WHAT IS #ATOLEADS?

It’s been a long time coming for the kickoff of this revamped ATO Roadshow website. We hope you enjoy the new layout and navigation schemes.

With the launch of this new site also comes the launch of a new campaign for Alpha Tau Omega — #ATOLeads. So, what is #ATOLeads?

You’ve probably seen this hashtag before. We’ve frequently used #ATOLeads throughout the years on social media to highlight chapters or individual ATO members who are leading on their campuses or in their communities in some way whether by winning awards or, more importantly, giving back to the community through philanthropical efforts.

But our campaign, combined with ATO Roadshow, plans to dig a little deeper. In particular, with this blog, we plan to bring you perspectives from members and sometimes non-ATOs who have been positively affected by Alpha Tau Omega in some way — whether it’s an individual member or an entire chapter. These posts could sometimes feature outside opinions on certain topics, but what we hope to bring you is first-person accounts of how ATO is positively affecting campuses and communities across the U.S. and the people touched by the effects.

There have been some incredible stories of ATO chapters or individual members who are doing amazing things in their communities. What I’ve come to find is that these individual members especially and sometimes chapters as a whole are not always the ones to reach out to me. Often times it is their leadership consultant, a friend, a chapter mate, or family member who tells me about their story and puts me in contact with them. Many of these members or chapters are not doing what they do to gain notoriety or get a pat on the back but to make a significant difference in their community because they care.

For example, in last fall’s issue of the Palm we highlighted Matthew Silberstein, North Florida ’13, for his achievements in helping jumpstart a program at North Florida called Osprey Social Hour (OSH). Silberstein in conjunction with Kristine Webb, a professor in the Department of Exceptional, Deaf, and Interpreter Education at UNF, helped launch OSH with the goal of focusing on autism spectrum disorder students on campus. The program has made a huge impact at UNF in involving autistic students on campus and getting them socially connected with their peers.

What started as a program essentially run by Silberstein and other ATO volunteers, quickly blossomed into a Greek-wide cause as more and more volunteers from fraternities and sororities joined the fold. Attendance also continued to rise as OSH gained popularity and favor with the autistic students on campus. Today, the program continues at UNF with other colleges and universities taking notice.

Matthew’s story is just one of hundreds, even thousands that are out there today. Through #ATOLeads, whether by this blog and sometimes featured videos, we hope to bring you these stories and show that what you do can and does make a difference.

If you know a chapter brother, friend or even family member that has been positively impacted in a unique way by ATO, then let us know. You can do that by emailing me at jnbrown@ato.org or letusknow@ato.org.

If you are interested in contributing an #ATOLeads blog post, contact us in the same way with the subject line “ATO LEADS BLOG.” Please make your submission no more than 500 words.

We look forward to hearing your stories and bringing you others.