Type Social Colors Purple
White | Scope Local Symbol Torch of Learning | |
Founded 1926
McDaniel College (Western Maryland College) Westminster, Maryland Motto We Follow the Light of Fellowship | ||
Phi Alpha Mu (ΦΑΜ) is a social sorority that was founded at McDaniel College (Western Maryland College) in 1926. The organization has over 1,000 alumnae, with an increasing number of sisters joining every year.
Contents
History
In 1923, Phi Alpha Mu began as a group called the Snake Charmers. This group evolved into an organization called F.A.M., jokingly referring to themselves as "Find A Man". The club combined with another group on the Western Maryland campus, Zeta Gamma, adopting the Greek letters for F.A.M, thus becoming Phi Alpha Mu. The club chose purple and white as the official club colors and the purple pansy as its official flower. In 1926, Western Maryland College officially recognized the sorority and it became one of the first Greek organizations on campus. In 1937, the sorority began its official yearbook, "The Torch" named after The torch of learning, which symbolizes the group and its ideals. The sorority adopted Gamma Beta Chi as its brother fraternity in 1941, a fellow local organization at McDaniel, and adopted the purple cow as their mascot. Although there is continuous pressure to become a national organization, which started in the 1970s when other fraternities and sororities joined national organizations, the sorority refuses to follow the trend and compromise the self made rules, constitutions, and traditions that maintain the intimacy and closeness that make it a unique organization. Today, Phi Alpha Mu is the only remaining original local sorority at McDaniel College.
Philanthropy
Serving the community is one of the main values of Phi Alpha Mu as stated in the mission statement. The official philanthropy of Phi Alpha Mu is House of Ruth. The organization is very active in the local community as well, participating in various philanthropic events such as Relay for Life and Up Til Dawn.
Mission Statement
The mission of Phi Alpha Mu is to promote love, trust, loyalty, and respect between each sister and to support growth and learning as individuals and as a group while providing service and compassion to their community thereby ensuring the survival of the group and the groups' ideals.