When Brian McLane attended Syracuse University as the sole student on campus restricted to a wheelchair, his friends carried him up and down flights of stairs. Elevators hadn’t been installed in academic buildings, and there wasn’t a single concrete ramp on campus for handicapped access.

McLane’s fraternity brothers in Alpha Phi Omega created a campus campaign to make buildings more accessible for people with mobility impairments. In 1970, the national APO headquarters adopted this as a national service project. The first ramp on campus was created that year.

On Friday, the 1969 alumnus visited campus with ease as he celebrated the 80th anniversary of APO’s Phi chapter at SU.

The various events in the weekend-long celebration reflected the service fraternity’s three cardinal principles: leadership, friendship and service. One of the 80th anniversary party co-chairs, APO member Lena Budd, said the event took five months to plan.

‘Do you know how much work goes into planning an event like this?’ Budd said, a senior photography and English and textual studies major. ‘There’s been a lot of hair loss and a lot of sleep loss.’

Dressed in sequins and neon colors that reflected the ’80s theme, current fraternity brothers, pledges and alumni mingled at the Inn Complete on South Campus on Friday evening. Songs like ‘Dancing Queen’ played through the speakers throughout the party, which kicked off the rest of the anniversary celebrations.

Sitting at a table in the Inn Complete, 1968 alumnus Charles ‘Chuck’ Wainwright joked and reminisced about his years spent as an active APO member on campus. His buddy McLane sat right by his side in his wheelchair. The two were proud of their experiences and achievements, including the movement for ramps and elevators in academic buildings.

Instead of donning ’80s-themed costumes, Wainwright and McLane chose to show off their school pride by wearing SU sweater vests and ties. But one fraternity brother who embraced the theme was Mike Kolis, a junior education major and environmental chemistry at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Kolis wore a neon yellow T-shirt and matching headband paired with black compression shorts. To top it all off, he sported a faux hawk. The ensemble crowned him as the best dressed of the night.

On Saturday, fraternity members and pledges gathered at the party co-chairs’ apartment to fulfill the service proportion of the weekend. Some APO volunteers crafted tissue paper flowers and pipe cleaners to donate to children’s hospitals and brighten up their rooms for springtime, Budd said.

Other members donned gloves and trash bags while picking up garbage in the streets around off-campus housing Sunday morning for their Adopt-a-Street initiative. APO fraternity members need to have 27 community service hours to remain active members and pledges need 17 hours.

The weekend’s main event was Saturday night, held at the Drumlins Country Club. The club held a dinner and dance, where 127 individuals attended. Justin Dorsen, an APO brother and contributing writer for The Daily Orange, said his $25 ticket was money well spent.

‘Eighty years is a significant milestone,’ said Dorsen, a sophomore public relations major. ‘It shows that we have made an impact on campus, and we’ve been carrying the torch of brotherhood for 80 years.’

Dressed in a suit and a tie for the black-tie affair, Dorsen said that the evening started with SU pride. Current students and alumni crowded around a TV to watch the men’s basketball team take on Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament. Despite the loss, Dorsen said everyone still enjoyed the rest of the evening.

‘When the game was on, the dance floor was kind of empty, but once the game was over, the dance floor definitely picked up,’ he said.

Dorsen credited the weekend’s success to the dedicated organizers Budd and Jill Crudo, a senior communications design major.

Crudo said they wanted to make this anniversary celebration different from those of years’ past. She was pleased that this year’s celebrations happened off campus. The fraternity’s 75th anniversary took place in Schine Student Center and was catered by SU.

Her main objective of the weekend’s celebrations was to give pledges, brothers and alumni the chance to bond.

Wainwright didn’t need reminding of the importance of APO’s Phi chapter. He said throughout his life, he has practiced the values he learned and maintained the friendships he gained as an active member.

One aspect that has changed since Wainwright was on SU campus is that female students are now admitted into the fraternity. Wainwright said the Phi chapter was ahead of the curve when they began adding women into the fraternity.

Other than that, Wainwright didn’t think much changed in SU’s APO Phi chapter since he was the chapter president in 1967-68.

‘Leadership, friendship and service don’t change,’ he said. ‘They’re fundamentals.’

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Published on March 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Kristin: [email protected] | @kriskross22