus.

“We do service for the chapter, campus, community, and the world,” Vice President of Service for APO William Murphy said.

Their projects include selling daffodils for the American Cancer Society, writing letters to soldiers in Iraq, participating in a walk for hunger in East Windsor and numerous food drives. APO is currently collecting cell phones for the elderly population of Hamden for emergency use.

Every member has a project they are proud of.

“[I like] the ice cream socials at Laurel Gardens, the local nursing home,” Vice President of Membership Katrina Francis said. “We tend to go there once a semester and it’s a lot of fun to hang out with the older people and make them ice cream sundaes. Sometimes we give the women manicures, too.”

Although they are affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the group also provides service to the Girl Scouts.

“We have helped the Girl Scouts unload and sell cookies. Just recently we helped out at a Girl Scouts of America Career Fair, where we showed the girls what jobs are out there and told them what college is like,” Murphy said.

The fraternity hopes to do more service with other organizations on campus in the upcoming year.

“Rush begins in the early fall and spring semester with the Involvement Fair and includes various community service projects and fun fellowships. It’s a great time for potential pledges to familiarize themselves with the fraternity […] and decide whether or not to pledge. Unlike other Greek organizations we do not use the bid process to determine our pledges. If you want to be a pledge you can become a pledge,” APO Recruitment Chair Christine Benson said.

“Alpha Phi Omega has about 40 members. We only have a few males in the chapter, but we are always trying to get them to join,” she said.

Service is very important to each and every member of APO.

“I did a lot of community service in high school and junior high, so it was only natural that I would continue it here in college. As a student it’s hard to help organizations financially, so I give my time, which I often think is more valuable. Helping others helps me put my life in perspective too, which is always good. I’ll probably do service until I die. For me there is nothing more fun and exciting,” Francis said.

For more information on the fraternity, Rush, or community service projects, contact Christine Benson at [email protected].