Alpha Omicron Pi welcomes new members

Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII), a female fraternity “founded on a promise to serve not only one another but the greater community as well,” according to teamaoii.com, is being pioneered on Troy’s campus this semester.

On Saturday, Sept. 16, AOII welcomed home new chartering members to the fraternity.

“I chose to join AOII because it’s a chartering chapter and being a chartering sorority is such a rare thing, and I thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up becoming a chartering member,” said Payton Paws, a freshman elementary education major from Niceville, Florida.

A charter member refers to an individual who is an original member of the organization. Those who just joined will be considered charter members for Troy’s chapter of AOII.

Olivia Tompkins, a freshman anthropology major from Jacksonville, Florida, said she did not want to join at first, but liked the idea of becoming a charter member of AOII.

“At first, I did not want to do a sorority at all,” Tompkins said. “I saw them tabling one day, and they told me how it is a chartering chapter and how it’s going to be way different than most chapters.”

Paws said she was drawn to AOII because of the relationships she could make and the encouragement she felt.

“Definitely the sisterhood aspect is the most appealing thing to me about AOII,” Paws said.

“Also that the members there are great leaders, and they are such encouraging women.”

The recruitment process for AOII was different than other fraternities on campus, according to Paws.

“We just signed up for an interview, and we had our interview with someone at headquarters of AOII,” Paws said. “They (headquarters representatives) asked us about ourselves and asked us about what we think we should give to AOII and what we want to gain from AOII.”

Part of the recruitment process was “Picture Yourself in AOII,” where women interested in AOII spoke with other members of the fraternity from around Alabama.

According to the organization’s website, there are nine chapters established at Alabama colleges and universities.

Following this event was Pref Night (Preference Night).

“Pref Night is basically just a more formal version of ‘Picture Yourself in AOII,’ and Pref Night is more of getting into the depth of AOII and what they are about,” Paws said.

Following Pref Night, women received an email if they had received a bid from the fraternity, and the following day was Bid Day, where women were able celebrate their new membership.

“Being a chartering member here in Alpha Omicron Pi, I feel like I contribute guidance for the sorority and a good direction,” Paws said.

Tompkins said that she is ready to help the fraternity and wants to give direction.

“It’ll be more focused on building the sisterhood and building up the chapter and helping it to become what me and all of my sisters want it to be,” Tompkins said.

Along with the fraternity and her excitement to be a member, Tompkins said that she is excited to grow and learn from other members of the fraternity.

“I hope to gain some better communication skills because I’m not a very good speaker, and so I hope to become better at conversation and meeting new people,” Tompkins said.

“I hope to become a better leader and try to have some type of leadership position.”