Quote:
Originally Posted by JSumter
For any of you who don't know, Phi Mu Alpha is legally a social fraternity, but it acts more as a professional fraternity. (The only reason it is social is so that we don't have to admit women.)
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I don't know how I missed this part of the post when I read it the first time, but I have to pull out my broken record and respond. Two clarifications are needed.
First, while the desire to remain single-sex was the impetus that prompted Phi Mu Alpha to review its history and its status vis a vis professional or social, that is not the only reason it is social, or even the primary reason. The primary reason it is social is because it was founded as a social fraternity, not as a professional fraternity, and because the Fraternity as a whole made the decision to return to our founding roots and ideals, including the ethos of the Fraternity as social rather than professional. That decision was first made 20 years ago; it has been reaffirmed and strengthened many times since.
As for saying that Phi Mu Alpha "acts more like a professional fraternity," if the OP had limited that observation to his own chapter/campus, I wouldn't quibble. As I have said here many times, the legacy of decades as a professional fraternity has been harder to reverse on some campuses than on others. And it is undoubtedly true that many of our chapters have more of a departmental presence than a campus-wide presence (and perhaps that is what the OP means). But I have a feeling that the Phi Mu Alpha chapters that are members of their campus IFCs would disagree with the OP about the Fraternity acting like a professional fraternity, as would most chapters I was familiar with in my own collegiate days or am familiar with now. I would certainly disagree on a national level.
[/broken record on year-old post]
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