History

Alpha Phi Omega was founded on December 16, 1925 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennslyvania, by Frank Reed Horton and 13 other students who were former Boy Scouts and scouters as a way to continue participating in the ideals of Scouting at the college level. Six advisors were also inducted: President John H. MacCracken, Dean Donald B. Prentice, Professors D. Arthur Hatch and Harry T. Spengler; one local Scouting official, Herbert G. Horton, and one national Scouting official, national director of the Boy Scouts of America, Ray O. Wyland. The founders insisted that all those gaining membership must pledge to uphold the fraternity's three cardinal principles of Leadership, Friendship and Service.