Alex Paciulli was elected Alpha Phi Omega – Theta Alpha’s 2017 Chapter President, and the rest of the executive board will be elected in the following weeks. Paciulli previously held the positions of Secretary for 2016 and Alumni Secretary in 2015. Under her term, APO plans to increase the number of events and their total community service hour count. Trevor Batchelder, 2016 Chapter President, is really motivated to continue leading the organization because of the “opportunity to mentor and advance brothers to meet their best potentials,” such as developing their leadership qualities.
APO is a national organization that formed in 1925 upon the principles of the Boy Scouts of America, and now consists of more tan 370 chapters. The Theta Alpha chapter at Stevens was chartered in 1949 and recommissioned in 2000 after a period of inactivity starting in the 60’s. APO is a coed organization, though termed fraternity. Currently, the Stevens APO chapter has over 200 members on campus with about 150 brothers and 47 new members, who work together to successfully host or help out with many events.
This year, APO’s National President, the Honorable John K. Ottenad (or as they like to call him – JKO, or “Silver Fox”) spoke to APO’s new members and brothers. He spoke of his experiences as being part of APO, and encouraged all members to feel fortunate that they have received this opportunity to grow and learn together. Ottenad also acknowledged the Stevens chapter for all of the work done on campus, for the Hoboken community, and beyond. He hailed the Theta Alpha chapter as “one of the best chapters of Alpha Phi Omega in the nation.”
One of the organization’s recent awards included receiving the Distinguished Service Award at the Spring 2016 Student Leadership Awards Brunch at Stevens for APO’s “continuous efforts to serve the student body and the university community” and other efforts with enduring impacts.
The primary focus of APO is community service, a principal achieved in harmony with leadership and friendship. The organization encourages all who want to serve, have interest in developing as a campus leader, and participating in fellowship with their peers to come out to the recruitment events every semester. Batchelder said, “[APO] encourages anyone with a drive for giving oneself for others.”
APO involvement varies with the preference of each individual. Achieving Active status requires 22 hours of service, 15 hours of fellowship and other leadership and meeting attendance requirements through the semester. Brothers can also go down to Associate and Excused Inactive level if time does not permit.
Brothers are engaged in various events such as Engineering Week at Liberty Science Center, assisting with Castle Point Anime Convention, and celebrating the chapter’s “Sweet 16” anniversary since its rechartering. Last year, Stevens’ APO broke its previous service hour records by performing more than 5000 hours of community service in a single semester, and they are hoping to reach 10,000 hours for 2016.
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