APO Conference Host McKendree University Wins Service Award
Chapter Averages Most Service Hours per Member
Lebanon, Ill. — Members of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) national coeducational service
fraternity recently met at McKendree University for service and leadership workshops
and fellowship events. The university’s Chi Omega chapter hosted over 165 students,
alumni and advisers from 10 St. Louis area colleges and universities at the Section
49 conference, April 5-7.
The chapter received the Section 49 Service Award for providing the greatest number
of service hours per member - an average of 50 - during the 2012-13 academic year.
“The sectional conference brought a lot of positive attention to McKendree, our students
and our chapter,” said APO Chapter President Anthony Rhoads, a junior mathematics
major from Litchfield. During the conference, students painted decorations for Lebanon’s
Winter Wonderland of Lights, visited local nursing homes and cleaned up litter along
Highway 50, among other service projects. Throughout the year, the 30-member Chi Omega
chapter also hosts Red Cross blood drives and other service events on campus and in
the community. Members volunteer at the Lebanon Visitors’ Center, Winter Wonderland,
race days at McKendree, and work with the Girl Scouts and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The chapter also received the Joe Scanlon Membership Award for increasing its number
of members in the chapter; and the H. Roe Bartle Chapter Award for outstanding achievement
in chapter administration and program. McKendree alumna Katrina Molnar, a 2005 graduate
and APO chapter adviser, received a prestigious Distinguished Service Key for Section
49.
Founded in 1925 on the principles of leadership, friendship and service, APO provides
members the opportunity to develop leadership skills as they volunteer on their campus
and in their community. The McKendree chapter has been in existence since 1972.
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