Alpha Phi Omega. Lambda Nu Chapter (Duke University)

The Alpha Phi Omega, Lambda Nu Chapter was founded in 1955 at Duke University. The student service fraternity performs variety of volunteer activities in Durham as well as greater North Carolina and South Carolina.

The following brief history appears on the Lambda Nu website: http://www.duke.edu/apo/

Lambda Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega was founded at Duke University in 1955 by Thomas R. Neese. Encouraged by area Boy Scout representative Bill Roth, Neese recruited Robert M. Graper and Joseph Griffin, fellow brothers of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. Together, they organized the first pledge class with assistance from Rho Chapter of UNC-Chapel Hill. Sixteen men comprised this initial group, which first met in February of 1955. Potential service projects were discussed at this meeting, and the future Brothers choose a project blazing a nature trail at the Durham Children's Museum (now the Museum of Life and Science). This first project, which preceded the chartering of Lambda Nu, has been a regular project of the Chapter ever since.

The Chapter grew in prestige during the 1960s, despite a membership which hovered around twenty men during most of this period, and a need to establish itself among larger service organizations at Duke. APO appeared successful, expanding its service program to include a diverse range of projects.

In 1974, Lambda Nu began accepting women, a full two years before the National fraternity went co-ed. The Chapter was able to do this by submitting membership lists to the National office that included only first initials and last names. Soon afterwards, however, the Chapter began to drift apart, with its last active member deactivating around 1978.

In the Spring of 1979, Duke sophomore Bob McMahan learned about APO from friends who were Brothers at the Iota Lambda Chapter at North Carolina State. McMahan spent the fall 1979 semester researching the history of Lambda Nu and recruiting interested people. By April of 1980, Lambda Nu was reborn, initiating nineteen pledges.

As Duke grew during the 1980s, so did Lambda Nu. Alpha Phi Omega celebrated the opening of the Bryan Center in 1982 helping the Duke University Union raise money to buy the baby grand piano that now sits in the Center's Schaefer Mall. By the end of the 1980s, the Chapter was annually performing thousands of hours of service for the Durham community, working for groups like the Eno River State Park, Lenox Baker Children's Hospital, Genesis Home, Duke Rescue Mission, and many local hospitals, schools and shelters. In addition, the chapter's fundraising efforts grew to a donation approaching ten thousand dollars each year to a local charity.