Throughout our long national and local history, Alpha Tau Omega has provided thousands of young men with the opportunity for personal growth, leadership development, and life-long brotherhood.
Local History
The Gamma Rho chapter colonized on September 23, 2011 with 56 members, making it the largest colonizing class in the history of both MU and the national fraternity.
On October 20, 2012, the chapter successfully re-chartered with 80 members. The original 1906 chartering document sits in the main hallway of the house today.
The chapter prides itself as MU’s best brotherhood and best leadership development organization for men on campus. With almost 140 members, the chapter’s presence on campus is growing as well its esteem in the eyes of the university and Greek Life. The chapter holds a strict no-hazing policy to promote the positive development of new members and brotherhood between all pledge classes. The chapter recruits based on core values of scholarship, social service, leadership, and respect towards others. Recent accomplishments include placing 2nd overall in Greek Week with Phi Kappa Theta and Chi Omega in 2013; three consecutive semesters with a chapter GPA over 3.0; and strong, consistent intramural sport performances.
On September 20, 2013, the chapter hosted its first successful signature event, “Cornhole For A Cause” on the front lawn of the chapter house. An organized cornhole tournament between sororities, campus organizations, and other teams, all proceeds went to the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. The Thompson Center is a university-owned nonprofit organization founded by Gamma Rho alumnus Don Thompson.
On May 3, 2014, the chapter hosted its second signature event, “Tigers Standing Strong With Autism Festival,” a carnival-type event at Tiger Plaza.
Prior to their re-chartering, the Gamma Rho had a long-standing tradition of success and honor on MU’s campus until 2008. From 2001 to 2005, the chapter won four consecutive True Merit awards from the national fraternity. The chapter was also featured in a 2003 episode of ATO Roadshow. In this four-year span, the chapter twice won MU’s Excellence Cup, given to the top fraternity on campus.
The chapter’s current house opened its doors in 1997. Its address is 909 Richmond Ave., Columbia, MO 65201. The two-story building can hold up to 96 brothers, although approximately 80 live in house now. The chapter has owned that plot of land for housing since 1930. Previous sites for chapter housing include spots on Rollins Street, Hitt Street, College Ave and Missouri Ave.
Brother Golden C. Davis originally founded the Gamma Rho chapter on April 21, 1906.
National History
Otis Allan Glazebrook founded Alpha Tau Omega in 1865 in the wake of the civil war. His mission, as stated in the creed, was to unite men from all corners of the country under Christian principles – “to know no North, no South, no East, no West.” His co-founders, Alfred Marshall and Erskine Mayo Ross, signed a constitution of the ideals they agreed to uphold on September 11, 1865, which we celebrate today as Founder’s Day.
However, in the following two decades, the fraternity gradually grew weaker and weaker, losing chapters and losing communication with each other. The fraternity’s lowest point came during the National Congress in 1876 when only 2 of 22 active chapters showed up. To make matters worse, the national president was nowhere to be found.
It was the efforts of National President Joseph R. Anderson that saw the revival of Alpha Tau Omega nationwide. He sacrificed most of his time and money to reviving interest in the fraternity. He dug up old annals, wrote many letters and updated the national fraternity’s records. He declared before the National Congress that only strong universities should receive ATO chapters, and such schools could be found in the North and West parts of the country. He insisted that the fraternity’s constitution be revised, printed, and distributed to all members and that the bylaws should be codified and made official. He insisted that communication was key between all chapters, that men should not be strangers to their fellow brothers.
Wynn Smiley was named the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the national fraternity in 1998; he had previously served as Director of Communication since 1991.
The fraternity is widely renowned for piloting many leadership programs and breaking new ground when it comes to Greek Life, creating many firsts in the field. The fraternity started a weeklong program called LeaderShape in 1986. LeaderShape, Inc. took off and became so popular that it became its own company. In 1992, Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Kappa Gamma held joint leadership conferences nationwide, marking the first time a national men’s fraternity and women’s sorority held an event like these conferences together.
The fraternity’s headquarters have been located since 1995 in Indianapolis, Indiana after spending over 80 years in Champaign, Illinois.
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