The records of the national service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega (APO), Gamma Pi chapter, document the student organization from its structural roots in 1939 to the present day, and exemplify organizational commitment to the founding principles of leadership, fellowship and service. Since operational policies and procedures are directed by a national Board of Directors, many of the record series contain materials originating from national headquarters. The records are arranged in seven series: Correspondence, Minutes, Service Projects, Scrapbooks and Clippings, Topical, Printed Materials, and Photographs.
The history of the Gamma Pi chapter of the national service fraternity of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) is one of commitment to the founding principles of fellowship, leadership and service, and reflects the organization's responses to the changing service needs of a large, dynamic university as well as to larger societal mandates for a broadened interpretation of equal opportunity.
On November 2, 1939, a meeting of the Rover Boy Scout group was held at the student union to discuss the formation of a pledge group for a local chapter of Alpha Phi Omega. A year later, members of the pledge group, primarily Rover Scouts, were initiated by APO chapter members from Michigan State University to officially form the Gamma Pi chapter. The national organization had been founded in 1925, in part to provide former boy scouts a college organization based on scouting principles. The bylaws described the purpose of the fraternity as, "to assemble college students in a National Service Fraternity in the fellowship of the principles of the Boy Scouts of America as embodied in its Scout Oath and Law, to develop Leadership, to promote Friendship, and provide Service to humanity."
As a chapter of APO, Gamma Pi had some flexibility in administration of its local programs and activities. Structurally it belonged to Section 54 consisting of the state of Michigan, which was part of a larger Region 6 comprised of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, all under the governance of an elected national Board of Directors. Leadership and fellowship opportunities were available at meetings of all three hierarchical levels, and service project ideas and experiences were widely shared.
In October 1970, Gamma Pi chapter proposed language changes in the national bylaws to support membership status for women. Despite an appeal led by the national organization to exclude APO from Title IX ruling, the United States Department of Health Education and Welfare found in 1976 that APO's membership practices were subject to the provisions of Title IX. Full membership opportunities must now be extended to women if university sponsorship were to continue. Women's names appear on the membership roster of Gamma Pi beginning in 1976.
Pledges to APO were invited twice yearly and became full members after demonstrating an understanding of APO history and goals and after performing required service hours.
Gamma Pi's service projects changed from year to year and from decade to decade and included conducting fingerprinting for FBI civilian identification files, soliciting donations for charitable causes, giving campus tours, staffing the student union lounge, ushering at campus events, counting ballots, maintaining an exam file, helping move books at the public library, making recordings for foreign students, and selling student directories. Ongoing projects included providing copy service at cost, distributing and posting campus signs, and sponsoring a yearly blood drive competition with Ohio State University.
