HISTORY OF THE FRATERNITY...
Alpha Eta Rho is a collegiate fraternity founded to bring together those students having a common interest in the field of commercial 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 semester of 1928-29 was suprisingly large, and faculty members as well as students were voicing the need for an extracurricular acivity 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 size and in stature within the college and the aviation industry. Through the leadership of six dedicated men who followed, 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 industrial leaders for the purpose of studying the problems of everyday life as influenced by this modern industry-aviation. Alpha Eta Rho serves to actively associate interested students of aviation with leaders and executives in the industry. This close association, strengthened through the bonds of an international aviation fraternity, establishes opportunities for all members in their relation to aviaiton and inspires interest and cooperation among those in the profession who are also members of Alpha Eta Rho. In closing, the constitution of Alpha Eta Rho declares that the success of aeronautics depends upon its unified development in all the countries of the world and upon the cooperation of different phases of aviation with each other. It affirms its character to be international and declares eligibility for membership not dependent upon race, religion, nationality, or sex.