La Familia of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is a brotherhood composed of undergraduate, graduate, and professional men internationally, established on December 26th 1931. Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity is the Oldest Latino Fraternity in Existence. We dedicate ourselves toward the empowerment of our Latino community by providing intensive social and cultural programs and activities geared toward the appreciation, promotion and preservation of the Latin American Culture. As a Latino Fraternity whose roots stem back to the late 1800's, we cherish and live by the ideals set forth by our forefathers. In this manner, Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity distinguishes itself from other Greek lettered organizations. Our organization prides itself in the ability to motivate people, develop leaders, and create new ways to unite our community. We challenge ourselves by supporting and developing a strong network for the advancement of our people. To this end, each member swears loyalty not only to himself but also to a greater cause, his people and Latin America.
La Familia of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is a brotherhood composed of undergraduate, graduate, and professional men internationally, established on December 26th 1931. Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity is the Oldest Latino Fraternity in Existence. We dedicate ourselves toward the empowerment of our Latino community by providing intensive social and cultural programs and activities geared toward the appreciation, promotion and preservation of the Latin American Culture.
As a Latino Fraternity whose roots stem back to the late 1800's, we cherish and live by the ideals set forth by our forefathers. In this manner, Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity distinguishes itself from other Greek lettered organizations. Our organization prides itself in the ability to motivate people, develop leaders, and create new ways to unite our community. We challenge ourselves by supporting and developing a strong network for the advancement of our people. To this end, each member swears loyalty not only to himself but also to a greater cause, his people and Latin America.
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HISTORY
FRATERNAL HISTORY
Origins
The roots of Phi Iota Alpha Latino Fraternity were implanted at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, NY in 1898. A group of Latin American students organized the Union Hispano Americana as a cultural and intellectual secret society based on the ideology of Pan-Americanism. The immediate goals of the UHA were 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. The ideals and operations of the UHA expanded to several colleges and universities in the United States. However, due to the secrecy imposed upon its members, not many records were kept. The expansion and growth of the UHA was based on compromise and the ultimate need of similar organizations to unify and become more powerful.
In the northeastern part of the United States, a group of Latin American students decided to organize a cultural and intellectual fraternity, as a result Pi Delta Phi Latino Fraternity was founded at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1916. Shortly after its foundation, Pi Delta Phi initiated a search to expand to other colleges and universities where they became aware of the existence of other similar organizations.
Consolidation
Pi Delta Phi then established communications with Phi Lambda Alpha Latino Fraternity, which had been recently founded in 1919 at the University of California, at Berkeley. After some communication, these two organizations realized the existence of the strong non-Greek letter secret society of la Union Hispano Americana. 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 Latino Fraternity, with the distinctive emblem & constitution of Pi Delta Phi, and the goals & motto of the UHA. This new union was formalized in June 1921, in the city of New York.
Meanwhile, in the southern part of the U.S. another similar organization was under development. Sigma Iota Latino Fraternity, a mostly social/cultural organization, was founded in 1912 at Louisiana State University. Between 1912 and 1925, Sigma Iota expanded very rapidly and thereby became the first international latino fraternity of Latin American students. By 1928, the international organization 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 in search of expanding throughout the United States with the ideology of Pan-Americanism in mind. Sigma Iota Latino Fraternity was in search of revitalizing some of its defunct chapters and expansion opportunities. Thus both organizations complemented each other and the arduous work towards the creation of the Fraternity we now know as Phi Iota Alpha was initiated.
Founding
In December of 1931, the most profound historical event in the history of Latino Fraternities took place in Troy, NY. Delegates from Phi Lambda Alpha Latino Fraternity and Sigma Iota Latino Fraternity assembled with the objective of forming a strong and extensive Fraternity to address the needs of Latin Americans in universities in the U.S.
On December 26, 1931, the first day of a three-day convention, Phi Iota Alpha Latino Fraternity was born as both groups agreed on the merger contract 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, working on the creation of a shield to represent the newly formed national Latino brotherhood, and internal rules and regulations documents. On December 28th, by the end of the three-day convention, most of the merger was completed. Now the last step in the merger was the ratification of some of the chapters of Sigma Iota that were not represented at the convention.
Expansion
Since that historical unification, Phi Iota Alpha expanded nationally as well as internationally. At the international level, the Fraternity sponsored the 1932 convention in the city of New York with the purpose of forming the Union Latino Americana (ULA). The ULA was a fundamental pact that organized Latin America into 22 zones; each of the 21 countries constituted a zone and Phi Iota Alpha represented the 22nd zone in the United States. Under the ULA, a framework for the implementation of Pan-American ideology, all the zones were bonded by the same constitution and internal rules and regulations. This union proved efficient in setting forth the ideology of Pan-Americanism since most of the zones actively and diligently participated in the name of the ideals. By 1937, the ULA had several well-established and functional zones including:
Phi Kappa Alpha in Cuba
Phi Sigma Alpha in Puerto Rico
Phi Tau Alpha in Mexico
In September of 1939, the Phi Sigma Alpha zone decided to separate from the ULA and eventually, merged with Sigma Delta Alpha to form Phi Sigma Alpha Fraternity of Puerto Rico.
History 1939 - 1983
With the outbreak of World War II, the expansion rate was significantly reduced for Phi Iota Alpha in the U.S. By 1951, the Fraternity, drafted and implemented a new expansion strategy, hence the decade of the 1950's was a period of positive internal growth for the Fraternity. In the early 1950's, Phi Iota Alpha eradicated any residue of its political agenda. With only a few chapters, the Fraternity continued to pursue its vivid mission by implementing the "Universidad Ideologica."
The 1960's proved to be very challenging years for Phi Iota Alpha and all Latinos in general. The effects of a World War II, the Vietnam War, and the 60s counter-culture created an anti-institutional atmosphere amongst many college students. In addition, this drastically reduced the influx of Latin American students enrolled into American universities, which hindered potential members. As a result, by 1968, after many years of struggling to adapt to its time, the only active undergraduate chapter at RPI closed the doors of their chapter house. By 1976, the last active President graduated from RPI, taking with him the Fraternity's official documents and archives. From 1977 to 1983, the Fraternity witnessed a period of inactivity at the undergraduate level. Some efforts were made to re-emerge Phi Iota Alpha but these efforts did not bear any fruit. Throughout this period, brothers continued to maintain communication, and continued to accomplish the mission of the organization. The history, ideals and goals of the Fraternity never diminished; it simply did not have active undergraduate members to cultivate them. Phi Iota Alpha continued to exist within the hearts of many graduate members as they continued to develop their professional lives mostly in Latin American countries and in the United States.
History 1984 -
In 1984, a group of determined young men at RPI, upon learning about the Latino empowerment and culture that once existed on their campus, took the challenge of reviving the spirit of Phi Iota Alpha. In doing so, these courageous young men became the new generation of Phi Iota Alpha Latino Fraternity, Inc. Briefly after the re-emergence of the Fraternity, in an extraordinary session, the last Secretary General instituted the members of the RPI chapter as the Alpha Chapter. In the 1980's the Fraternity dedicated its efforts to rebuilding the organizational infrastructure and to expand to several universities in New York State. By 2000, Phi Iota Alpha had chartered chapters across the United States.
Present History
The Fraternity has been significantly improved and slightly modified to insure its proper functioning and survival well into the 21st century. In 1994, the Fraternity was further improved, as a modified version of "Proposito 21" was accepted and implemented as a set of operational guiding principles, which are still in effect today. The "Proposito" facilitated both the modified organizational infrastructure and a constitutional revision to optimize the Fraternity system.
As of 1996, the Fraternity was looking into the future challenges of the 21st century and adjusted its long-term planning strategies to insure the proper development of the Fraternity beyond the closing of the millennium. Furthermore, by 1997, the Fraternity had four solidly organized Alumni Chapters. By 1998, with a fortified constitution and an operations manual, the Fraternity was duly prepared to begin expansion plans. By the end of 1999, the Fraternity had dramatically grown to triple its size in chapters since 1991. These chapters included active regions in Massachusetts, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, and Texas. In 2000, since the operations and management of Phi Iota Alpha has been solidified, it is able to take on larger and more complicated challenges. As a result, the organization has expanded to other regions, namely Maryland and California, while maintaining it's consistency and inspirational mission of Pan-Americanism.
Today, Phi Iota Alpha Latino Fraternity commemorates its long history. It is the commemoration of the organization of the UHA as well as the merging of Sigma Iota and Phi Lambda Alpha. Phi Iota Alpha also commemorates the grandiose formation of the ULA, the implementation of the "Universidad Ideologica," the re-emergence of the organization from coast to coast. Yet, the Fraternity has had to overcome many obstacles to claim its long and arduous history. As the Fraternity continues to plan for the future, it is of utmost importance to remember that this history was made by men of great vision, leadership, devotion, persistence and most importantly, commitment to the continued development of our "Raza, Joven, Noble y Guerrera."
Phi Iota Alpha has declared 2006-2007 its Diamond Jubilee Celebration as it readies for its 75th Anniversary. These preparations consisted of nationwide activities and events, including the commissioning of intellectual and scholarly works, presentation of exhibits, lectures, artwork and musical expositions, the production of video presentations. The celebration will be culminated with the upcoming Demisesquicentennial Anniversary Convention on the weekend of July 20th-22nd 2007, in the City of New York. The 75th Anniversary Celebration was launched with a pilgrimage to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on October 13, 2006.
Our Pillars
Since its inception the fraternity has upheld its sublime and unique ideological foundation of Pan-Americanism. The ideology of Pan-Americanism can be summarized as the "unification of all the Latin American nations and all Latin American people." The Fraternity has served as an "Ideological University" through the study and interpretation of Pan-Americanism inspired by the accomplishments of its Five Pillars:
- SIMON BOLIVAR
- JOSE DE SAN MARTIN
- BENITO JUAREZ
- JOSE MARTI
- BERNARDO O'HIGGINS
DON SIMÓN BOLÍVAR (1783-1830)
Known as El Libertador (the Liberator), six nations, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia owe their independence from Spain to Simón Bolívar.
Born on July 24, 1783 into a very prominent family in Venezuela, this great statesman, writer, and revolutionary general gave up his social status for a more noble cause-- independence of Latin America from foreign rule. He traveled the world and along the way was inspired by the times in which he lived, particularly the crowning of Napoleon as emperor in 1804. This same act awoke in him a desire to quell this fire that later, while visiting Rome, he solemnly swore he would do, "...I will not rest my soul until Hispanic America is liberated from Spanish rule".
He possessed an uncanny ability to inspire men to follow him through trackless wilderness to fight and die for liberty. For 20 years Bolívar led the fight to free northern South America. His small, poorly equipped forces won amazing victories and met overwhelming defeats. Not everything was easy for him. There were times where his defeats caused him to seek exile in Haiti and Jamaica, but always returned with a greater strength in energy and armies.
At the height of his power, between 1825 and 1828, he was president of La Gran Colombia (present day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador), Peru, and the newly formed Bolivia (a country named after him). Bolívar was a sincere patriot, devoted to the cause of liberty and equality, and a big promoter for the unification of all the Latin American countries under one unified republicthe idea of Pan-Americanism.
He died a sad, lonely death marred by Tuberculosis, in Santa Marta, Colombia on December 17, 1830.
DON JOSÉ DE SAN MARTÍN (1778-1850)
One of the greatest heroes of South American independence was Jose de San Martin. He helped liberate Argentina, Chile, and Peru from Spanish rule. A proud ruler, at the height of his success he relinquished his power to Simon Bolivar after a historic meeting in 1822.
Jose Francisco de San Martin was born on Feb. 25, 1778 in Yapeyu, an Indian settlement in what is now northern Argentina. His father, a Spanish army captain, was administrator there. When Captain San Martin was called back to Spain, he enrolled his son in a Madrid school. When he was 11 years old, young San Martin became a cadet in the infantry. He was 13 when he fought his first battle in North Africa.
For the next 20 years he fought the Moors and Napoleon's forces where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. San Martin's sympathies, however, were always with the mistreated colonials.
In 1812 he resigned and returned to Argentina to join the revolt there. In 1814, he had himself made governor of a district in the foothills of the Andes. After gathering and training an army, he led it across the Andes Mountains into Chile where his men routed the Spanish at Chacabuco in 1817 and entered Santiago unopposed. The next year, San Martin's decisive victory at Maipo set all of Chile free.
In 1820 his army landed on the southern coast of Peru and entered Lima in 1821. San Martin met with Bolivar in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in July 1822 and turned over the command to him.
On returning to Argentina, San Martin learned that his wife had died. He left for Europe with his daughter and spent the rest of his life in exile. San Martin lived in France and Belgium until his death in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, on Aug. 17, 1850.
DON BENITO JUAREZ (1778-1842)
Mexico's national hero and its first president of Indian descent was Benito Juarez. During his years in the Government, he succeeded in undermining the power of the Roman Catholic Church and the wealthy landlords in order to make Mexico a constitutional democracy.
Juarez was born at San Pablo Guelatao in the state of Oaxaca on March 21, 1806. He studied law at the Oaxaca Institute of Arts and Sciences, receiving his degree in 1831. Within a few years he had served in both state and national legislatures. In 1841 he became a judge and served as governor of his state. From his government service he gained many ideas for political and economic reform.
When liberals defeated conservatives in the elections of 1855, Juarez became minister of justice and public instruction. The new administration abolished special courts for the church and the military, forced the church to sell its enormous property holdings, and created a new, liberal constitution. In 1857 Juarez was chosen to preside over the Supreme Court and, in effect, to serve as vice-president. During a conservative revolt from 1858 to 1860, he acted as president.
He was forced to flee Mexico City but held the government together until he died at the age of 66.
DON JOSE MARTI (1853-1895)
Cuba's foremost patriot in the struggle for independence from Spain was the poet and essayist Jose Julian Marti. His lifelong dedication to Cuban freedom was spelled out in essays and poems that circulated throughout the Latin American countries. He considered himself a citizen of all the Americas, and his essays did much to promote better relations between the United States and Latin America; but more importantly, between the Latin American nations themselves.
Jose Julian Marti y Perez was born on Jan. 28, 1853, in Havana, where he obtained his early schooling. As a teenager he became involved with a revolutionary group and was sentenced to six months at hard labor for speaking against the government. At age 18, he was exiled to Spain, where he finished his schooling at the University of Saragosa in 1874. He then fled to Mexico by way of France.
After a brief visit to Cuba in 1877, he settled in Guatemala as a teacher. He returned to Cuba in 1878 and continued his political activities. This again led to exile in Spain in 1879. He did not see Cuba again until 1895. He left Spain after two months and lived successively in New York City and Venezuela. His politics offended the Venezuelan dictator at the time, who then forced Marti to return to New York.
A continuous stream of articles published in South American newspapers brought him fame throughout Latin America. In 1892 he became head of the Cuban Revolutionary party and began planning an invasion of the island. He and other revolutionaries arrived in Cuba on April 11, 1895. But tragically, on May 19, he was killed in battle at Dos Rios.
Don Jose Julian Marti will be forever remembered because he waged war neither with swords nor guns, but with simple words expressing the truth.
DON BERNARDO O'HIGGINS (1778-1842)
The leader of Chile's first independent government and a brilliant soldier, Bernardo O'Higgins led the Chilean patriots in their battle for independence. A reformer and an idealist, he was the first national leader in the Americas to abolish black slavery.
O'Higgins was born on Aug. 20, 1778, in Chillan, Chile. His father was Spain's governor for Chile and viceroy for Peru. In 1790, O'Higgins went to Peru to study, staying until he was 16, when his father sent him to Europe. In Spain, O'Higgins met Jose de San Martin, later the liberator of Argentina.
In 1802, O'Higgins returned to Chile to manage property left him by his father. He joined the militia and rose to the rank of Colonel. When Chile rebelled against Spain in 1810, he offered his services and eventually helped drive the Spaniards out of Chile. When a new Spanish force invaded Chile, he was made commander of the revolutionary army but was defeated at the battle of Rancagua in 1814.
O'Higgins, with the other Chilean patriots, fled to Argentina. In 1817, under O'Higgins, these men came back to win Chacabuco and Maipo, the battles that secured Chilean independence. Chile's provisional government asked O'Higgins to rule the country as supreme director. During his rule, which lasted for six years, he instituted a number of reforms and also helped San Martin build forces to fight Spain in Peru.
O'Higgins' liberal policies did not suit the Chilean aristocrats. As a result, in 1823 he was forced to resign. Peru offered him asylum, and O'Higgins went there to spend the rest of his life as an exile, away from his heart--the country he had worked so hard to free. Don Bernardo O'Higgins died several years later on Oct. 24, 1842.
Name: Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc
Nickname: Phiota
Scope: International
Established: December 26, 1931
Location: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Symbol: Lion
Flower: Red Carnation
Official Colors: Gold, Navy Blue, Red, White
Motto: "Semper Parati Semper Juncti" Always Together, Always Prepared
Mission Statement: Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity is a brotherhood dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Latin American Culture.
Publication: The Phiota!
Afiliations:
National Interfraternity Conference (NIC)
National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO)
The oldest inter-collegiate Greek-letter organization established for Latino Americans
Descended from the First Latino Fraternity & the First Latino Student Organization in the US
The First Latino fraternity to reach from "Coast to Coast."
Phi Iota Alpha's membership includes four former presidents of Latin American countries
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