List of Chapter Traditions, History, and Random Information (Listed Alphabetically):
A-Pho-O – A-Pho-O is a monthly fellowship during which members go eat Pho. It is held after the GBM of the first Sunday of the month.
Appointed Positions – Appointed officer positions were created during the CPPC of 1999 in order to accommodate the rising number of members in the fraternity. By distributing the duties of officers, more leadership opportunities are provided within Rho Pi.
Banquet – Banquet is held at the end of the school year in order to have fun while recognizing and awarding brothers for various reasons. The main awards given out during banquet are Leadership, Friendship, Service, Mr. Rho Pi, and Mrs. Rho Pi. Depending on the Fellowship officers, other awards can also be given out, serious or humorous. During the 2006 end of the year banquet, the national Fall 2005 class namesake Jerry Schroder attended because of Rho Pi’s high pledge retention rate during that pledging period.
Banquet Videos – Banquet videos were started by Steve Tamakuni at the end of the year banquet with the aim of providing entertainment. Videos can be submitted by the general body and are also created by Fellowship.
Big-Little Program – The origins behind Rho Pi’s Big-Little program is described below.
“We started the big/little sib program in the Fall of 1994. Gamma class were the first to have big sibs assigned to them. We were looking for a way to encourage a stronger connection between the pledges and actives. I got the idea for a sib program after talking to my roommate about her pledging experience with Tri Delta. A few other people in the chapter had similar ideas, so we got it organized. The first time pledges made paddles was really funny – I drove all over town picking up the supplies so that they could all make them together. They had a pizza party in someone’s dorm at Revelle. One of my two little sibs was there, and I was there to help some of the other pledges. He teased me about it for a while afterward. That, and the fact that I never bought him dinner.” – As stated by Jennifer Cox-Wong
Bigs Appreciation – Bigs Appreciation is a way for littles to give back to their bigs during their pledging period to show how much they appreciate what is done for them.
Catch Me if You Can – Catch Me if You Can was an idea created by Andrew Liang (2010-11 President) to encourage the general body to wear more APO apparel around campus. Andrew would pick a day of the week and a phrase and the first active and pledge wearing APO apparel to catch him on that day would be given a free Tapioca Express drink or snack during the following GBM.
Chapter Roll Call – Rho Pi’s roll call was created by Richard Lee in Fall 2004 to use at IC events, specifically Fall Fellowship of that year. It goes as follows, with accompanying hand motions of rowing a boat and eating pie:
o “Rho Rho Rho Rho, Pi Pi Pi Pi. Rho Rho Rho, Pi Pi Pi. Rho Rho, Pi Pi. Rho Pi. Rho Pi. Rho Pi. Rho Pi!”
Club Events – Club events were introduced by Evan Lien (2007-08 Treasurer) and Tung Nguyen (2007-08 Fundraising Chair) as another fundraising idea to bring money into the fraternity.
DanceComp – DanceComp is short for dance competition. It is an interchapter event created by Fiona Cudiamat in Spring 2004 in which chapters from Sections 1 and 2 would form dance teams and compete against one another. Occasionally chapters from Section 4 would also participate. All profits go to a charity chosen by the planner (formerly VP Admin then Interchapter Chair and now DanceComp Chair). In 2007, the winning chapter received a paddle, which is now passed on to the next winning team every year.
Electric Fence – Electric Fence is a team building activity used during pledge retreat first by Wesley Puno (2004-2005 PT) at Psi Class’s pledge retreat (Fall 2004). In this activity, pledges had to find a solution to get their entire pledge class over a raised string. If any part of a pledge touched the string then they would have to send back one of the people who had already successfully made it over. Electric Fence was discontinued starting Fall 2010 and replaced by other team building activities because of the large amounts of time pledge classes took to finish it.
Families – Rho Pi’s family system was created by Jacob Rosenburg (VP Membership) and Amy Chiang (Membership Sec) in the summer of 1999 in order to create smaller groups to manage active members. It also is a way for brothers to get to know each other in a smaller setting since the chapter has become so large.
Family Traditions – Family traditions are competitions/traditions normally carried out during Spring quarter. Each family hosts a competition in which all families compete against each other. The winning family receives a trophy as well as FamilyComp points.
- Alpha family’s tradition is the Alpha Poker Tournament.
- Phi family’s tradition is the Phi Basketball Tournament. Of the five family traditions, it was the very first created with the intention to honor the memory of a Phi family member that had passed away.
- Omega family’s tradition is the Omega Iron Chef Competition. It was created by Steve Tamekuni.
- Rho family’s tradition is the Rho Football Tournament (more commonly known as the RHOse bowl). It was created by Anthony Keeling in Spring 2007
- Pi family’s tradition is King Pin Bowling. It was created by Kristine Resari in Spring 2008.
Korean BBQs – Korean BBQs are one of the original active fundraisers used to bring money into the fraternity.
Leonardo – The Leonardo is a small Leonardo Ninja Turtle figurine passed from active to active for going above and beyond their duty and signifying Leadership, Friendship, and Service. The Leonardo was found at a service project in 1994 and then given to another brother. The award should be given to an active member who has shown outstanding involvement or contribution in any area of APO and that is normally not an officer. However, in some instances, the Leonardo can and has been given to pledges and officers. Brothers write entries in a notebook about why they chose to pass the Leonardo on to the next recipient. They also add some sort of keepsake that symbolizes the recipient into a duffle bag where the Leonardo is kept.
Minute/Slide games – Created by Julie Johnson (1999-2000 VP Admin). Minute games were a way to engage the active body in reviewing GBM minutes by placing a movie or song quote at the bottom and having brothers guess what it was. Whoever emailed VP Admin back with the correct answer was allowed to pick the quote for the next week. With meetings now conducted using PowerPoint presentations, minute games have evolved into a slide game with the goal to keep brothers focused on the meeting and information presented. A small object of the Admin Secretary’s choice is hidden in the pictures on various slides and the winners that guess correctly receive candy.
Muggings – Muggings are a way to earn money for the fraternity. Actives and pledges come up and normally tell funny stories about other brothers. They “mug” them by placing a certain amount of money in an actual mug and can choose to either pay for the person getting mugged or make the person pay for himself/herself. The person being mugged must match the amount of money put into the jar. Although most stories are humorous or embarrassing, people have also been mugged in order to honor others and give them presents.
Old Man/Old Woman – Old People are an idea brought from the University of Texas by Marc Hosking. The Old Man/Woman is an active who chooses to “step down” and re-pledge in order to act as a liaison between the new pledges and the active body while helping them feel more comfortable in their pledging process. S/he is a resource the new pledges can go to if they feel unable to approach actives since the Old Man/Woman is, essentially, one of their pledge brothers. While not actively interfering with the pledge class’s decisions, the Old Man/Woman should help guide the pledge class when necessary.
Operation Santa – Operation Santa was an idea introduced by Nam Nguyen and conducted by Ruth Hsiao in Fall 2007. Gift baskets, and sometimes meals, were made and delivered to families who could not provide presents for themselves during the Christmas season. Essentially the brothers would be “giving Christmas” to those who could not afford to have their own. Families are nominated to the fraternity and then chosen by the Operation Santa chairs. As Operation Santa has grown, advertising for it has expanded to using local radio stations and news channels as outlets in addition to putting up flyers in San Diego neighborhoods.
OxFam Hunger Banquet – The first OxFam Hunger Banquet was put on by Mallory Wang in Winter 2009. Working with OxFam America, the fraternity puts on a hunger banquet in order to help raise awareness about world hunger and poverty.
Paddles – A paddle that is decorated with the fraternity’s letters. Littles create and decorate paddles and give them to their bigs at the end of the year banquet. It is not a requirement, but is a way for littles to show their appreciation for their bigs.
The Penguin – The Penguin is Rho Pi’s unofficial mascot. The holder of the actual penguin signifies the family of the quarter. There are three chances to win it within a year and becoming family of the quarter helps towards winning family of the year. Below is the story about how the penguin came about.
“Our 98-99 President, Minh Nguyen, was a funny guy. One night at A-Pho-O he said totally out of the blue, “You know what’s funny to think about? A drunk penguin!” One of our traditions was intramural softball. We were usually pretty sucky, but it was a lot of fun. That year, as a result of Minh’s comment, we named the team ‘the Drunken Penguins’. The week before the banquet, I was at UTC. I went into the Discovery Store and saw that they had these huge inflatable penguins, so I bought it to give to Minh at the banquet. Minh loved beer and beef jerky, so we bought the biggest cans of beer we could find at the grocery store. We kept the penguin uninflated so we could sneak it into the banquet. After dinner, we had snuck over to the kitchen door to inflate it, which was a lot harder than we thought it would be. There are pictures of Jacob Rosenburg (99-00 VP Membership) blowing it up at the banquet. We taped the beer cans to the penguin’s flippers and put the beef jerky in his beak and then brought it out for Minh. Everyone dance with it the rest of the night and then we took him to the after-party at Minh’s. When he left for med school, he gave the penguin to the fraternity, which is how he became the unofficial mascot.” – As told by Natasha Young (former President and Membership)
Petco – Petco fundraisers started with the Alpha Alpha pledge class’s Finance officer (Khoi Do) as one of their pledge class fundraisers. It too was adopted by the fraternity the following year as an active fundraiser. Along with Qualcomms, it has become one of the biggest ways for brothers to bring money into the fraternity.
Pledge Retreat Talent Show – Starting in Pi class, the pledge retreat talent show is a short talent show put on during pledge retreat in which each pledge (or groups of pledges) showcase some sort of talent to show to their pledge brothers and actives that were present.
Pledge Trainer – Pledge trainer, as well as Old Man/Woman, were created during the 2000 CPPC and took on the responsibility of educating and overseeing the pledges, which had formerly been a duty of VP Membership.
Presidance – The Presidance was an idea created by Pamela Tisuthiwongse (Fall 2007 Historian committee member) and used by Alyssa Lee (2007-08 Historian). The Presidance is a dance performed by the President in from of the general body. It is not just a dance, but a way for the President to state what it means to him, such as no shame, bring up chapter spirit, etc. If the President does not have a dance ready, the default dance many use is spelling “AΦΩPΠ” with their butt.
Qualcomm – Qualcomm fundraisers were started by Miller Huang during his pledging term and with the help of the other Psi class members, it became a successful pledge class fundraiser in Fall 2004. It was then adopted by the fraternity as an active fundraiser the following year in 2005. Along with Petcos, it has become one of the biggest ways for brothers to bring money into the fraternity.
Rho Pi Reunion – The first Rho Pi reunion was held on April 20, 2008. Through the efforts of Miller Huang (2007-08 Alumni Sec) a chapter reunion was held in which chartering, re-chartering, alumni, and active members came together to commemorate Rho Pi’s history. It all started when Alyssa Lee contacted Chuck Milne Jr. who, in return, contacted chartering members. Contact was then made between Miller and Chuck who thought it was a great idea to bring everyone together. In May 2010, Desiree Morimoto (2009-10 Alumni Sec) held an Alumni Picnic, which was a smaller scale version of the first Rho Pi reunion.
Rho Pi Try – A Rho Pi Try was a challenge issued by the President to the general body. It was started by Jeffery Ly (2007-08 President). Since it is up to the discretion of the President, not all Presidents choose to issue challenges.
Senior Farewells/Boxes: Senior farewells were started by Miller Huang (2005-06 President) as a way send off graduating seniors. Brothers would come up during the final GBM during Spring quarter and say their goodbyes and reminisce over good memories. The next year they evolved into senior boxes by Joanne Park. Senior boxes are a senior send off gift and were used because senior farewells took up too much time (the first and only one lasting until 2am). Brothers put things in the boxes, such as letters, pictures, food, etc.
Showcase – Showcase was created by Kevin Yang to replace the pledge class fellowship. It is a show put on by the pledges to entertain actives. The first showcase was put on by Alpha Zeta class in Fall 2007 and the first showcase chairs were Jack Wang and Annie Wong. What it’s about is up to the pledges, but it has to be at least an hour long.
Steal-able Items – Steal-able items was an idea used by the 2008-09 E-board to generate more spirit and fun between the general body and officers. The idea came from the tradition of stealing the gavel – every officer had an item that they presented to the general body that could be stolen from them and in order to get it back they would have to perform any task within reason chosen by the thief.
Stealing the Gavel – An idea bought by Bella Fong from UC Davis. If the gavel is stolen from the President, the President must do whatever is asked (within reason) in order to get it back.
Super Fly Rho Pi (a.k.a. All-Star Active) – Super Fly Rho Pi was created in Spring 2006 by Joanne Park and Miller Huang. It originated from an idea used by Gamma Gamma of UC Berkeley in which VP Membership gave “sturdy oak” awards to actives the officer believed had gone above and beyond the minimum requirements. Because the purpose was to reward actives who voluntarily attended events and took on leadership opportunities, the criteria for the Spring 2006 quarter was:
o Be an active in good standing
o Complete at least 24 hours of service (12 was the minimum)
o Attend 8 fellowships (4 was the minimum)
o Chair 2 events, be family head, or be an E-board officer (1 chairing event was the minimum per year)
o 1 Petco or 4 fundraising hours (2 hours of fundraising was required per year)
o Extra IC (other than the one used for the yearly requirement)
Super Fly Rho Pi was changed to “All-star Active” in 2007 to make it more clear what the award was for, but the name was change back since most actives liked “Super Fly Rho Pi” better, based on a poll taken at the 2007 CPPC. The award is not always given out since it is up to the discretion of the year’s Membership officers. However, the general rule of thumb to receive one is to do double of the quarterly requirements and all the yearly requirements within that quarter.
Sylvester the Suggester – Sylvester the Suggester was created by Julie Johnson (1999-2000 VP Admin). The main purpose of Sylvester the Suggester is to allow brothers to make suggestions while remaining anonymous (if they want to be) since Rho Pi has become so large. It is a way to give people a voice. Important topics brothers wish to bring up to E-Board are discussed through instant messages with any of the officers that are online at that time. Constructive criticism is what the discussions should aim for although sometimes people tend to rant, which is discouraged, or playfully joke around.
Toast Song – The Toast Song is sung by all chapters of Alpha Phi Omega. However, in place of “Men of” in the fourth and eighth lines of the toast song, Rho Pi instead sings “True to” since women were allowed to join APO. Our chapter’s closing of the toast song was created by Jeffrey Ly during his term as President (2007-08). The handshake-twist was added at some point since Rho PI’s re-chartering.
Website – The original Rho Pi website was created by Daryl Sterling Jr. in 2003-2004. It digitalized almost everything the fraternity did. Event sign-ups were now recorded through an online calendar instead of signing up on paper at GBM. Meeting minutes were posted on the website instead of being sent out through e-mails. Chairsheets were sent for the first time to the apochairsheets G-mail account. Forums were created by Minh Tran to help with communication between members.
Winter Class Namesakes – George Kurata was the very first winter class namesake and Delta class was named after him. It was brought back by David Yamane for Alpha Alpha class. Alpha Alpha class’s namesake was not a Rho Pi member, but someone David wanted to recognize for coming to a lot of our chapter’s events. It was not until the following year that Winter class namesakes were limited to Rho Pi alumni.
Yearbook – The idea of the yearbook was introduced by Alyssa Lee (2007-08 Historian). It is a more modern version of the handmade scrapbook. While only one scrapbook was made, a yearbook is able to be printed, reproduced, and sold to the general body. All extra profits of the first yearbook were used to go to World Vision. The theme is usually decided upon by the Historian committee and kept secret until Spring quarter.
Youth Service Day (a.k.a. Kids’ Fair) – Kids’ Fair was created by David Yamane (VP Service) and Jamie Ryker (Service Sec) in Spring 2005. Youth Service Day is a requirement designated by the national office stating that a chapter has to do some sort of service project geared towards children. David and Jamie started the tradition of holding a kids’ fair to educate children while focusing on a certain topic. The first theme of Kids’ Fair was “Explorers of the Future”. Starting in Spring 2009, the Service officers began partnering with Field Elementary School to promote Kids’ Fair, which had been renamed R.E.C.E.S.S. (Reaching Every Child …) although it is still more commonly known as Kids’ Fair.