About Alpha Tau Omega

Alpha Tau Omega was founded to unite the North and South after the Civil War. We are known as the America’s Leadership Development Fraternity that annually ranks among the top ten national fraternities for number of chapters and total number of members. We have more than 250 active and inactive chapters, more than 205,000 initiates, over 7,200 active undergraduate members, and more than 140,000 living alumni.  In California, there are chapters at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, Pepperdine University and University of Southern California, Alpha Tau Omega is also one-third of the Lexington Triad, along with Sigma Nu and Kappa Alpha Order. The ATO Foundation provides more than $150,000 in annual scholarships to members including scholarships to attend the LeaderShape Institute, Inc.

Alpha Tau Omega at San José State University has been recognized by their national headquarters with the following honors:

2012 Honorable True Merit Chapter
Excellence in Recruitment Award
Excellence in Ritual Award

According to the national headquarters, in Indianapolis (Indiana), the Epsilon Chi Chapter demonstrated philanthropic, scholastic and brotherhood excellence.

Alpha Tau Omega prides itself in supporting other organizations within the fraternity and sorority community. In 2012, brother Marques Mallare won Alpha Phi's "King of Hearts" pageant, benefitting the American Heart Association and brother Eric Drewes won Alpha Xi Delta's "Xi Man", benefitting Autism Speaks.

History of California Epsilon Chi Chapter

In 1926, Delta Theta Omega, the first local fraternity at San José State College, was founded. On October 28, 1950, Delta Theta Omega went national and became the California Epsilon Chi Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. Since then, we have built up a strong history of producing leaders who come back as supportive alumni who give the undergraduates leadership and networking skills as well as real life experiences and responsibilities. Our fraternity house, the James E. Thompson Chapter House, at 202 S. 11th Street was built and designed specifically for the Epsilon Chi Chapter in 1963; it is a two-story house that includes a basement for ritual meetings with the brothers. We own our property, which allows funds to be reinvested into the active chapter.