Dear Brothers and Sisters:

I am a Past President (1981-1982) of Pi Zeta Cast of Saint Francis College (Brooklyn, NY), and for over two years now, have been receiving dozens of e-mails each month from undergrad Brothers and Sisters who seek advice or guidance on the "fraternal" or ceremonial aspects of APO .

It is indeed a pleasure for me to be of assistance to you, and I hope that my ideas on the pledging process, how to conduct the Initiation in the same impressive manner that I underwent on May 28, 1980, as well as how to perform the APO secret handclasp, have been able to make your APO experience fun.

I would like to take this opportunity to render some praise for an outstanding Brother of our Fraternity, Brother Charles Chapman. Brother Charles is a gentleman who has great dedication, enthusiasm and interest in the Fraternity, and is often a veritable font of knowledge on the history, traditions and ceremonies of APO. Brother Charles Chapman, please take a bow!

Brothers and Sisters, don't hesitate to keep sending me your e-mails. I will always try to answer them promptly, and be of assistance to you. After all, I swore an oath to "Seek a Life Useful."

Fraternally yours, Now and Forever,

Brother Denis "Doc" McGowan ' 83

Dear Brother Winz:

As far as I can determine, the National Cast does not sell honor cords, because we are more of a "recognition society," as opposed to an "honor society" as defined by the National Association of College Honor Societies.

Traditional honor societies require high academic standards in a given discipline, e.g., Phi Alpha Theta for achievement in the study of history, Sigma Tau Delta for English, Omicron Delta Epsilon for economics, etc.

Alpha Psi Omega is a recognition society, as it awards its membership to its understudies for their participation in college drama societies. We often have a very low GPA requirement on the local cast level, if there is even such a requirement at all.

If your institution will permit it, I would order from Jostens a blue and amber cord, and wear it with pride on the date of your commencement.

Fraternally yours,

Brother Denis "Doc" McGowan ' 83
Pi Zeta Cast of Saint Francis College (Brooklyn)



Andy Winz

I think our school supplies our cords for graduation... I'm not quite sure. Ours are icky brown, and blend in with our black robes. <shrugs> They will be the only cords I'll have, but I'm sure proud to have them!  

I am trying to start a cast at my college (Pace U in NYC). Some info is being sent to me regarding this. What can I expect? Do I have to pledge as well, even though I'm the one bringing (hopefully) APO to the school?

Thanks for your help.

[quote author=CHAPMAC  link=1031598881&amp/0#7 date=1064263561]
Maria:

Each chapter develops its own pledge programs.  It supposed to last for at least two weeks and include passing the national exam.  But if you want your new chapter to be really significant, you need to put some thought into what niche you hope to fill.  What would you like your chapter to accomplish?  What sorts of things should it be able to do?

Then you develop a pledge program that gets people ready to meet your goals, a process which is both fun and useful.  Something so good you wouldn't want to miss out on it yourself.  Not a barrier between members and non members, but a process - something that makes you and your sibs
stronger, more together, more capable.  We'll be glad to help.
There's hundreds of chapters and we're glad to share ideas.

If I can help, drop me a line.
[/quote]

I see. I don't really have a group...yet. Honestly, I was searching for a fraternity/honor society for theatre and came across APO. I want us to stand not only for the art of theatre itself, but one of my goals is to bring theatre (and with it, culture) to high school students across NYC. I am an English major, but I've done theatre throughout high school and have teched in college. I plan to be a high school teacher and I hope that our cast can contribute to education in that way.

I definitely don't want anything to stand between us and non-members. I want rush/pledging to be a good experience taking part in relevant APO tradition. No harmful things that some schools' social frats/sororities make their rushees go through (and give Greek life a bad name.) I (and my group) plan to partake in the process, as well.

Thank you for your offer. I need a big brother/(sister?) to start a cast. Would it be possible for you guys (at Oneonta) to do that? Or should I look for a cast nearby? Like at St. John's University over here? Like I said, I don't have a group yet. I was thinking of waiting for the info that is being sent to me and then going over to the Performing Arts Dept. chairperson to see what he thinks and maybe get a faculty advisor. I don't know how to advertise this to get a group for a potential cast. Fliers? Because as of now, it's just me.

Thank you so much for your help. I hope to become part of this great organization. Feel free to email me, hopeandfaith6@aol.com.

Dear Maria:

I saw your email and thought that maybe you should send a quick message over to the Pi Zeta Cast at Saint Francis College over the East River in Brooklyn Heights?

They're the nearest Cast of APO.

Send a letter over care of "The Troupers," and they'll welcome you to their ranks as a guest. They have a nice theatre troupe, and I wish you the very best of success.

All the best,

Denis "Doc" McGowan ' 83

We just started our cast in Feb. and our cast director had been a president and never mentioned any secret anything..... if someone could enlighten me that would be cool, gracias.


S.B.  8)[color=Teal][/color]

Hello fellow members!  I, too, am interested in this secret handclasp as well.  I am the president of my chapter (alpha eta cast) and sadly, one of the first persons in a long time to seek out more information about Alpha Psi.  Any information would be greatly appreciated.    Thanks!