Phi Mu () is the second oldest female

fraternal organization A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': " brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fratern ...

established in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of G ...

as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same year. Phi Mu is one of the two "Macon Magnolias," a term used to celebrate the bonds it shares with Alpha Delta Pi as sororities founded on that same campus. The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage
Today, Phi Mu has 136 active collegiate chapters, 137 active alumnae chapters, and more than 187,000 initiated sisters. In its 170-year history, Phi Mu has chartered over 228 chapters. Phi Mu's National Headquarters is in

Peachtree City, Georgia Peachtree City is the largest city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 34,364. Peachtree City is located in South Metro Atlanta. Peachtree City is noted for its extensive use o ...

. Phi Mu's national philanthropy is Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Phi Mu is one of 26 national sororities which are members under the umbrella organization of the

National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 (inter)national women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alum ...

History

Phi Mu was founded on January 4, 1852 – though not publicly announced until March 4, 1852 – originally as a literary society referred to as The Philomathean Society at Wesleyan College by Mary Ann Dupont (Lines), Mary Elizabeth Myrick (Daniel), and Martha Bibb Hardaway (Redding). Philomathean is derived from the Greek ''philomath'', which means a lover of learning. The Society joined the

in 1904, taking on the Greek letters Phi Mu. Phi Mu is referred to as a women's fraternity since some sororities predate the term "sorority" and are thus known as "fraternities for women." Phi Mu is one such sorority, and its formal name is Phi Mu Fraternity. In 1939, Alpha Delta Theta, a small national sorority founded at

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

, merged with Phi Mu.

Symbols

Although Phi Mu has no official jewel, the fraternity recognizes official colors of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

, symbolizing womanhood, and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, symbolizing truth and purity. The official flower is the rose-colored carnation, while the symbol is a

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

. Phi Mu's official mascot is a lion named Sir Fidel. A Phi Badge is worn by Phi Mu's provisional members. It is a small gold and black quatrefoil pin bearing the Φ symbol. Initiated members wear the Phi Mu Badge, which depicts a quatrefoil with black and gold enamel bearing ΦΜ, a hand holding a heart, and three stars. Sometimes the badge is partnered with a guard chain accompanied by the chapter's lettering (for example, the Kappa Omicron chapter of Phi Mu would have a ΚΟ assisting). Phi Mu's open motto is Les Soeurs Fideles ("The Faithful Sisters"). The fraternity's

creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

is the uniting statement that every member of Phi Mu is expected to know and live her life by, defining what it means to be a noble woman and enumerating several practices. The second-to-last line of the creed sums up the most important Phi Mu belief: "To practice day by day

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

honor Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belief ...

Philanthropy

Phi Mu's interest in

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

is expressed in the first line of its Creed, "To lend to those less fortunate a helping hand," a guiding principle for Phi Mu. As the sorority sponsor for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, Phi Mu is committed to raising more than $500,000 for the hospitals every year. The money raised and donated is used locally or to support one of the 170 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals nationwide. In total, Phi Mu has contributed over $21 million and many hours in an attempt to improve the quality of life for sick children and their families throughout the country. Phi Mu has also established an annual "National Philanthropy Day" each October.

Local chapter or individual member misconduct

In 2010, the Phi Mu chapter at the University of Texas at San Antonio was disciplined for hazing and humiliating pledges. Pledges were blindfolded, roped, and forced to a remote barn to recite the sorority's creed and imitate animals for the amusement of initiated members of the sorority. In 2011, the sorority made national headlines after the chapter at the University of Southern Mississippi dressed in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

for a "Cosby" themed party. The sorority members involved were placed on probation by Phi Mu's national headquarters and offered a public apology for their misconduct. In 2013 and 2014, sorority women from multiple chapters at the University of Alabama – including Phi Mu,

Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chap ...

, Delta Delta Delta,

Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international women's fraternity founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AOI ...

, Kappa Delta,

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...

, and Alpha Gamma Delta, – alleged that either active members or some of their alumnae had prevented them from offering membership to black candidates because of their race. Phi Mu member Caroline Bechtel told

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

that the chapter would automatically add any minority woman to a list of women to be dropped as a membership candidate. Bechtel and fellow students held a campus march to integrate greek life on campus, and following media and national outcry, the university held a second round of recruitment in hopes of offering membership to more women, including black women. In the aftermath, Bechtel described hostility towards her from the sorority. Phi Mu offered membership to one black woman.

Membership

Notable alumnae

Arts and entertainment *Tena Clark (Alpha Omicron) -Music Producer and Author of ''Southern Discomfort'' * Andi Dorfman (Alpha Eta)- The Bachelorette (2014)- Author “ It’s Not Okay” and “Single State of Mind.” Previous contestant on the Bachelor, The Bachelorette. * Hannah Godwin (Kappa Chi) - Model, Contestant on The Bachelor (2019) and Bachelor in Paradise (2019). *Susan Harling (Kappa Iota) - inspiration for the play and movie '' Steel Magnolias'' * Ashley Hatfield (Alpha Delta) -

Miss Illinois The Miss Illinois is a pageant program affiliated with Miss America, which is competition for women models representing the state of Illinois. The first "Miss Illinois" sent to the national pageant was Lois Delander who subsequently won the Mi ...

(2007), contestant in

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

(2008) * Arlie Honeycutt (Lambda Iota) -

Miss North Carolina The Miss North Carolina competition selects the representative for the state of North Carolina to compete in the annual Miss America competition. The competition has been held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in vario ...

(2012) Honeycutt received the Miss North Carolina Overall Talent award as well as a Talent Preliminary award at the Miss North Carolina 2012 competition. She received a Most Talented Non-Finalist award at the 2013 Miss America Pageant. * Elizabeth Horton (Gamma Tau)-

(2006), contestant in

(2007)https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/missusamagicf/MA1975Delegates.html&date=2009-10-26+02:45:07 *

Dana Ivey Dana Robins Ivey (born August 12, 1941) is an American actress. She is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, and won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in both ''Sex and Longin ...

(Alpha Omega) - actress ('' The Addams Family'', '' Sleepless in Seattle'', '' Orange County''), five-time Tony nominee *

Hayley Lewis Hayley (pronounced ) is an English given name. It is derived from the English surname Haley, which in turn was based on an Old English toponym, a compound of ''heg'' "hay" and ''leah'' "clearing or meadow".Katie Martin-Doyle, ''The Treasury of ...

(Theta) - Miss Tennessee 2014 *

Pam Long Pamela K. Long is an American writer and executive producer. Long won several Emmys for her work on CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' from 1983 to 1990. She was also writer and executive producer on the NBC film ''Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Color ...

(Theta Alpha) -

Miss Alabama The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition. Alabama has won three Miss America titles: Deidre Downs in 2005, Heather Whitestone (the first deaf w ...

(1974), contestant in

(1975) and head writer for CBS' ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' *Leah Massee (Kappa Beta) - Miss Georgia (2007), contestant in

(2008) *

Meg McGuffin The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition. Alabama has won three Miss America titles: Deidre Downs in 2005, Heather Whitestone (the first deaf wo ...

(Alpha Mu) -

(2015) Fourth Runner- Up to Miss America 2016 *

Madeline Mitchell Madeline Mitchell Gwin (née Mitchell; born May 17, 1989) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Russellville, Alabama. She won the title of Miss Alabama USA 2011 and competed in the Miss USA 2011 competition, where she finished as the se ...

(Alpha Zeta)-

Miss Alabama USA Miss Alabama USA, previously known as Miss Alabama Universe, is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by its winner. The pageant is directed by RPM Pr ...

(2011) - Top 3 in Miss USA 2011 pageant, Mrs. America 2015 *Amy Mulkey (Alpha Alpha) - Miss Georgia (2002), contestant in

(2002) *

Rachel Reilly Rachel Eileen Reilly Villegas (born October 16, 1984) is an American television personality, fashion designer, talk show host, actress, and reality show winner. Reilly appeared in two seasons of the U.S. edition of the reality TV series '' Big ...

(Gamma Mu)- '' Big Brother'' (Seasons 12 & 13 winner) ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in fore ...

'' (Seasons 20, 24, & 31) ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

'' actress BiteSizeTV Host, Producer Hollywood Today Live correspondent Actress; *Joanne Rogers (Alpha Omega) - Wife of

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

of '' Mister Roger’s Neighborhood'', pianist * Kimberly Schlapman (Alpha Gamma) - member of

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has comprised the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbr ...

Stephanie Steuri
(Iota Alpha) - Miss Hawaii (2014) * Alyse Madej (Rho Beta) -

Miss Michigan USA The Miss Michigan USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Michigan in the Miss USA pageant. It is currently directed by Proctor Productions. Their first Miss USA victory was in 1990, and notable because ...

(2019) Represented Michigan at the Miss USA 2019 Competition * Anna Laura Bryan Strider (Alpha Gamma) -

(2012) Received the Quality of Life Award and Top 12 in Miss America *

Mary Wickes Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made ...

(Zeta Epsilon) - actress, (''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the live ...

'', '' White Christmas (1954 film)'', '' Sister Act'') Business * Pat Mitchell (Alpha Alpha) - president, PBS *Evett Simmons (Alpha Tau) - president of the

National Bar Association The National Bar Association (NBA) was founded in 1925 and is the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of approximately 65,000 lawyers, judges, law profess ...

(2000) *Toria Tolley (Beta Nu) - VP/consultant, The Psychological Advantage, former CNN weekend anchor Science, technology, engineering and math *

Jerrie Mock Geraldine "Jerrie" Fredritz Mock (November 22, 1925 – September 30, 2014) was an American pilot and the first woman to fly solo around the world. She flew a single engine Cessna 180 (registered N1538C) christened the '' Spirit of Columbus'' a ...

(Psi) - first woman to fly solo around the world * Kathy Pham (Theta Zeta) - computer scientist,

First Lady Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

's Guest to the 2015 State of the Union Address, Nguoi Viet 40 under 40. * Mary Weber (Delta Epsilon) -

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Politics and public service * Carol Laise (Gamma Delta) - U.S. Ambassador to Nepal 1966-1973, first woman director general of the Foreign Service * Beverly B. Martin (Alpha Iota) - U.S. Federal Judge, sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit *

Betty Montgomery Betty Montgomery (born April 3, 1948) is an American politician from the state of Ohio. A Republican, she formerly served as Ohio State Auditor and is the first woman Ohio Attorney General. Education Montgomery earned a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

(Delta Kappa) - first female Attorney General of Ohio * Melinda Schwegmann (Alpha Eta) - first female Lt. Governor of Louisiana * Elizabeth Weaver (Delta) - former Michigan Supreme Court Justice and Chief Justice *Tova Wiley (Eta Alpha) - first woman to hold the rank of Commander in the U.S. Navy, winner of the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight u ...

Award Literature
Rebecca Faye Smith Galli
(Gamma Lambda) - author, Rethinking Possible - A Memoir of Resilience; co-founder, Pathfinders for Autism;

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

op-ed contributor *

Jill McCorkle Jill Collins McCorkle (July 7, 1958 Lumberton, North Carolina) is an American short story writer and novelist. She graduated from University of North Carolina, in 1980, where she studied with Max Steele, Lee Smith, and Louis D. Rubin. She als ...

(Gamma Lambda) - author, Good Ol' Girls and eight other novels and short story collections, five of which are New York Times notable books *

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

(Beta Zeta) - author, ('' Blonde'', ''

The Gravedigger's Daughter ''The Gravedigger's Daughter'' is a 2007 novel by Joyce Carol Oates. It is her 36th published novel. The novel was based on the life of Oates's grandmother, whose father, a gravedigger settled in rural America, injured his wife, threatened his da ...

'', ''

We Were the Mulvaneys ''We Were the Mulvaneys'' is a novel written by Joyce Carol Oates, and was published in 1996. ''We Were the Mulvaneys'' was featured in Oprah's Book Club in January 2001. The novel chronicles the Mulvaneys, a seemingly perfect family living in ...

'') * Debbie Phelps (Beta Chi) - author, ''A Mother for All Seasons'' & mother of Michael Phelps *

Kathryn Stockett Kathryn Stockett is an American novelist. She is known for her 2009 debut novel, '' The Help'', which is about African-American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s. Career Stockett worked in magazine publ ...

(Alpha Zeta) - author, The Help Athletics * Gayle S. Barron (Alpha Alpha) - winner of the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ...

, 1978 List of winners of the Boston Marathon#Women's Open

Chapters

References

External links

Phi MuPhi Mu Foundation
{{Fraternities and Sororities , collapsed 1852 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) National Panhellenic Conference Student societies in the United States Student organizations established in 1852