Alpha Tau Omega
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Alpha Tau Omega (ΑΤΩ) |
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ATΩ Crest |
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Founded | September 11, 1865 Virginia Military Institute |
Type | Leadership, Social |
Scope | National |
Motto | πι εψιλον πι |
Colors | Azure and Old Gold |
Symbol | Heraldic Cross Pattee |
Flower | White Tea Rose |
Chapters | 245 chartered 132 active |
Free label | Taus, Alpha Taus, ATOs |
Headquarters | One North Pennsylvania Street, 12th Floor Indianapolis, Indiana, USA |
Homepage | http://www.ato.org |
ATΩ (Alpha Tau Omega) (commonly known as ATO, Taus, Alpha Taus) is an American social fraternity that annually ranks among the top ten national fraternities for numbers of chapters and total number of members. ATO has more than 250 active and inactive chapters with more than 196,000 members and more than 6,500 undergraduate members. ATO is also one-third of the Lexington Triad, along with Kappa Alpha Order and Sigma Nu. The oldest active chapter is the Delta Chapter located at the University of Virginia.
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[edit] History
During and after the Civil War, families were torn apart, due to brothers fighting on opposite sides. A Virginia Military Institute student, Otis Allan Glazebrook, had a vision to reunite the North and the South in brotherhood. His ideals started Alpha Tau Omega as the first fraternity that would be considered a national fraternity, and it was with Erskine Mayo Ross, and Alfred T Marshall that they sought to bring together the two factions that had been torn apart.
[edit] Creed
The Creed of Alpha Tau Omega
“ | To bind men together in a brotherhood based upon eternal and immutable principles, with a bond as strong as right itself and as lasting as humanity; to know no North, no South, no East, no West, but to know man as man, to teach that true men the world over should stand together and contend for supremacy of good over evil; to teach, not politics, but morals; to foster, not partisanship, but the recognition of true merit wherever found; to have no narrower limits within which to work together for the elevation of man than the outlines of the world: these were the thoughts and hopes uppermost in the minds of the founders of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. | ” |
-Otis Allan Glazebrook 1880
[edit] Founders
Otis Allan Glazebrook, Alfred E. Marshall, and Erskine Mayo Ross are recognized as the three founders of ATO. Following these, the next leader of ATO was Thomas Arkle Clark; Clark was the first Dean of Men at the University of Illinois and the President of the Gamma Zeta chapter at the University. Thomas A. Clark served the national fraternity as "Worthy Grand Chief" for several terms. To this day, the highest honor a graduating senior can achieve is the Thomas Arkle Clark Award.
Another man, Joseph Anderson, is known as the second founder of ATO. Because of a lack of organization and many chapters ignoring their responsibilities to the national fraternity -- including financial ones, ATO was on a devastating decline. In 1876, of the 22 chapters in existence at the time, only 2 attended the annual Congress. Joseph R. Anderson was appointed and accepted the position of Senior Grand Chief, or the National President, in 1870. Under Anderson, ATO was able to get back on track and become the well established fraternity it is today.
[edit] Famous ATO members
It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled List of Alpha Tau Omega brothers. (Discuss) |
[edit] Astronauts
- Sonny Carter: NASA
- Charles Duke: NASA
- Robert Overmyer: NASA
- Dr. David Wolf: NASA
[edit] Business
- Elton B. Stephens, Birmingham-Southern Founder EBSCO Media.
- John Bair: co-founder and CTO of Pinnacle Data Systems, inc.
- Edwin. M Crawford, Auburn '71, CEO of Caremark RX
- Walt Ehmer: Georgia Tech, CEO of Waffle House
- Gerald J. Ford, Southern Methodist '66, CEO of Golden State Bancorp
- Richard S. Fuld, Jr., Colorado '69, CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings
- Daniel E. Gill: Chairman & President, Bausch & Lomb
- Richard C. Green, Southern Methodist '76, CEO of Aquila Corporation
- Matthew J. Hart: CFO & Executive Vice President for Hilton Hotels
- James P. Hoffa: President of Teamsters Union (Jimmy Hoffa's son)
- John Jennings: President of Associated Builders and Contractors
- J. Erik Jonsson: Founder, Texas Instruments
- Earl T. Leonard Jr.: University of Georgia, Senior Vice President for Coca-Cola
- Billy Joe "Red" McCombs: Former owner of the Minnesota Vikings. Has one of the top Business schools in the US named after him (McCombs School of Business), University of Texas
- Julius Curtis Lewis, Jr., President of J.C. Lewis Enterprises and Lewis Broadcasting Corp.
- William Mitchell: Texas Instruments Vice Chairman (retired)
- C. Dowd Ritter, Birmingham-Southern '69, CEO of AmSouth Bancorp
- Joseph Wilson Rodgers Jr., Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University MBA, Owner of Waffle House
- Francis M. Scicco, Worcester Poly '68, CEO of Arrow Electronics
- Christopher A. Sinclair, University of Kansas '71, CEO of PepsiCo (retired)
- David M. Thomas, Florida '71, CEO of IMS Health
- John A. Young: President & CEO, Hewlett-Packard (retired)
- Ilya Shmidt: University of California, Riverside, President & CEO Cardinal Book Supply
[edit] Education
- Dr. Michael Ferrari: President of Drake University
- Frank Hereford: Former President of the University of Virginia
- Robert Mittelstaedt: Tulane; Vice Dean of Wharton School
- Stephen C. O'Connell: Former President of the University of Florida
- Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr.: Chancellor of Troy University
- Dr. Al Bowman: President of Illinois State University
- William Muir: Kansas State; Asst. Vice President of Kansas State University
- Robert Kaplan: Asst. Dean of the College of William & Mary Law School
- Dr.Robert L. Potts: 1st Ever Chancellor of Arkansas State University
- Dr.Gilbert Fowler: Dean of Honors College Arkansas State University
[edit] Entertainment and media
- John Besh: Celebrity chef
- Dominic Dieter: Popular radio co-host of Rover's Morning Glory[citation needed]
- Dana Elcar: Film and TV actor best known for his supporting role on MacGyver
- Hunter Ellis: Reality TV star, TV host
- Rob Estes: Actor, Melrose Place, Silk Stalkings
- Guy Fieri: Food Network star host of Guy's Big Bite and Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives
- Brad Fiorenza: MTV's The Real World: San Diego castmate
- Christopher Fitzgerald: Broadway and film actor
- Rob Fitzgerald: Bud Light's "I love you, man"
- Shelby Foote: American novelist and Civil War historian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Paul Gilmartin: Co-host of TBS Superstation's Dinner & A Movie
- Bob Guiney: Bob the Bachelor from The Bachelor 4, Michigan State University
- Cork Graham: war correspondent (Associated Press) and author of the 2004 bestselling memoir The Bamboo Chest
- Jack Ingram: Country music performer
- Matt Jones: Broadway producer who headed the adaptation of Requiem for a Dream
- Sanad Karker: Reality TV star, actor On The Road In America
- Greg Kinnear: Talk Soup host, 1998 Academy Award nominee
- Art Linkletter: Television personality/Author, Kids Say The Darndest Things
- Elmer Lower: Former president of ABC News
- Elliot Segal: Radio DJ and host of Elliot in the Morning
- Frank Marshall (movie producer): Film producer/director; co-founder of Amblin Entertainment
- Garry Marshall: Film director (Pretty Woman, Overboard), television producer (Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley) (incidentally, in the latter seasons of Happy Days, Marshall used ATO in the show several times, and an ATO fraternity paddle can be seen hanging on the wall of "Arnold's")
- Cary Pierce, Jack O'Neill: Members of the band "Jackopierce"
- Forrest Sawyer: ABC News, Nightline
- Grant Show: Actor, Melrose Place
- Stryker (disc jockey): Radio DJ and co-host of the radio show Loveline
- Tennessee Williams: Pulitzer Prize winner for A Streetcar Named Desire
- Reynolds Wolf: CNN Meteorologist
[edit] Politics
- Lee Atwater: Chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC)
- Birch Bayh: U.S. Senator (Indiana)
- Richard H. Bryan: U.S. Senator (Nevada)
- C. Farris Bryant: Governor of Florida 1961-1965
- Alberto "Al" Cardenas: Political lobbyist
- Lawton Chiles: U.S. Senator and later Governor of Florida 1991-1998
- Federico Clerici: Congressman in Argentina 1986-1993
- James Eastland: Senate Pro Tempore from 1972-1979
- Frank Fahrenkopf: Chair of the Republican National Committee
- Sam Gibbons: Congressman
- Edward J. Gurney: U.S. Senator (Florida)
- Stephen H. Grimes: Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
- Lee H. Hamilton: U.S. Congressman (Indiana)
- Willis B. Hunt Jr.: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia
- Harry A. Johnston: U.S. Congressman (Florida)
- Jack Kemp: 1996 candidate for U.S. Vice President, former U.S. Secretary of the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD)
- Michael Mansfield: U.S. Senate Majority Leader 1961-1977
- Mel Martinez: U.S. Senator (Florida)
- Larry McDonald: Georgia Congressman killed on Korean Air Flight 007
- Harry Mitchell: U.S. Congressman (Arizona)
- Stephen C. O'Connell: Former Chief Justice, Florida Supreme Court
- John E. Porter: Congressman (Illinois)
- Charles H. Smelser: former Maryland State Senator
- James Stockdale: 1992 Independent vice-presidential nominee
- Alan K. Simpson: U.S. Senator, Wyoming
- John S. Tanner: U.S. Congressman (Tennessee)
- Charles F. Wald US General
[edit] Science
- Vannevar Bush: Physicist, WWII advisor and architect of modern government science policy
- Arthur Holly Compton: Physicist and Nobel Prize winner
- Karl Compton: Physicist and influential science advisor in World War II
[edit] Sports
- Dom Capers: Defensive coordinator, Miami Dolphins
- Chris Capuano: MLB pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers
- Bud Collins: Tennis announcer, author
- Cris Collinsworth: Former NFL wide receiver, sports anchor
- Lee Corso: Sports commentator, football coach
- Len Dawson: NFL Hall of Famer, Super Bowl IV MVP, sports anchor
- Ted DiBiase: "The Million Dollar Man"; Former WWF wrestler
- Terry Funk: Pro wrestler
- Joe Girardi: New York Yankees current manager and former catcher; former Florida Marlins manager
- Curt Gowdy: Sports broadcaster for 5 decades; 7 Super Bowls and 14 World Series
- Lou Groza : NFL Hall of Famer
- Keith Jackson: Sports commentator, ABC
- Ernie Koy: Texas Longhorn, 1963 National Champions; Pro Bowl running back for New York Giants
- William Little: Known as "Father of Southern Football", introduced football at the University of Alabama
- Jim Mora: Former coach of the New Orleans Saints
- Steve Spurrier: Head coach of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, Heisman Trophy winner 1966 at University of Florida, Former Florida head coach, 1996 National Championship
- Jim Tressel: Head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes (2002 National Champions)
- Jack Youngblood: NFL Hall of Fame
- Steve Gleason: NFL Football Player, 2000-2008. Undrafted free agent by the Indianapolis Colts