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
The three founders of the ΑΤΩ Fraternity served together as cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. Otis Allan Glazebrook graduated number one in his class from V.M.I. He served as pastor for 26 years at one of the largest congregations in New Jersey, and served as American Consul in Jerusalem and Nice, France. Dr. Glazebrook was quoted as saying, “If my life’s history be written, the truth will be that its most splendid service was performed through Alpha Tau Omega”. Alfred Marshall graduated number three in his class at V.M.I. He was a mathematician and engineer who contracted malaria while constructing a railroad, and died suddenly at the age of 25. Erskine Mayo Ross was elected to the California Supreme Court at the age of 33, and later became a U.S. Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Civil Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Judge Ross accumulated vast land holdings in California, and founded Glendale, California, now a city of over 200,000. “There are two things that Judge Ross surely loves,” said a close friend, “one is the City of Glendale, and the other is the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity.”
All three men fought in the Battle of New Market, where cadets from V.M.I., whose average age was 17, charged into battle against a seasoned army, and won. The charge of the cadets is considered one of the most heroic acts in U.S. military history. Otis Allan Glazebrook, Alfred Marshall and Erskine Mayo Ross founded ΑΤΩ to bring together a nation divided by a devastating war. The words of the Alpha Tau Omega Creed are considered some of most brilliant, profound and lasting ever written.
All three men fought in the Battle of New Market, where cadets from V.M.I., whose average age was 17, charged into battle against a seasoned army, and won. The charge of the cadets is considered one of the most heroic acts in U.S. military history. Otis Allan Glazebrook, Alfred Marshall and Erskine Mayo Ross founded ΑΤΩ to bring together a nation divided by a devastating war. The words of the Alpha Tau Omega Creed are considered some of most brilliant, profound and lasting ever written.