Alpha Psi Omega

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Alpha Psi Omega - ΑΨΩ
Motto: Seek a life useful
Established: August 12, 1925
Type: Honorary
Location: Ada, Oklahoma, USA
Colors: moonlight blue and bastard amber

Alpha Psi Omega (ΑΨΩ) is an American recognition honor society recognizing participants in collegiate theatre. The Alpha cast (Alpha Psi Omega's designation for "chapter") was founded at Fairmont State College (now Fairmont State University) on August 12, 1925 by professor Paul F. Opp. There are currently 977 casts nationwide, including inactives.

Membership is open to those who are active in their college theatre. Most casts/chapters use a "point system" for determining eligibility of membership, with a certain number of points being dealt to a certain task in theatre. With some chapters there is a rush and pledge process, while other chapters choose members solely on merit and are chosen among current members, where the theatre experience is considered the pledge process.

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[edit] History

"In the early twentieth century, interest in the dramatic arts grew tremendously on college and university campuses. By 1920, most colleges had a dramatic organization staging plays annually for the campus and the community at large. Also around this time, little theatre productions and dramatic workshops began taking place. This furthered the interest in theatre on campuses everywhere, especially in the western part of the country. At this time, several honororary groups were formed to recognize and reward exemplary student participation in those productions.


In 1921, at Fairmont State College in Fairmont, West Virginia, college theater took root. A faculty director was hired in 1923, and the Masquers were formed. The Masquers were charged with presenting a season of 4 to 5 major productions per year for students and the general public. In 1924, the Masquers began searching for a national honorary organization to join. As there was no truly national organization, Elizabeth Watson (Carroll), Robert Sloan, and Fairmont faculty director Paul F. Opp researched forming such a national organization.

As a result of their research and work, a proposed national constitution was drawn up, and, on August 12, 1925, the first cast of Alpha Psi Omega members, drawn from the Masquers, was initiated. It was then decided that each chapter was to be called a, "cast," and Fairmont College became the Alpha Cast. Soon after, Marshall College in Huntington, West Virginia, expressed interest in chartering a cast of Alpha Psi Omega; they founded the Beta Cast. A member from Huntington suggested the name "Playbill" for the national magazine, which was thereafter adopted.

Over the course of the following year, eighteen more casts were founded. When the first national convention was held on December 27-28, 1926, at the Palmer House in Chicago, twenty casts had been chartered. These national conventions, also known as Grand Rehearsals, are now held once every 5 years.

Throughout the country, Alpha Psi Omega has sponsored the formation of theatre honor societies in high schools and junior colleges, with the aim of encouraging dramatic production at every step in a person's academic career. In 1929, after significant interest on the junior college level, Delta Psi Omega was formed. In 1936, at the Alpha Psi Omega Grand Rehearsal, Delta Psi Omega was officially recognized as the junior college division of Alpha Psi Omega. Today, there are over 350 Delta Psi Omega casts.

Alpha Psi Omega has enjoyed continuous national growth and, with over 550 casts, is the largest national honor society in America. Colleges and universities of recognized standing, having an established theatre program or theatre club for the purpose of producing plays, will be eligible for membership.

The business of Alpha and Delta Psi Omega is supervised by National Officers. Such names as Paul Opp, Yetta Mitchell, Donald Garner, Jerry Henderson, Susan Cole, and James Fisher are familiar to long-time cast members as officers in earlier years. Current officers are Dr. E. Teresa Choate [Kean University] as President, Frankie Day [North Carolina A&T] as Vice President, and Bret Jones [East Central University] as Business Manager and Editor of "Playbill," and Lisa Coulter as a Representative.

[History taken from the website for Alpha Psi Omega - [1]]

[edit] Current National Officers

National President - Dr. E. Teresa Choate, Kean University
National Vice-President - Frankie Day, North Carolina A & T University
National Business Manager - Dr. Bret Jones, East Central University

Delta Psi Omega Representative - Lisa Coulter, Murray State College

Regional Representatives
Region I - Brian Reed, Whittier College
Region II - Jack Garrison, University of Nebraska at Kearney
Region III - Dr. Ardenicia Hall-Karambe, Community College of Philadelphia
Region IV - John Bald, Converse College
Region V - Matthew E. Ellis, University of Oklahoma

National Webmaster - Joel Lord (alumnus, RPI)

[edit] Facts About Alpha Psi Omega

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Delta Psi Omega, Alpha Psi Omega's "Sister Society," was founded in 1929 as the official junior-college division of Alpha Psi Omega. Both societies are governed by the same National Officers. Delta Psi Omega is mainly founded at two-year institutions (junior colleges/community colleges), while Alpha Psi Omega is founded at four-year institutions (colleges or universities).

Dr. Paul F. Opp and Alpha Psi Omega were also instrumental in helping to organize the International Thespian Society, the national theatre honor society for high school students. With a grant of $500, the society able to help organize I.T.S. and help publish the first issues of the I.T.S. magazine, Dramatics. The International Thespian Society has since been assimulated into the Educational Theatre Association, but the influences can been seen in the similarities of both organizations' colors and initiation ceremonies.

Together, Alpha Psi Omega and Delta Psi Omega make up over 1000 chapters nationwide, both active and inactive, making Alpha Psi Omega/Delta Psi Omega the largest Greek Letter Organization in the United States.

Members are commonly referred to as "APO's." However, due to some confusion with members of the national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, some campuses refer to their members as "Alpha Psi's."

At the founding, Alpha Psi Omega was called "Alpha Psi Omega National Dramatic Honors Fraternity" and used dramatic terminology to refer to their society's officers and workings. Examples are:
President/National President - Director / Grand Director
Vice-President/National Vice-President - Stage Manager / Grand Stage Manager
Secretary-Treasurer/ National Secretary-Treasurer - Business Manager / Grand Business Manager
Chapter - Cast
Pledges/Probationary Members - Understudies
National Officers - Grand Cast
National Convention - Grand Rehearsal
In 1997, the National Officers decided, upon pressure from anti-fraternity sentiments nationwide, to update the public titles of the society. This changed the official name of the society from "Alpha Psi Omega National Dramatic Honors Fraternity" to "Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society."

The open motto of Alpha Psi Omega, written in ancient Greek upon their coat-of-arms, is "Seek a Life Useful." A secret motto is used during the Initiation ceremony.

[edit] Famous Alpha Psi Omega Members

[edit] External links