Phi Vu Net Worth

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia was founded as the Sinfonia Club by Ossian Everett Mills at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Ossian Everett Mills, bursar of the conservatory, had been holding devotional meetings with a small group of male students since 1886. Mills was profoundly interested in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual development of the conservatory's students. Mills sought to encourage the personal development of the young men at the conservatory through wholesome social interaction among them. This led Mills to suggested that the "Old Boys" of the conservatory invite the "New Boys" to a "get acquainted" reception on September 22, 1898. Several of the men who attended the reception began to discuss the possibility of organizing a more permanent social club, and a meeting was planned for October 6, 1898, for that purpose.

The official colors of Phi Mu Alpha are red, black, and gold. The Sinfonia Club adopted the colors red and black on March 7, 1900, and used them as the color motif of the decorations for its first club room As a national fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha adopted red and black as its official colors at its 1st National Convention in 1901. Gold was adopted as the third color of the fraternity at the 10th National Convention in 1910

Phi Mu Alpha's official flower is the chrysanthemum, adopted at the 1st National Convention in 1901.

Phi Mu Alpha's coat of arms was adopted at the 10th National Convention in 1910. The escutcheon (shield) consists of a red saltire (or Saint Andrew's Cross) on a field of gold. Centered is a symbol similar to the fraternity's membership pin, though differing in that instead of 7 red and white circles/stones along each side of the triangle, there are 13 monochromatic circles along each side. The saltire divides the escutcheon into four sections. In the dexter section (bearer's right or viewer's left) are clasped hands, in the sinister section (bearer's left or viewer's right) are panpipes, and in the base section (bottom) is a lamp. The chief section (top) contains no charge but the point of the centered triangular symbol crosses into it. Two fanfare trumpets crossing behind the escutcheon with the bells at the top and mouthpieces at the bottom serve as supporters. Above the escutcheon is decorative mantling and a lyre as the crest. Below is a scroll divided into three sections by the leadpipes of the fanfare trumpets. In the center section is the word Sinfonia, and the left and right sections display the numbers 18 and 98, respectively, representing the founding year of the fraternity: 1898.

From 1922 to 1948, chapters of Phi Mu Alpha were grouped into regional units called districts that were assigned geographically descriptive names such as "Southern District" and "Northeastern District." Starting in 1949, the districts were replaced by provinces, each of which was given a numerical designation. Since that time, new provinces have been formed by the merging and splitting of former provinces, with province numbers being issued in chronological order. There are currently 38 active provinces, yet the highest-numbered province is Province 40. Province 31, which is made up of the states of Wyoming and Utah, has no active collegiate chapters or alumni associations and is therefore considered inactive. Province 10 was vacated in 1990 and its remaining chapter assigned to Province 7 so that there no longer exists a geographical region with the designation "Province 10". No chapter have ever been established in the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rode Island, Alaska and Hawaii.

As the fraternity continued to grow in both the number of members and chapters, so did its emphasis on the advancement of music. In 1927, the original Object statement was altered so that "to advance the cause of music in America" was put in a place of prominence. After the American victory in World War II, the young men who returned from battle to re-enter the nation's universities through the benefits of the G.I. Bill were less interested in an organization devoted to upholding noble ideals—ideals that seemed naive given the men's war-time experiences—than they were in the practical matter of finding civilian employment. This, combined with the fact that many of Phi Mu Alpha's national Leaders at the time were heavily involved in state and local music educators' professional organizations, led the fraternity to become increasingly concerned with the advancement of its members in the music profession (especially in music education) in addition to the advancement of music in general. The professional period of the fraternity's history culminated in 1970 when its Leaders began marketing it as "The Professional Fraternity for Men in Music" and when a new statement of purpose was adopted that began, "The primary purpose of this Fraternity shall be to encourage and actively promote the highest standards of creativity, performance, education, and research in music in America."

The origin of the name "Sinfonia" is attributed to George W. Chadwick, the Director of the New England Conservatory at the time the Sinfonia Club was founded. Chadwick was elected as the second honorary member of the club after Ossian Mills, and he suggested the name "Sinfonia" after the name of a student organization he was a member of in Leipzig, Germany. Prior to 1947, the legal corporate name of the fraternity was Sinfonia Fraternity of America, though the Greek letters Phi, Mu, and Alpha had been associated with the fraternity since at least 1904. The delegates to the 29th National Convention in 1946 approved changing the corporate name to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, which it remains today.

Among these famous Sinfonians are famous composers such as Frank Ticheli, John Philip Sousa and Clifton Williams, television personalities Fred Rogers (of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood) and Andy Griffith, jazz Musicians Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Maynard Ferguson, and Cannonball Adderley, rock musician Bo Diddley, Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, Philanthropists Andrew Carnegie and George Eastman, politicians including 1948 Presidential candidate Thomas Dewey and New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia, folk singer and actor Burl Ives, tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.

As established by the fraternity's first national constitution, the highest governing body within the fraternity was known as the Supreme Governing Council, the members of which were the supreme (national) officers and one supreme councilman from each chapter, usually its President. This was the body that conducted Business at each national convention, and it could also conduct Business by mail ballot between conventions if necessary. The fraternity moved to the present National Assembly format with delegates being the members of the NEC, the PGs, and one collegiate member from each province (now the CPR) in 1964 at the same time that it moved from biennial to triennial conventions. The National Council as a governing body was retained, but only for actions required between conventions that are outside the jurisdiction of the National Executive Committee (e.g., amending the National Constitution). The National Council in its present form consists of the members of the NEC, the PGs, and the President or his designee of each collegiate chapter.

Phi Mu Alpha operates independently from any of the major governing councils for collegiate fraternities in the United States such as the North-American Interfraternity Conference, though it is a member of other interfraternal organizations such as the Association of Fraternity Advisors, the Fraternity Communications Association, and the National Interfraternity Music Council. Since 1970, Phi Mu Alpha headquarters are located at Lyrecrest, an estate on the northern outskirts of Evansville, Indiana.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, enacted on June 23, 1972, prohibits discrimination based on gender in educational programs receiving federal funding. This prohibition extends to professional societies for students enrolled at universities that receive federal funds for student financial aid or other programs. However, social organizations, such as social fraternities and sororities, are specifically exempted. Phi Mu Alpha's initial response to Title IX was to allow chapters, beginning in 1976, to initiate women on a case-by-case basis as universities began questioning Phi Mu Alpha's single sex membership policy.. In 1983, the fraternity successfully petitioned for an exemption from Title IX from the U.S. Department of Education on the basis of its historical existence as a social organization, but some members felt that the fraternity should continue as a professional organization and fully embrace a coed membership policy. The issue came to a head at the 45th National Convention in 1985 when the fraternity's National Assembly voted to restore Phi Mu Alpha to its original status as a male-only social fraternity. Despite this action, the fraternity did not change its statement of purpose (now known as the Object) to reflect the change in status until 2003, and it remained a member of the Professional Fraternity Association until 2007.

Phi Mu Alpha's national philanthropy is the Ossian Everett Mills Music Mission. Created in 1998, the Mills Music Mission is a modern-day revival of a practice originated by the fraternity's founder, Ossian Everett Mills, in the late 19th century. Mills was organizer of a "Flower Mission" in Boston in which Musicians and assistants would go to Boston's hospitals on Christmas and Easter to sing, play music, and give recitations. The activity was referred to as the "Flower Mission" because prior to going to the hospitals the participants would collect flowers from churches after the morning services and distribute them to the patients they visited. The Mills Music Mission was adopted as Phi Mu Alpha official national philanthropy in 2003. The focus of this project is rare among fraternity philanthropies since, instead of raising funds to support a selected charity, the fraternity uses the unique talents and interests of its members to personally interact with and lift the spirits of those in need.

The CPRs' Council meets from December 27–31 of each year, and the PGs' Council meets during the summer of each non-convention year. These meetings are referred to as convocations and are usually held at Lyrecrest. At the convocations, the chairmen conduct training sessions for the members of their respective councils, facilitate discussions about topics of concern regarding the fraternity, and chair Business sessions for the purpose of adopting formal resolutions recommending actions to the NEC. In convention years, members of the PG's Council arrive at the national convention site a day early for a brief meeting to prepare for their duties as members of the National Assembly but a full convocation is not held.

Since spring 2014, none of the Fraternity's periodical publications have been released.

In October 2016, the National Executive Council requested input on potentially updating the transgender policies of the Fraternity.