ALPHA TAU OMEGA FRATERNITY


ETA TAU CHAPTER

    The Eta Tau Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity was founded in 1971 at Austin Peay State University. The chapter went inactive in 1990 and, through great effort and dedication of many people, was re chartered on March 21, 2009.

Nearly 150 years have passed since the largest armed conflict on American soil began; The Civil War.  The life of a soldier in the 1860's was difficult and for the thousands of young Americans who left home to fight for their cause, it was an experience none of them would ever forget. Military service meant many months away from home and loved ones, long hours of drill, often inadequate food or shelter, disease, and many days spent marching on hot, dusty roads or in a driving rainstorm burdened with everything a man needed to be a soldier as well as baggage enough to make his life as comfortable as possible. There were long stretches of boredom in camp interspersed with moments of sheer terror experienced on the battlefield. For these civilians turned soldiers, life felt like it could never be the same.


    In 1865, a Civil War veteran, Otis Allen Glazebrook, was one of these young soliders.  At age 19, he had become deeply religious and believed that other young men would be willing to accept, forgive, and reunite with their Northern counterparts if motivated by a Christian, brotherly love.  Glazebrook discovered that all fraternities were not merely Greek in name but also reflected Greek ideals, philosophy, and culture. He did not like these “made up” Greek ideology and morals and desired something with deeper roots, something Christian, where Christian love could be expressed and held as the utmost priority.
   
    The name Alpha Tau Omega followed logically. The Alpha and Omega stand for christian absolute plentitude and perfection, the beginning and the end; Jesus Christ.  These two symbols of faith were joined by a cross, or Tau, to signify that Christ is the beginning and the end of salvation. From here, Glazebrook designed a proper symbol, a believed Maltese Cross, and inscribed it with the letters Alpha Tau Omega, a crescent, three stars, the Tau cross, and clasped hands.

    Glazebrook then confronted two close friends, Alfred Marshall and Erskine Mayo Ross, and asked then to help him found Alpha Tau Omega.  The agreed and ATΩ was born on September 11, 1865 at Virginia Military Institute.  They decided to set ATΩ apart from all other fraternities in four very distinct ways.
   

  • ATΩ was not established in imitation or in opposition to any existing fraternity.  ATΩ was the FIRST fraternity to do so.

  • From the beginning ATΩ was to be a national fraternity, rather than a local sectional society.

  • ATΩ a higher objective than fraternal friendship -- they sought peace and eternal brotherhood for the entire nation. ATΩ was the first fraternity to be incorporated.

  • ATΩ placed Jesus Christ and his teachings at its center and based it morals on the Holy Bible.


Eta Tau’s Accomplishments
2009-2010
 

Spring 2010 Highest Chartered IFC GPA - 3.14

2009-2010 Greek Intramural Champions of the year
Greek Olympics Champions (1st in Chariot Race and Tug of War)
Top Recruitment Chapter
True Merit Honorable Mention (highest award possible)
Top APSU Community Service organization. (2008-2009 & 2009-2010)
Broke Record: Chartered fastest in modern ATΩ history
Football (x2), Softball (x2), Volleyball, Dodgeball, Cornhole, Basketball Greek Champions
(every sport except Soccer -- we’ll get em next year!)
Fall 2009 Highest Pledge Class GPA
Excellence in Campus Involvement, Recruitment, Ritual, Community Service, and Finances
2009 Homecoming
Chi Omega Wings for Wishes (Best Fraternity Wings and Overall Best Fraternity)
Best football tailgate 2009 season
APSU basketball Greek night
Campus involvement in over 35 other organizations including 8 members of SGA
Mud Bowl 2009 Champions
AND TONS MORE TO COME! WERE ONLY GETTING STARTED!

 

Information

Alpha Tau Omega is a men's social fraternity located at Austin Peay State University.


Alpha Tau Omega was founded by Otis Allan Glazebrook, Erskine Mayo Ross and Alfred Marshall, at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865.


Alpha Tau Omega was founded upon was & is founded upon Christian (not Greek) principles.


Alpha Tau Omega was not established in imitation of or in opposition to any existing fraternity.


Alpha Tau Omega was the first fraternity founded as a national fraternity.


Alpha Tau Omega was the first fraternity founded after the Civil War in 1865, striving to heal the wounds created by the devastating war and help reunite the North and South.


The first World War I Medal of Honor was given to Captain C. L. Irwin, ATΩ Wyoming 1913, as one of the first American heroes mentioned in dispatches to the U.S.