By William Fortson II, Indiana Mu Public Relations Chairman
President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney were campaigning for the presidency, Hurricane Sandy had just hit the east coast and London had just hosted the summer Olympics. In Indianapolis, Indiana, at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Phi Delta Theta was recruiting members for its newest colony at the time, Indiana Mu.
Indiana Mu had a great start with a large class of members who were strong academically. By the end of the Fall 2012 semester, their early success was challenged with many hurdles. Nonetheless, the brothers of Indiana Mu persevered. Indiana Mu faced many challenges from academic rigors and class size maintenance to recruitment and many others. Fortunately, Indiana Mu received a charge of energy when several brothers attended Phi Delta Theta’s Kleberg Emerging Leaders event at Miami University. The brothers of Indiana Mu returned to campus recharged and ready to start their Fall 2014 recruitment, knowing that this school-year might be their final shot to receive a charter.
The colony’s determination paid dividends. During the Fall 2014 semester, Indiana Mu recruited a 23-man Phikeia class and another 7-man class this spring. The new member classes were Indiana Mu’s largest fall and spring classes to date. They could not have come at a better time in their journey to achieve their charter. The result of these record recruitment classes gave Indiana Mu a membership of 43, enough for General Headquarters to give the colony the green light to charter as an official chapter of Phi Delta Theta.
On Saturday, March 7, in the iconic halls of the University Club, an organization co-founded by Ohio Alpha Phi and 23rd United States President Benjamin Harrison, Indiana Mu officially received its charter. Moe Stephens of Phi Delta Theta’s General Council presided over both the initiation and installation ceremonies.
The brothers of Indiana Mu, energized by this zenith, have immediately started working towards a new goal of competing for the Gold Star Award in an attempt to become a competitive chapter within Phi Delta Theta. The brothers of Indiana Mu proudly represent the embodiment of Phi Delta Theta’s three cardinal principals: friendship, sound learning and moral rectitude. The brothers, now bound together in The Bond of Phi Delta Theta, plan to continue to achieve their goals as a new chapter of Phi Delta Theta while becoming the greatest version of themselves.
In accordance with Phi Delta Theta’s Strategic 10-Year Plan, Phi Delt 2020 and its growth initiative, Phi Delta Theta is currently executing expansion strategies that culminate in seven chapter installations annually and 200 chapters by 2018. The installation of Indiana Mu was the second chapter installation of 2015, and the Fraternity currently has 178 active chapters and 12 colonies.
