SLJC is pleased to announce this month’s student organization of the month: Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity (APO). APO’s mission is summed up by their core values of service to the campus, community, country and chapter. The group aims to bring together students across all ages, backgrounds and disciplines to make Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland better places to live and work.

We talked with the chapter president, Hirsch Singhal, to find out about APO’s activity and mission.

Q: What outreach activities/programs does APO hold for CWRU and the community?
A: “APO holds five weekly events on or near campus (Hope Lodge, Children’s Museum, Botanical Gardens, tutoring and the Food Bank). We also hold about a dozen special events each semester, from working with the Girl Scouts and local charities in need to putting on our March for Marfan philanthropy event…” [This event occurred last Saturday, March 29.]

Q: How does APO promote leadership and fellowship internally to all of its members?
A: “The LEADS (Launch, Explore, Achieve, Discover, Serve) courses are an integral part of APO’s “Leadership, Friendship and Service” motto. LEADS courses are designed to teach brothers and pledges how to become better servant-leaders for their chapters and communities. Our chapter in particular has an abundance of executive positions designed to help grow new leaders. Our culture promotes leadership from within, so that everyone feels like they can have a say in the chapter. In addition to our executive positions we also have brothers [who] volunteer to organize bigger service events like Relay for Life and Thwing Study Over.”

Q: How many active members are in APO? What types of majors do they have?
A: Including pledges, our chapter of APO has approximately 150 students involved. Their majors range across all disciplines quite evenly, so chapter can be a nice break from a stuffy engineering classroom.

Q: How can students become involved with APO?
A: Come to some rush events at the beginning of each semester or just find someone in APO and ask about it. We’re a very welcoming group that’s always happy to meet new people.