Alpha Tau Omega Creed
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
Otis Allan Glazebrook
1880
EARLY HISTORY
Alpha Tau Omega began as an idea in the mind of a young Civil War veteran who wanted peace and reconciliation. His name was Otis Allan Glazebrook. His people were defeated, many of their cities burned, much of their countryside ravaged. But Glazebrook, who had helped bury the dead of both sides, believed in a better future. He saw the bitterness and hatred that followed the silencing of the guns and knew that a true peace would come not from force of law, but rather from with the hearts of men who were willing to work to rekindle a spirit of brotherly love.
In Richmond, Glazebrook consulted with University of Virginia alumni who furnished further information concerning fraternities. He discovered that they were not Greek in name only, but Greek throughout. Their mottos, besides being written in Greek, reflected Greek ideals.
Greek philosophy, sometimes tinged with the medieval mysteries and Masonic lore, waste the cultural ideal of the fraternities. Glazebrook had been a student of Greek at Randolph-Macon College before he entered the Institute. While admiring the language, he recoiled from Greek Philosophy, ideology, mythologies, ethics and morals.
Glazebrook could contemplate fraternity only in terms of Christian love. Out of his prolonged meditation emerged the concept of a fraternity Greek in name only; the Greek name, the visible symbol of passionate conviction that peace and brotherhood could be achieved under the protection of Jesus Christ.
The name came spontaneously. As a boy and youth in St. Paul's and St. Mark's, Glazebrook had seen the ancient insignia of the Church, first discovered in the ancient catacombs, depicted upon their walls, ceilings, or other ecclesiastical objects, the Tau Cross subjoined by Alpha and Omega. "Alpha" and "Omega" signify to the Christian absolute plenitude or perfection. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Joined with the Cross the whole signifies that Christ is all in all, the beginning and end of salvation.
Having projected a Christian fraternity and appropriated a distinctively Christian symbol for its name, the Cross naturally was its logical emblem. For it, Glazebrook selected a form he thought was the Maltese Cross, though actually it is the heraldic cross pattée. In the center he inscribed a crescent, three stars, the Tau Cross and clasped hands. Upon the upper and lower vertical arms he placed the Greek letters for Alpha and Omega and upon the horizontal arms, the Omega and Alpha letters respectively.
Reading from top to bottom the fraternity's name appears: Alpha Tau Omega. Reading left to right it becomes Omega Tau Alpha. This reverse arrangement has an esoteric significance to the initiate, but does no violence to the essential meaning of the insignia; it still indicates that Christ the beginning and end are joined.
On September 11, 1865, Glazebrook invited two close friends – Alfred Marshall and Erskine Mayo Ross – to his home at 114 East Clay Street in Richmond, Virginia. There, in the rear parlor, he read them the Constitution he had written and invited them to sign. As they did, Alpha Tau Omega was born. It was the first fraternity founded after the Civil War, and the first sign of Greek life in the old Confederacy.
Glazebrook had chosen his co-founders well. Marshall had been friends with Glazebrook since boyhood, was first captain of the VMI Cadet Corps and remained a popular individual throughout his life. Marshall was the spirited man of the trio, the man of action, the one most likely to attract new members. Ross, who ultimately became a federal judge, gave a sense of order to the meeting. He could curb the sometimes reckless energies of Marshall without dampening the charge of Glazebrook's ideas. The three formed a well-balanced group, and ATO was born.
In Richmond, Glazebrook consulted with University of Virginia alumni who furnished further information concerning fraternities. He discovered that they were not Greek in name only, but Greek throughout. Their mottos, besides being written in Greek, reflected Greek ideals.
Greek philosophy, sometimes tinged with the medieval mysteries and Masonic lore, waste the cultural ideal of the fraternities. Glazebrook had been a student of Greek at Randolph-Macon College before he entered the Institute. While admiring the language, he recoiled from Greek Philosophy, ideology, mythologies, ethics and morals.
Glazebrook could contemplate fraternity only in terms of Christian love. Out of his prolonged meditation emerged the concept of a fraternity Greek in name only; the Greek name, the visible symbol of passionate conviction that peace and brotherhood could be achieved under the protection of Jesus Christ.
The name came spontaneously. As a boy and youth in St. Paul's and St. Mark's, Glazebrook had seen the ancient insignia of the Church, first discovered in the ancient catacombs, depicted upon their walls, ceilings, or other ecclesiastical objects, the Tau Cross subjoined by Alpha and Omega. "Alpha" and "Omega" signify to the Christian absolute plenitude or perfection. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Joined with the Cross the whole signifies that Christ is all in all, the beginning and end of salvation.
Having projected a Christian fraternity and appropriated a distinctively Christian symbol for its name, the Cross naturally was its logical emblem. For it, Glazebrook selected a form he thought was the Maltese Cross, though actually it is the heraldic cross pattée. In the center he inscribed a crescent, three stars, the Tau Cross and clasped hands. Upon the upper and lower vertical arms he placed the Greek letters for Alpha and Omega and upon the horizontal arms, the Omega and Alpha letters respectively.
Reading from top to bottom the fraternity's name appears: Alpha Tau Omega. Reading left to right it becomes Omega Tau Alpha. This reverse arrangement has an esoteric significance to the initiate, but does no violence to the essential meaning of the insignia; it still indicates that Christ the beginning and end are joined.
On September 11, 1865, Glazebrook invited two close friends – Alfred Marshall and Erskine Mayo Ross – to his home at 114 East Clay Street in Richmond, Virginia. There, in the rear parlor, he read them the Constitution he had written and invited them to sign. As they did, Alpha Tau Omega was born. It was the first fraternity founded after the Civil War, and the first sign of Greek life in the old Confederacy.
Glazebrook had chosen his co-founders well. Marshall had been friends with Glazebrook since boyhood, was first captain of the VMI Cadet Corps and remained a popular individual throughout his life. Marshall was the spirited man of the trio, the man of action, the one most likely to attract new members. Ross, who ultimately became a federal judge, gave a sense of order to the meeting. He could curb the sometimes reckless energies of Marshall without dampening the charge of Glazebrook's ideas. The three formed a well-balanced group, and ATO was born.
Alpha Tau Omega Today
Having just celebrated our 150th birthday in 2015, ATO has continued to not only grow, but has become one of the fastest expanding fraternities in the United States. There are more than a quarter million initiated ATOs in our history and more than 150 active chapters in 35 states. Some of these chapters are almost as old as the fraternity itself, while others – like us – are still quite young.
It may be a simple social media device, but the hashtag #ATOLeads encapsulates a lot of what we as ATOs strive to be. We don't just want to be college friends, but brothers for life. We don't only want to have fun for four years, but to make an impact on the world while we do it. The ATO experience is about more than just your college days. It's about growing as a man while being surrounded and supported by other men on the same journey who share the same core values, growing and learning together in the unbreakable bond of brotherhood.
That's what being an ATO is about – becoming the best man that you can be. If a Tau ventures on a personal journey throughout their fraternity experience, then they're only getting part of the benefit. They can walk the road with friends, with brothers, learning from each other and sharing our own wisdom along the way. If nothing else, ATO is a community, one that leaves an irremovable impact on everyone touched by it, brothers and outsiders alike.
One of the specific ways that ATO helps grow its members is through its Leadership Development programs which you can read about in our timeline on the "Our History" page.
Alpha Tau Omega also provides financial assistance for its members in terms of scholarships to help lighten the burden of college costs. Every year, more than $100,000 is given to ATOs by ATOs. To apply or learn more, click on this link.
To learn more explicitly about Alpha Tau Omega as a national organization, visit ato.org where you can read about brothers nationwide – both alums and actives – our national fraternity's leaders, and about national news in the fraternity, like new charterings and success stories from ATOs across the United States.
It may be a simple social media device, but the hashtag #ATOLeads encapsulates a lot of what we as ATOs strive to be. We don't just want to be college friends, but brothers for life. We don't only want to have fun for four years, but to make an impact on the world while we do it. The ATO experience is about more than just your college days. It's about growing as a man while being surrounded and supported by other men on the same journey who share the same core values, growing and learning together in the unbreakable bond of brotherhood.
That's what being an ATO is about – becoming the best man that you can be. If a Tau ventures on a personal journey throughout their fraternity experience, then they're only getting part of the benefit. They can walk the road with friends, with brothers, learning from each other and sharing our own wisdom along the way. If nothing else, ATO is a community, one that leaves an irremovable impact on everyone touched by it, brothers and outsiders alike.
One of the specific ways that ATO helps grow its members is through its Leadership Development programs which you can read about in our timeline on the "Our History" page.
Alpha Tau Omega also provides financial assistance for its members in terms of scholarships to help lighten the burden of college costs. Every year, more than $100,000 is given to ATOs by ATOs. To apply or learn more, click on this link.
To learn more explicitly about Alpha Tau Omega as a national organization, visit ato.org where you can read about brothers nationwide – both alums and actives – our national fraternity's leaders, and about national news in the fraternity, like new charterings and success stories from ATOs across the United States.
