Pharmacy fraternity initiates first pledge class

On Saturday, 21 students in the College of Pharmacy were initiated as the first pledge class of the Rho Iota chapter of Alpha Zeta Omega, receiving their formal charter and marking the official colonization of the professional pharmaceutical fraternity at the University of Rhode Island.

Sophomore and Doctor of Pharmacy major Robert Rocchio is a founding member and the Directorum of the Rho Iota chapter of Alpha Zeta Omega. He along with his friends and classmates worked together this year to establish a chapter of the professional fraternity at URI to resolve a need for more variety and inclusion amongst the pharmaceutical organizations on campus.

“In many of the organizations on campus there is limited personality, and we just wanted another option for those who felt they didn’t exactly fit with the already established pharmacy organizations,” Rocchio said.

Sophomore Doctor of Pharmacy major and founding member Anton Orlov explains that “another reason for wanting AZO is that they welcome everyone within the College of Pharmacy and aren’t just limited to Pharm D majors.”

Rocchio agreed that “in Lambda Kappa Sigma and Kappa Psi you have to be exclusively Pharm D, meanwhile Pharm Sci follows almost identically the same curriculum as us up until the last year. We’re in all the same courses, so why exclude them?” It is this inclusivity and dedication to scholarship on which Alpha Zeta Omega was founded.

Rocchio recounts researching and emailing various professional pharmacy fraternities. In September 2015, he met with Vishal Amin, Alpha Zeta Omega alumnus and advisor of the Retail Pharmacy Leaders Program for CVS Pharmacies in northern Rhode Island, to discuss the possibility of setting up a chapter of Alpha Zeta Omega at URI.  

“After talking about our interest in establishing a chapter, he agreed to help us in taking the right steps towards colonization,” Rocchio said.

He adds that himself and three other brothers were invited to Rutgers University for their homecoming weekend to meet with the entire Supreme board. Rocchio said “we must have met over a hundred people.”

After meeting with the Supreme board, an agreement was reached, and it was decided that a chapter of Alpha Zeta Omega be set up at the University of Rhode Island within the upcoming academic year.

“I guess they liked us,” Rocchio joked.

With support from the nationals’ chapter, the brothers moved forward to seeking approval and recognition from the College of Pharmacy at URI. Approval from the already established professional pharmaceutical organizations on campus, like Lambda Kappa Sigma and Kappa Psi, was the first necessary step in colonizing.

“It took a while to get our approval, we weren’t really sure who to talk to and ended up emailing many professors and advisors in the pharmacy department until we heard back from Dr. Renehan, who took the position as our faculty advisor and helped us with a lot throughout the process,” said Rocchio.

It took until December 2015 for the student leadership council to approve and vote in Alpha Zeta Omega, and on April 2, a formal ceremony was held to present the brothers with their initiate status and their official charter. While Rocchio and others were sworn in back in November at Alpha Zeta Omega’s national convention, this ceremony marked the whole chapter’s inauguration.

The founding members that make up the first pledge class look forward to the expansion of the fraternity and how the chapter will move forward and grow.

“We’re definitely enthusiastic for accepting new members, it’s an exciting reality being a part of this huge opportunity, and it’s something I hope more people want to be a part of,” said Rocchio. “As of right now it’s just the founding members, we’re the only pledge class, and our meetings are run with everyone’s input on an equal playing field. We cannot wait for more members and the flow of ideas they will bring with them.”

“It feels good being a part of the very first pledge class, we founded this chapter and it’s something I cannot wait to see grow and expand with each new pledge class,” said Orlov. “As a founder I feel a stronger obligation to put work into this, I have more of a personal connection. We’re building it from the ground up, I feel like I’m taking care of a child.”