Alpha Eta Rho is a collegiate fraternity founded to bring together those students having a common interest in the commercial field of aviation.

          Alpha Eta Rho, the Greek letters which stand for “air,” came into being to fulfill a definite need of the time. Enrollment in aviation courses on the campus of the University of Southern California in the spring of 1928-1929 was surprising large, and the faculty members as well as the students were voicing the need for an extracurricular activity for promoting and organizing this interest in aviation.

          Led by Professor Earl W. Hill, who was teaching aviation at USC and with the assistance of others on the faculty, Alpha Eta Rho was organized on April 10, 1929, and after receiving official recognition by the university, the first election of officers was held May 23, 1929. Under the leadership of Hill, founder and National President for 21 years until his death in 1950, Alpha Eta Rho continued to grow in stature within the college and the aviation industry.

          Marshall Benedict, an employee of United Airlines, became the second National President of the fraternity in 1950. Except for a 16 month period from June 1951 until October 1952 while he was recalled to active duty with the Air Force and John Goodwin took over the Presidency, Benedict served in this capacity until 1963. Benedict at this time was associated with the FAA.

          Benedict resigned in 1963 and was replaced by Ray Mertes, a great supporter of aviation education while with United Airlines. Mertes, who died unexpectedly in 1965, was followed by Gene Kropf, Public Affairs Officer of the Western Region of the FAA. Kropf, also know as the “Red Baron”, served as national president until 1981 at which time he resigned to accept the position of Chairman of the Board of Alpha Eta Rho. At that time Harold S. Wood, who had been the National Secretary-Treasurer for almost 20 years while at Parks College, accepted the position of the National President.

          July 1, 1988, Harold Wood resigned as National President to accept the position of Chairman of the Board of Alpha Eta Rho. Wayne E. White, retired from Boise State University, accepted the position of National President.

          Through the leadership of these six dedicated men, Alpha Eta Rho has grown internationally. The alumni membership of the fraternity is large, and is distributed throughout the aviation industry both in the United States and abroad. Currently there are about sixty active chapters of Alpha Eta Rho. Another fifty chapters have been established over the years, but have become inactive. Approximately 1,000 new members are being initiated every year.

          The fraternity serves as a contact between the aviation industry and educational institutions. It bands into one organization: outstanding students, interested faculty and industry leaders for the purpose of studying the problems of everyday life the purpose of studying the problems of everyday life as influenced by this modern industry - - aviation.

          Alpha Eta Rho Epsilon Rho Hangar was founded in January 1962 at the Embry-Riddle flight school in Miami Beach Florida. It was started for the same reasons as the fraternity itself, all of the students at the school were interested in aviation but there were no activities to bring the students together. There are three founding fathers of Epsilon Rho Hangar; Jesse Morter, Phil Cybil, Earl Buelow. At the direction of Earl Buelow research was done into aviation organizations that would fill the needs of the students. The organization chosen was Alpha Eta Rho, an international aviation fraternity. After Epsilon Rho Hangar was granted a charter, it became the very first student activity at Embry-Riddle. Being the first student activity did not come with many benefits at first. The school did not back the fraternity and even informed the brothers parents of their activities in hope of some intervention. For many years the fraternity was an underground organization. For this reason the fraternity first had their meetings at the house of their faculty advisor. This was rather difficult due to the fact that the fraternity had forty to fifty brothers, even in the early years. As the fraternity grew, they moved their meetings to a small wooden building at Ft. Lauderdale airport. What the fraternity needed was a house. They began to look in the surrounding area and found a house in Miami Springs, Florida. The only thing holding them back was zoning laws, which they tried to have changed. Due to the negative attitude toward fraternities at the time, they were unsuccessful. It was not until the school recognized the fraternity that they were allowed to meet on campus. As a result the Epsilon Rho Hangar proceeded to found the Inter Greek Council and Student Government Association in order to further student activities. All other organizations on campus today have Alpha Eta Rho to thank for their existence. Alpha Eta Rho, Epsilon Rho Hangar also founded the schools flight team in the early 70's at which time every plane was flown by a brother. As time went on, it became a stand alone organization. In the early 1980's, it ceased to exist due to conflicts with the University. In 1986, Alpha Eta Rho once again provided life to the Flight Team. Today, it is once again prosering as a stand alone organization that benifits the University as a whole.

          Epsilon Rho Hangar has strived to promote the aviation industry. To see that interest is not lost, the fraternity has sponsored many aviation related activities such as airport tours and projects for the industry with the purpose of bringing people close to aviation.

          The fraternity did finally get a house. Construction was started on Thursday, February 27, 1986. The house was finished a few months later and the brothers moved in. Due to financial problems the fraternity could not afford to keep the house and it was eventually sold. It was during this time Epsilon Rho acquired it’s first fraternity Mother. Jean Swenson lived next to some brothers in an apartment complex and often assisted with sewing and other helpful duties. She began to help some of the brothers and became very close to the fraternity. After some time she was asked to be the fraternity mother and she accepted.

          Our longest term faculty advisor is Dr. Thomas J. Connolly. He pledged Alpha Eta Rho in 1975 and was the head of the flight department here at Embry-Riddle. He was promoted to Interim-Chancellor of the Dayona Beach Campus, thus creating a conflict of interest and resigned as the advisor. Today, our University faculty Advisor is another long time brother, pledging in 1976, Dr. Mike Wiggins.

          The fraternity spent a brief period on probation due to problems with school administration. Probation lasted from Fall 1989 to Fall 1991 at which time the fraternity was given back all rights and privileges.

          There are two fraternity awards in memory of two former members. The first award is in memory of Brother Craige Sabatke who died in a tragic airplane accident over the Rocky Mountains. Brother Sabatke worked very hard with the youth of the area, gave campus tours and tried to inspire youth interest in aviation. The second award is given in memory of Brother Roger J. Mulcahy. Pledge Mulcahy was seriously injured and lapsed into a coma after a motorcycle accident in December 1984, on the last day of his pledge period. He was presented with the Wings of Bortherhood, in an abbrieviated ceremony, while he lay in a coma at Halifax hospital. That night, at the request of his parents, the rest of his pledge brothers were initiated. He died hours later. The award is given in his honor for the most outstanding pledge in every class.

          Alpha Eta Rho, Epsilon Rho Hangar will continue to strive for the expansion of the aviation industry and for the education of its many students. It will fulfill its duty to promote aviation and learning not only for its members but also for the public, in an effort to live up to the ideals and goals of its founders.