[12954] in APO-L
Cardinal Principles
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter F. Caracappa)
Fri Oct 13 16:24:04 1995
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 16:21:11 -0400
Reply-To: "Peter F. Caracappa" <caracp3@RPI.EDU>
From: "Peter F. Caracappa" <caracp3@RPI.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Well, I've been lurking for quite a while now, but I have become
moved to speak and speak I will.
In my chapter (Epsilon Zeta), during the last week of pledging
(Brotherhood Week) the pledges and brothers engage in a series of
talks, most often focused on the "philosophy" of Alpha Phi Omega.
During that series of talks when I pledged last fall, I came to a
personal realization about the Cardinal Principles.
There are not three Cardinal Principles
There is only one
The Cardinal Principle is: Leadership, Friendship, and Service.
I imaginge there are a few of you staring quizzically at your
computer screen, but you did read that correctly. To try to decide
which principle is more important is futile. In Alpha Phi Omega,
those three ideas have become so intertwined that they have become
one.
For instance, suppose you have a 50 person chapter, and each weekend,
each brother goes out and does his or her own bit of service. True,
this is a group of people doing service, but 50 separate service
projects is not exactly what I would call a good service program.
APO is not just people that like to do service, but people that like
to do service _together_. When this is the case, the ideas leadersip
and friendship become inseperable from that of service.
Be a Leader, Be a Friend, Be of Service (this is one directive - not
three!)
Peter Caracappa
"Oblong"
Epsilon Zeta
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
