Phi Iota Alpha

Phi Iota Alpha (), established on December 26, 1931, is the oldest active Latino fraternity in the mainland United States, and works to motivate people, develop leaders, and create innovative ways to unite the Latino community. The organization has roots that stem back to the late 19th century to the second intercollegiate Latin American fraternity, and one of the first Latin American student organization in the United States. The brotherhood is composed of undergraduate, graduate, and professional men committed towards the empowerment of the Latin American community by providing intensive social and cultural programs and activities geared towards the appreciation, promotion and preservation of Latin American culture.

Membership in Phi Iota Alpha is open to all men regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin who challenge themselves to develop a strong network for the advancement of Latino people. Phi Iota Alpha's membership includes prominent and accomplished educators, politicians, businessmen, and four former presidents of Latin American countries. Phi Iota Alpha utilizes motifs from the Pan-American revolutionary period and uses images and colors depicting the time of Latin American revolutionaries and thinkers to represent the organization.

History

Origins

The origins of Phi Iota Alpha are at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, on November 20, 1898. A group of a seven Latin American students organized the Union Hispano Americana (UHA) as a cultural and intellectual secret society based on the ideology of Pan-Americanism in attempt to promote further unity amongst the Latin student body that comprised nearly a dozen individuals in Fall 1899. These founders were Joaquin Maria Buenaventura, Nicolas De La Cava (of Delta Tau Delta), Jorge Adelberto Guirola (of Theta Xi), Alfredo LeBlanc, Luis Gonzaga Morphy (of Theta Xi), Pedro Eugenio Raygada, and Alfredo Gregorio Vergara (of Theta Xi). The founding members were all international students originally from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru. Morphy served as the first President of the organization and would play an essential role in the organization throughout its initial years.

The immediate goal of the UHA was to provide a cultural environment for students of Latin America and Spain. The UHA was the first association of Latin American students ever founded in the United States.

Consolidation

Pi Delta Phi established communications with Phi Lambda Alpha () fraternity, which had been recently founded in 1920 by Enrique Munguia Benitez, Luis Obispo Benoist, Horacio Peter Gabriel Madero, Raul Ramirez, Alfonso Samper, Abel Santos, Jesus Elias Sasaeta, Santiago Sompre, Gustavo Stahl, Juan Valenzuela, and Douglas Weatherston, in the Western Coast of the United States, at the University of California, Berkeley. After some communication, these two organizations realized the existence of a non-Greek letter secret society, the Union Hispano Americana (UHA). As a result of intensive correspondence and various interviews, the three organizations merged. In their merger agreement, the three organizations adopted the name of Phi Lambda Alpha fraternity, with the distinctive emblem & constitution of Pi Delta Phi, and the goals and motto of the UHA. This new union was formalized on June 11, 1921, in the City of New York.

After Phi Lambda Alpha was organized, other societies joined it: the "Club Latino-Americano" founded in 1919 at Colorado School of Mines; the "Federación Latino-Americana" founded in 1926 at Columbia University which joined in 1928; the "Club Hispania" founded in 1929 of Cornell University which joined in 1931; the "Club Hispano-Americano" founded in 1921 at (then) Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana which joined in 1929 and the Alfa Tenoxtitlan Militant chapter founded in 1929 made up of members of the Phi Lambda Alpha in Mexico.

Meanwhile, another similar organization was under development in the Southeastern region of the United States. In 1904, an organization with similar goals as Phi Lambda Alpha was founded under the name Sociedad Hispano-Americana at Louisiana State University. In 1911, the society transformed itself into Sigma Iota and became the second intercollegiate Latin American–based fraternity in the United States. By 1928, Sigma Iota had lost many of its chapters and therefore sought to stabilize its operations by consolidating its chapters in the United States with a more stationary and well-rooted organization.

Phi Lambda Alpha was seeking to expand throughout the United States and to promote the ideology of Pan-Americanism. Sigma Iota fraternity was in search of revitalizing some of its defunct chapters. Thus both organizations complemented each other and began to work towards the creation of the fraternity now known as Phi Iota Alpha. They resolved to unify under one name, one banner, one organization and one ideal. The next day of business was dedicated to preparing the details of revising the constitution and working on the creation of a shield to represent the newly formed national Latino brotherhood. On December 28, by the end of the three-day convention, the majority of the merger was completed. The last step in the merger was the ratification of some of the chapters of Sigma Iota that were not represented at the convention.

The fraternity was incorporated as a national organization on October 28, 1936, in the State of Louisiana, as Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity.

International expansion

After the unification of Sigma Iota and Phi Lambda Alpha, Phi Iota Alpha's goal was to expand on the national level and develop a plan for its existing and potential international possibilities. Phi Iota Alpha sponsored the 1932 convention in New York City to form the Union Latino Americana (ULA) with hopes of expanding its ideals internationally. The ULA was a Pan-American governing body of Latino fraternities that provided the framework for the implementation of Pan-American ideology. The ULA organized Latin America into 22 zones with each of the 21 Latin American countries constituting a zone, and Phi Iota Alpha representing the 22nd zone in the United States. By 1937, the ULA had several well-established and functional zones including the following:

– Phi Iota Alpha in the United States
– Phi Kappa Alpha in Cuba
– Phi Sigma Alpha in Puerto Rico
– Phi Tau Alpha in Mexico

In September 1938, the Phi Sigma Alpha zone decided to separate from the ULA and formed the Phi Sigma Alpha and Sigma Iota Alpha fraternities of Puerto Rico and Louisiana (both part of greater Sigma Fraternity union) which would also be composed of former members of Phi Iota Alpha. Twelve years later, Phi Tau Alpha has established itself as a local fraternity at the Juarez Institute in Mexico. As of 1955, Phi Iota Alpha had two international chapters designated Juarez (in Mexico) and Marti (in Cuba).

History: 1939–1983

The outbreak of World War II greatly hindered the growth of Phi Iota Alpha in the United States. After the war, the fraternity drafted and implemented a new expansion strategy. As a result, the post-war period saw positive internal growth for the fraternity. In the early 1950s, Phi Iota Alpha eradicated any remnant of its political agenda. With only a few chapters, the fraternity continued to pursue its mission. The fraternity was again incorporated as a national organization on January 9, 1953, when the Secretary of State of New York accepted the incorporation of Phi Iota Alpha fraternity. In 1990, after roughly five years of effort, members of the current Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta chapters were able to assist in the creation of the Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Incorporada which used the Greek-letter designation of the defunct Sigma Iota Alpha formed by members who seceded from Phi Iota Alpha in 1939. By 2000, Phi Iota Alpha had chartered chapters across the United States; which include the re-establishment of a presence on campuses where Sigma Iota and Phi Lambda Alpha had been present like Syracuse University and Columbia University.

Fraternal ideology

Beliefs

Members of Phi Iota Alpha share a lifelong commitment to Latin American culture. Involves intellectual development, cultural consciousness, personal growth, personal achievement, and social awareness. Members of Phi Iota Alpha believe that the Latin American community in the United States and the Latin American countries need new sources of intellectual capital to identify, address, and solve the difficult challenges they face. Therefore, the organization is dedicated to developing in its members an awareness of the common values and traditions of the nations of Latin America and to preparing them to become active participants in the process of advancing the social and economic conditions of all Latin Americans.

The fraternity instills in its members a global Latino perspective. This is an orientation that transcends the existing national boundaries that have separated Latin America. It builds on the spirit and traditions of Pan-Americanism, and supports and promotes actions leading to an eventual unification of all the countries of Latin America.

Mission

Promotion of personal, community, and Pan-American development through the ideals of Simón Bolívar and José Martí as well as other Pan-American intellectuals and their philosophies;
Creation of a Latin American consciousness,
Intensification of education with a Latin American character;
Economic and social mobilization of Latin American communities globally;
Intensification of contact between Pan-American Countries to form a unified network of professional and economic contacts to ultimately achieve the unification of Latin America;
Conservation of the integrity of the Latin American character.
Rejection of war and violence as a means to achieving unification.

File:Simón Bolívar by Ricardo Acevedo Bernal.jpg|Don Simón Bolívar

File:José de San Martín (retrato, c.1828).jpg|Don José de San Martín

File:Ohiggins.jpg|Don Bernardo O'Higgins

File:BenitoJuarez.jpg|Don Benito Juárez

File:Jose Marti head.jpg|Don José Martí

</gallery>

Dates of celebration

The fraternity's dates of celebration include:

April 14 (Pan American Day)
September 15 – October 15 (National Hispanic Heritage Month)
October 12 (Day of the Race)
December 26 (Establishment Anniversary and Day of the Illuminated Latin Americans)

Symbols

Phi Iota Alpha's motto is . Its colors are red white, navy blue, and gold.

Flag

The official flag consists of three bands in gold, azure, and gules of equal height. The Greek letters ΦΙΑ in gold are located on the azure field at the center outlined with argent. The chapter letter is carried on the Gules band sinister in argent.

The NIC serves to advocate the needs of its member fraternities through the enrichment of the fraternity experience; advancement and growth of the fraternity community; and enhancement of the educational mission of the host institutions.

Phi Iota Alpha is also a member of the NIC Latino Fraternal Caucus. One of the only four Latino fraternities that are part of the NIC. Before joining NALFO, Phi Iota Alpha was a member of the Concilio Nacional de Hermandades Latinas.thumb|[[Carlos Roberto Flores with Bill Clinton|130x130px]]

Membership

Phi Iota Alpha's membership is predominantly Latino and Hispanic American in composition. Members come from the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. As Phi Iota Alpha expanded, the membership ranks grew to include many prominent and accomplished educators, politicians, businessmen, and four former presidents of Latin American countries.thumb|135x135px|[[Mariano Ospina Pérez ]]

thumb|[[Carlos Lleras Restrepo with Richard Nixon|194x194px]]

Hazing and misconduct

In October 2018, the Delta Chapter of Phi Iota Alpha at the University at Albany was among several fraternities and sororities identified by the university amid a broader crackdown on hazing, alcohol-related misconduct, and unrecognized organization activity. In a letter issued by Vice President for Student Affairs Michael N. Christakis, the university announced that Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity was prohibited from taking new members during the Fall 2018 semester.

Chapters

Notable members

Miguel Hernandez Agosto – former President of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
Emilio Bacardi – former mayor of Santiago, Cuba and son of Bacardi Founder Facundo Bacardi
Eric Arturo Delvalle – former President of Panama
Carlos Roberto Flores – former President of Honduras
Rudolph Matas – the father of modern vascular surgery
Enrique Oltuski – Deputy Minister of Communication for former President Manuel Urrutia Lleo of Cuba
Mariano Ospina Pérez – former President of Colombia
Carlos Lleras Restrepo – former President of Colombia
Alfonso Robelo Callejas – Founder of the Democratic Movement Party of Nicaragua
Manny De Los Santos – City of New York 72nd Assembly Male District Leader of Inwood/Marble Hill
Andy Vargas – Massachusetts State Representative, 3rd Essex District

References

External links

Official website