Phi Mu Alpha separates from national fraternity and changes name to Alpha Mu Phi
Hillsdale’s men’s music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha is in the process of dissociating from its national headquarters and has changed its name to Alpha Mu Phi.
“We realized our chapter’s values did not match the values of the national fraternity,” Vice President of Alpha Mu Phi and sophomore Stephen Berntson said.
A majority of the chapter morally disagreed with some of the “secret stuff” in the fraternity, Berntson said.
“There was a moral issue with a lot of the brothers,” he said
Professor of Music and faculty adviser of Alpha Mu Phi James Holleman said he was a member of Phi Mu Alpha when he was a student at Michigan State University.
He said Phi Mu Alpha has had an active chapter on Hillsdale’s campus since the early 1990s. He said there was a split from nationals in the early 2000s, and the result was the formation of Mu Alpha.
“I think that severing our ties with nationals is a prudent decision for our campus, at this time,” Holleman said.
Alpha Mu Phi Secretary and sophomore Jack Walker said the fraternity’s attachment to nationals has been weak the past few years, but the idea of breaking away was not presented until fall 2022.
Berntson said last fall the majority of the fraternity realized they had a role to fulfill at Hillsdale and can easily fulfill that role without nationals.
“We weren’t receiving anything for dues we were paying, and nationals, as far as I can tell, has been in a state of disarray for a few years,” Walker said.
Walker said he does not think much will change about the fraternity, but he hopes the organization can become more of a resource on campus for students interested in music.
“I would like to see us holding more music events and being a resource for music equipment for bands,” he said.
The chapter decided to start the process of splitting from nationals by taking a vote. Berntson said the vote to break from nationals won by a landslide. He said they also voted on their new name, Alpha Mu Phi.
According to Berntson, the disassociation from nationals is not official until Hillsdale administration gives it final approval.
“The next step is to sort it out with the administration,” Berntson said.
He said Dean Petersen is facilitating the administrative tasks of the situation.
Berntson said the chapter already changed its Instagram username to Alpha Mu Phi because the members do not view themselves as Phi Mu Alpha, even though the break from nationals is not official.
“We cherish our chapter culture, that’s why we’re continuing it,” Berntson said. “But we have realized we don’t cherish the national connection anymore, and we don’t want to continue to pay expensive dues for something that we don’t want.”
