40 Hours for the Forty Acres Spring 2023

Who We Are

The Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega (APO), founded in 1935, is the premier co-ed service organization at the University of Texas at Austin. The objective of Texas APO is to carry out a program of service benefiting the University of Texas at Austin campus, the Austin community, Texas, and the Nation as a whole.  Along with its dedication to community service, Texas APO is also the caretaker of the largest collection of the world's largest Texas flags, which can often be seen at UT sporting events, pep rallies and other spirit events on campus throughout the year. Texas APO's care for the world's largest Texas flag has made the organization an integral spirit group at the University of Texas for the past sixty years.

What We're Fundraising For

The Texas flag, run during pre-game and sometimes half-time, is a quintessential part of the Texas football experience. APO's expansive Texas flags have served as features and backdrops at every Texas Fight Rally, Forty Acres Fest, and Gone to Texas event since 1962. They are a valued Texas Tradition. Consequently, APO is fundraising to support the short- and long-term preservation and maintenance of the world's largest Texas flags. The current flag used during UT football games celebrated its 15th anniversary this past season and has begun to show signs of wear and tear. Other flags the chapter uses, such as the one dropped from the President's balcony during the annual “Gone to Texas” celebrations, are also showing growing signs of wear and tear and are in need of repairs. Much of the support equipment for Texas APO's collection of flags is also dated and in need of repairs or replacement (such as the trailer used to transport the flags to off campus events and consequential away games). Over the next five to ten years, some of these massive flags and support equipment will probably need replacing, a financial undertaking costing tens of thousands of dollars.

Your Impact

The Impact of donations will support the leadership development of students, service to the community, and continuing the tradition of having the largest Texas flag in the world! Support from donors will not only ensure that the world’s largest Texas flag continues to be a part of campus culture and sporting events for the next forty years, but support student efforts to provide service to the university campus and the Austin community.

From Kyle Walker Class of 2013, current alumni advisor, “Having served as an officer and on the board of directors for the Longhorn Alumni Band for the past eight years, I've had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand the benefits of a coordinated effort between an alumni association and the university's Development Office to support a current student spirit organization. Texas APO remains the largest spirit organization that does not receive financial support from either Athletics or the University administration. While the chapter has persisted with this model in the past, the post-pandemic world has redefined how the chapter needs to operate moving into the next decade.”