User:Brother Bulldog/Page Archive/Theta Alpha Omega

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Theta Alpha Omega is a Greek social fraternity based on Masonic values of brotherhood and charity.

History
Theta Alpha Omega was founded by Joshua Buxton, a student at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. After serving in the United States Navy, Buxton began his college studies at SWOSU and soon became involved in Greek life, pledging the SWOSU chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in the fall of 2007. Buxton was already active in Freemasonry in his hometown of Hinton, Oklahoma, and several of the Sinfonians asked about becoming Masons, culminating with four of them joining the Hinton lodge together in the spring of 2008. Buxton realized that many students desired to continue fraternal involvement after college, but a lack of college-aged Masons and limited opportunities for Masons and college fraternity members to interact created barriers to membership. Buxton then conceived of a college fraternity designed specifically to break down these barriers by allowing interaction and information sharing between the collegiate students and the Masonic lodges.

In the spring of 2009, Buxton began meeting at the Western Star Lodge in Weatherford with a group of his fellow students, all Masons, and outlined plans for what would become Theta Alpha Omega. As the group discussed what the fraternity would entail, the focus began to gradually shift from helping to funnel college students into the lodge to teaching Masonic ideals in a collegiate setting, in part to prevent misconceptions about Freemasonry from driving away potential members. Many of the Masonic ties remained, however, including designing many fraternity functions to occur at lodges. This was done to make the college students more comfortable entering lodge buildings and to help break down the misconceptions that existed. The group filed for recognition and, in April of 2009, Theta Alpha Omega was officially recognized as a Greek social fraternity by the SWOSU administration. On May 5th of the same year, Theta Alpha Omega was officially recognized by the North-American Interfraternity Conference, an event which is commemorated as the fraternity's Founders Day.

The group continued to meet over the summer and, in the fall of 2009, other SWOSU students were offered the chance to become chartering members of the Alpha Chapter of Theta Alpha Omega. By the end of October, the fraternity had fifteen members in addition to their faculty advisor, five of whom were Masons and six who had previous Greek fraternity experience. In January of 2010, Theta Alpha Omega held its first convention at Western Star Lodge, during which the fraternity's constitution was adopted. The first slate of national officers was elected, with Buxton selected as the first National President. The first official initiation took place at the close of the convention. The first official pledge class was initiated in April of 2010, in the midst of what was termed a "Greek revival" at SWOSU.

Chartering members
The founding members of Theta Alpha Omega are:


 * Jonathan Anzaldua
 * David Altland (Faculty Advisor)
 * William Beaty
 * Jonathan Berry
 * Ryan Bickford
 * Blake Bogden
 * Joshua Buxton
 * Barrett Hamm
 * Ryan Hoff
 * Tyler Hughes
 * Cody Ingels
 * Nolan Lawless
 * Colton Manning
 * Cody McCaskill
 * Kasey Shaver
 * Nathan Thompson

Purpose
The purpose of the fraternity, as adopted in its first constitution, reads as follows: "The Purpose of Theta Alpha Omega shall be to give charity to those in need through selfless acts, these acts taught through the bonds of brotherhood developed by this fraternity, these bonds of brotherhood helping the collegiate student to become prepared to face the difficulties of life, knowing that one can always rely on a fellow brother, still remembering the past and the path that has yet to be traveled."

Membership
Membership in Theta Alpha Omega is divided into three classes, being collegiate, alumni, and honorary. Membership is restricted to males, and there is currently no associated women's organization. Membership is lifelong and may not be terminated by the member, but the member may be suspended or expelled from the fraternity for due cause.

Collegiate
Collegiate members are members who are currently enrolled at a sheltering institution and have been initiated using the official initiation ritual. Collegiate members in good academic and financial standing are entitled to voting rights, may hold office in the chapter, and must meet financial and attendance requirements.

Alumni
Alumni members are members who have been initiated as collegiate members and subsequently left the sheltering institution. Alumni members do not have the rights or responsibilities of collegiate members, but affiliate themselves with a chapter with a majority vote of that chapter's members. If accepted, the alumni member is entitled to all privileges of collegiate membership, and he must also assume all defined obligations and responsibilities of collegiate members.

Honorary
Honorary membership may be conferred on any Mason in good standing with a lodge with a three-fourths majority vote of the members of the initiating chapter. This is the only provision within Theta Alpha Omega that requires a member to be affiliated with a lodge.

Charity
Theta Alpha Omega is actively involved in charity work in and around its chapters, including providing scholarships to incoming college freshmen. The fraternity was also instrumental in securing six $100,000 donations from the Oklahoma Masonic Charity Foundation for regional Okahoma universities.