Dare To Be Yourself!

On September 19, 1963 at Morgan State University, formally Morgan State College, twelve men founded what is now the fifth largest, predominately African-American social service fraternity organization, Iota Phi Theta, Inc.
The founders and the organization stand out from what is considered “traditional” African-American organizations in that the men were 3-5 years older than the average college student.
Of the twelve, 3 men were service veterans, 4 were married with small children, and all were full time students and full time workers.
The organization was incorporated by the state of Maryland on November 1, 1968.
The fraternity presently consists of more than 200 undergraduate and alumni chapters with nearly 15,000 members in 46 states and the District of Columbia.
In the initial stages of the fraternity’s existence, the fraternity’s service initiatives were local in nature as reflected by the size of the organization and the scope of its resources.
As the fraternity began to take on a national dimension, it became evident its programmatic thrust would have to be adjusted accordingly. This adjustment was complicated by the fact that many chapters have had historical ties to service organizations and causes in their local areas.
In order to address these concerns, in 1993, the fraternity created 2 important national initiatives that remain the primary focus of its service thrust. According to their website, these Initiatives are The National Iota Foundation.
Additionally, in 2001, the fraternity has undertaken a new program called, The Digital Heritage Initiative. This initiative is a collaborative effort between Iota Phi Theta, Africana.com, and Microsoft Corporation.
The fraternity has national community activities and initiatives including, but not limited to, involvement within the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, The National Sickle Cell Foundation, The United Negro College Fund, Big Brother of America, Project IMAGE and The National Federation of the Blind.
The fraternity strives to remain true to the aims of the founders: “The development and perpetuation of scholarship, leadership, citizenship, fidelity, and brotherhood among men.”
The fraternity is a member of the National Inter-fraternity Conference and on November 12, 1996, the organization became a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which serves as an umbrella of the nine largest African American Greek organizations.
Aims that the Alpha Eta Chapter of Iota Phi Theta, which was established on Southern University’s campus on April 21, 1979 by Trent Barkley, continue to uphold.
“The Alpha Eta Chapter has held numerous events, such as our Iota Week, as well as several activities with the SU Head Start children,” said Chapter Polaris Clifford Nichols. “We have an HIV/AIDS awareness program coming up, a Black History movie night and a banquet to commemorate the chapters founding,” he said. “I choose Iota because it’s different in the since that we are individuals. We don’t have to be stereotypes within our organization. You can be yourself.”