Our National History (as adapted from Frank Reed Horton's account)

Our founder, Frank Reed Horton served as an ensign in the US Navy during the First World War. He tried court martial cases in his division and was saddened to see many young men get themselves into trouble. As a result, he promised himself he would do two things: do his best to help young people get the right start in life by holding up before them a "standard of manhood" that would withstand the test of time and try to help the nations of the world settle their disputes in a more sensible and legal manner than by war.

After the war, Horton became a student at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. He met Herbet G. Horton, a Scout Executive, while studying there. Horton recruited him to be a Boy Scout leader. He found that the Scout Oath and Law were what he had been seeking - a standard of manhood that would withstand the test of time and a code of ideals created and accepted by some of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.

As a senior at Lafayette, he convinced some men with a Scouting background in his Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house to join an organization based on the ideals of Scouting. Fourteen undergraduates signed as charter Members. Scouting advisors were Dr. Ray O. Wyland and Herbert G. Horton.

The Lafayette College Faculty approved the petition for recognition. On December 16, 1925, I conducted the Ritual Initiation at Brainerd Hall, second floor, and Alpha Phi Omega was born.

Since then, Alpha Phi Omega has continued in a program of steady service and growth, and is now the largest fraternal organization in the world.