Ariel Lebow, Contributing Writer
Alpha Delta Iota, Virginia Commonwealth University’s chapter of the national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, is a Greek Organization committed to improving the world and building a community of like-minded peers since 1994.
APO is a service fraternity, meaning they are gender inclusive and centered around community service.
There is a one month long rush period to join APO that teaches the club’s history, including how it was founded and its transition to becoming a gender inclusive organization. The rush helps acquaint pledges with organization expectations.
Abby Hollis, a fourth-year who has been a member of APO since her freshman year, has served multiple semesters on the E-board.
“I was completely new to Richmond and it helped me figure out what Richmond was,” Hollis said. “The people in Alpha Phi Omega know Richmond very well and are always really nice and were willing to answer questions that I had about Richmond.”
Pledges are assigned bigs that guide them through the adjustment to collegiate life, forming friendships as they help them integrate into the community.
Grace Smith, APO’s vice president, loves that APO is a collection of diverse students from different majors coming together.
APO members are required to do thirty hours of community service each semester, by partnering with organizations within and outside VCU to achieve this goal.
“In APO we do a lot of service together and within those service events, they can be through the campus,” Smith said. “Sometimes we partner with different orgs, like with the blood drive or the Richmond marathon.”
APO also teaches leadership to promote the professional development of its members.
“I also plan different conferences that happen for APO and through that you can sign up for leads courses, which look really good on resumes,” Smith said. “It’s basically just leadership training and tells you how to facilitate different groups when you’re going to be a leader.”
APO holds friendship events each semester, along with its weekly brotherhood meetings. These events range from bowling and roller skating to cozy movie nights.
Alexia Jennings, chapter president for APO, has been a member since her second semester at VCU.
“It’s really like a second family, we’ll naturally hang out because we like spending time with each other, while being able to give back to the community that we live in,” Jennings said.
For more information, you can contact APO directly on Instagram at @apo_adi.