Alpha Phi Omega

The Distinguished Service Key, or DSK, is Alpha Phi Omega's highest level of distinction. It recognizes members for outstanding service to the Fraternity and Chapter above and beyond their member and Executive Board requirements. Members who receive this award exemplify and further in demonstrable ways the three cardinal principals of Alpha Phi Omega: Leadership, Fellowship, and Service. The member had to have made an outstanding and unique contribution to the chapter as a whole as well. 

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This honor was awarded to me by a majority of my peers in Alpha Phi Omega for my many years of service to the community and the chapter. During my time in Alpha Phi Omega as an active member, I have completed over 530 hours of community service, served in several leadership positions (on committees, as a mentor, and on the Executive Board four times in four separate positions), and helped foster fellowship between many members of the Fraternity.

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My contributions, however, were not confined to the walls of the chapter meeting room or the events attended. During my "pledging" semester of Alpha Phi Omega, I helped restore the Paws in Motion service project for several semesters to help support the local SPCA. I have also brought several service project ideas, such as supply drive fundraisers, to the chapter as well. I served as an information source for chapter and campus policies, as well as a knowledge base of the SUNY-ESF campus when enrollment of SUNY-ESF members declined. In times when the chapter had limited funds, I contributed additional money where I could for things like event supplies and food for the chapter. As someone who has served on the Executive Board for four semesters, I have also acted as a source of position shadowing, conflict resolution, and sounding board for the other members who pursued these roles. Additionally, I have brought several fellowship opportunities to the chapter via SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University related-events as well as events that I have hosted on my own. It truly is an honor to have received such a prestigious award and it is the highlight of my Alpha Phi Omega career.

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The DSK, a key with a blue background and the letters of the fraternity in gold, is pictured above on a blue velvet cord, on top of a pair of my Alpha Phi Omega Greek Letters.

During the Fall 2016 Semester, I served as the Vice President of Fellowship. 

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It is the responsibility of the Vice President of Fellowship to foster friendship within the fraternity through comradery and social events. They are also responsible for planning retreats if the budget allows and for working with the New Member Vice President of Fellowship to plan events for their New Member Class. 

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During my time as a Vice President of Fellowship, I planned a variety of events, such as apple picking at the local orchard, photo "scavenger" hunts, group dinners, pumpkin carving, and tie dying events. This required the the management of a committee, keeping track of attendance and financial records, planning events with room reservations and finances, the purchase of supplies, and setup and teardown of events. 

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In this photo, I am wearing ceremonial robes for our Induction and Initiation Ceremonies. As a Vice President of Fellowship, I have a speaking role in the ceremonies that teach new members about the fraternity and guide them through the process of officially joining the chapter. 

The Francis Parks Service Award is awarded to a member of the Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega by the Chapter's Advisors. It is given to a member for extraordinarily exemplifying service within the brotherhood. When receiving this award, I had already achieved over 100 hours of community service despite only being a member of the fraternity for a year. My lifetime total service hours within the fraternity exceed 530 hours. 

During the Fall 2015 Semester, I served as a co-Pledgemaster, now known as New Member Educator.

It is the job of the New Member Educator to teach the incoming members about the Fraternity and Chapter. This includes information about the history, customs, members, and practices of the fraternity. 

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The New Member Educators must also guide new members and ensure the completion of their leadership, fellowship, service, and other general requirements to be initiated into the fraternity as official members. 

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As a New Member Educator, I helped develop presentations, quizzes, and activities for the new members in our classes (called "Phi Class"). This required skills with the Microsoft Office Suite, room reservation and catering services, and communication with administration at the college. I also assisted in monitoring student progress, matching new members to mentors, and conflict resolution.

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In this photo, me and my co-Pledgemaster (left) are with the Phi New Member of the Week (right) and the class mascot (the Rugrats Reptar Plush). Each semester, there is a theme for the incoming new member class, and the class mascot is given to an exceptional student each week to reward them for their hard work and dedication. 

Initiations is the Ceremony that occurs to officially certify pledges or neophytes as full members of the fraternity. This was my Initiation Class, or "Phi" Class of spring 2014.

During the Spring 2017 Semester, I served as the Parliamentarian. 

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In this position, it was my responsibility to help the President keep chapter in order during meetings. I was also tasked with knowing the chapter bylaws and standing rules, reviewing the bylaws and proposing modifications in tandem with the President. It was my job to know Roberts Rules of Order as well for situations that called for voting, such as elections and bylaw amendments. I was also responsible for keeping notes during chapter and keeping a record of attendance to chapter meetings, ceremonies, and elections. 

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In this photo, I am holding the gavel used by the President to bring order to the chapter meeting and to attract attention when needed. This was when I had to stand-in during an election of executive members when the President had to step away.

During the Spring 2016 Semester, I served as the Vice President of Recruitment and Retention.

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It is the job of the Vice President of Recruitment and Retention to lead the recruitment process and help improve member retention throughout the semester. 

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For the recruitment piece, it was my responsibility to develop activities centered around leadership, fellowship, and service for potential new members to attend that would entice them to join the fraternity. I was also responsible for providing general interest meetings to give attendees information about the fraternity. In those meetings, I incorporated existing members by having them talk about their experience in the fraternity. Events also required planning that involved room reservation, purchase of supplies and awareness of budget, setup and teardown, tracking of attendance for requirements, management of a small committee of members, and troubleshooting should issues arise. This also required considerable management of paperwork and cooperation with college administration as a new administrative system was put into place. 

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For the retention piece, it was my job to work with the members of the fraternity and the Vice President of Fellowship to plan events, create exciting incentives, and maintain morale of the fraternity to improve retention of members throughout the current semester and into the next semester. One example of this was the creation of golden certificates and gold-wrapping-paper-wrapped chocolate bars for the chapter's "Golden Brothers", those who have maintained an active status in the fraternity for four semesters. This act showed appreciation for the members' long service for the chapter and the community.

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In this photo, I am holding the Chapter's Wooden Phi, a symbol of our Chapter and a centerpiece in ceremonial photos. This was right before my first Inductions Ceremony as a Vice President of Recruitment and Retention, in which I hand off the new members that I recruited to the New Member Educators.

The Phi Chapter was not the first chapter of Alpha Phi Omega; it was chartered in Syracuse University to become a chapter. When a new chapter at a college or university wants to become an official chapter, another established chapter must be present to charter and guide the new chapters. The Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega is the "Big Brother Chapter" to two chapters in the Central New York Area: The Alpha Eta Sigma chapter at Cazenovia College and the Eta Mu chapter at Utica College. As a Big Brother Chapter, we plan Leadership, Fellowship, and Service events with our "younger" brother chapters.

Prior to this, members of the Phi Chapter acted as official member representatives that chartered the Alpha Eta Sigma and Eta Mu chapters. During these events, I helped coordinate the Phi Chapter members to attend the event and ensure all ceremony supplies were present. I also helped to lead the ceremony playing the role of the "President" in the typical Alpha Phi Omega Initiation Ceremony.

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Pictured are members of the Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega that participated in the ceremony with two plaques from our "Little Brother" chapters. The two plaques were given to the Phi Chapter in appreciation of our Leadership, Friendship, and Service as a Big Brother Chapter.

In Alpha Phi Omega and many other fraternities and sororities, current members take on new members in a mentorship role known as "Bigs" and "Littles". During this mentorship, the Bigs guide their Littles through the initiation process and serve as a friend and role model while their Little is a full member of the chapter. In some cases, these mentorships and friendships extend beyond the confines of fraternity life and into guidance through college education and beyond after graduation. In my time at Alpha Phi Omega, I was a Big to three different littles (pictured).

During these mentorships, I helped guide my Littles while being a member of the fraternity by answering their questions, attending events with them, introducing them to other members, and spending time with them outside of the fraternity. This included activities like getting dinner together, studying, going for walks, playing games, and other fun on-campus events! These experiences taught me a lot about being a mentor, what to do and not to do, and how much of a commitment it can be to guide and befriend someone in such a way.