Alpha Psi Omega

Alpha Psi Omega/Delta Psi Omega - ΑΨΩ/ΔΨΩ

Motto	Seek a life useful
Type	Honorary
Established	August 12, 1925
Address	1100 East 4th St. Box X-2 , Wichita , Kansas , USA
Colors	moonlight blue and bastard amber

Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society (ΑΨΩ) is an American recognition honor society recognizing participants in collegiate theatre. The Alpha Cast (Alpha Psi Omega's term for "chapter") was founded at Fairmont State College (now Fairmont State University) on August 12, 1925 by professor Paul F. Opp.

Alpha Psi Omega was founded after Opp was denied charter petitions by both Theta Alpha Phi (ΘΑΦ) National Theatre Honors Fraternity and the National Collegiate Players/Pi Epsilon Delta (ΠΕΔ), which were unwilling to charter a chapter at Fairmont State College, then primarily known as a "teacher's college." The first student members of the society were Elinor B. Watson and Robert Sloan.

Membership is open to students (primarily undergraduate) who are active in collegiate/university theatre at four-year institutions (full colleges and universities). 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 an induction/training process, while other chapters choose members solely on merit, where the theatre experience is considered the induction process. Honorary membership may be conferred on certain individuals (usually department faculty) after obtaining permission from the National Officers.

Delta Psi Omega (ΔΨΩ), 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, yet have a separate coat-of-arms and induction ceremony. Delta Psi Omega is founded at two-year institutions (junior colleges/community colleges).

Opp and Alpha Psi Omega were also instrumental in helping to organize the International Thespian Society, the theatre honor society for high school students. With an original grant of $500, the society was able to help organize I.T.S. and help publish the first issues of the I.T.S. magazine. 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 induction ceremonies.

Members are most 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." Members of Delta Psi Omega are commonly known as "DPO's."

As was common practice in naming honor societies during that time, at the founding, Alpha Psi Omega was called "Alpha Psi Omega National Honorary Dramatic Fraternity" and used theatre-related terminology to refer to the honor society's officers and workings. Examples include:

• 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
• Inductees - Understudies
• National Officers - Grand Cast
• National Convention - Grand Rehearsal

In 1997, upon pressure of anti-fraternity sentiments nationwide, the National Officers decided to update the public titles of the organization. This changed the official name of the society from "Alpha Psi Omega National Honorary Dramatic 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" ("αιτειτε ψύχην ωφελιμον"). A "secret" motto is used during the Induction ceremony.

The official colors of Alpha Psi Omega/Delta Psi Omega are moonlight blue and amber gold.

The official magazine of Alpha Psi Omega/Delta Psi Omega is The Playbill.

On record, Alpha Psi Omega has a total 1026 casts (including those from their sister organization, Delta Psi Omega), making it one of the largest Greek Letter Organizations in the world. Chapters of Alpha Psi Omega are named with Greek Letter names according to the order in which they were chartered. Chapters of Delta Psi Omega are numbered.

Current National Officers of Alpha Psi Omega & Delta Psi Omega

National President - E. Teresa Choate, Kean University
National Vice-President - Frankie Day, North Carolina A & T University
National Business Manager - Bret Jones, Wichita State University
National Web Administrator - Joel Lord, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Delta Psi Omega Representative - Lisa Coulter, Murray State University

Regional Representatives

• Region I - Brian Reed, Whittier College
• Region II - Jack Garrison, University of Nebraska at Kearney
• Region III - Cleo House, Jr., Penn State Berks
• Region IV - John Bald, Converse College
• Region V - Matthew E. Ellis, University of Oklahoma

Past National Officers of Alpha Psi Omega & Delta Psi Omega

• Susan S. Cole - National President, National Vice-President
• James Fisher - National Business Manager
• Donald Garner - National President, National Business Manager
• Jerry Henderson - National President, National Vice-President
• Yetta Mitchell - National President, National Vice-President
• Paul F. Opp - Founder, First National Business Manager
• Russell Spiers - First National Vice-President
• E. Turner Stump - First National President

The History of Alpha Psi Omega and Delta Psi Omega

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 honorary 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, Elinor B. Watson, 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 600 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.

In 1994 the building at Fairmont State College (now University) in which Dr. Opp formed Alpha Psi Omega, Delta Psi Omega, and the Thespian Society (now the International Thespian Society) was added to the National Register of Historic Places, in large part due to the formation of these groups.

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 Teresa Choate as President, Frankie Day as Vice President, Bret Jones as Business Manager and Editor of "Playbill", and Joel Lord as Web Administrator.

History posted from the Alpha Psi Omega website [1] with permission from the National Webmaster.

Famous Alpha Psi Omega Members

• Alan Charles Beckwith ("General Hospital")
• Dan Blocker ("Bonanza")
• Dann Florek ("Law & Order," "LA Law")
• Lillian Gish (Follow Me Boys and a number of silent movies; Broadway revivals of Uncle Vanya)
• Ron Glass ("Serenity")
• Robert Hegyes ("Welcome Back Kotter")
• Don Knotts (The Incredible Mr. Limpet, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Pleasantville, "The Andy Griffith Show," "Three's Company")
• Burt Mustin (Miracle on 34th Street, "All in the Family," "Petticoat Junction," Mame, "Leave it to Beaver")
• Bill Pullman (Independence Day, Newsies, Spaceballs)
• Jimmi Simpson (Loser, Rose Red)
• Robert Taylor (Ivanhoe)
• Frank Ballard (Puppeteer)
• Randy Brown,

External links

• Alpha Psi Omega's Official Web site