SMU’s chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, will hold an information meeting today and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Hughes-Trigg Atrium AB (Tuesday) and Portico A (Wednesday).
The meeting will serve to recruit new members into the co-ed fraternity whose purpose is to assemble college students nationally to develop leadership, promote friendship and provide service to humanity.
Public Relations Representative sophomore Maddie Linnard encourages all students interested in service to consider joining the fraternity.
“I did a lot of community service before college and Alpha Phi Omega was a great way to continue my love of serving the community while also meeting new people and having fun,” Linnard said.
On campus, Alpha Phi Omega conducts a Blood Drive and sponsors the SMU Rides Program.
The blood drive takes place once a semester at the flagpole, where students are encouraged to donate blood through Carter Blood Care.
SMU Rides is a program sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega in which SMU students can call 214-SMU-RIDE between the hours of 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. They receive a free ride home with no questions asked. The purpose of this program is to provide SMU students with a safe way to get home on the weekends and to discourage drunk driving. SMU Rides is anonymous and free of charge.
Alpha Phi Omega also completes a service project once a week. One organization Alpha Phi Omega will be serving this semester with its weekly projects is MediSend.
Through MediSend, unused medical supplies are gathered from around the Dallas area and are then packaged and shipped to third-world countries in desperate need of medical supplies.
Alpha Phi Omega is also involved with Women in Science and Engineering (WISE). This program allows elementary-school girls to visit SMU once a month for a program that advocates the contributions from women to the fields of science and engineering.
Additionally, members of Alpha Phi Omega mentor middle schoolers from DISD through a program called SI PUEDES. This encourages children from low-income families to seek higher education.
The mentoring and tutoring program allows Dallas children to visit SMU and obtain an idea of what opportunities the college experience, and a higher education, can offer them.
“We are really looking for SMU students who want to help better the community and have fun while they’re at it,” Alpha Phi Omega President Patrick Smollen said.
The information session is open to all SMU students. For more information please contact Maddie Linnard at [email protected].
