President’s Blog

Theta Phi Alpha, 𝝧𝚽𝝖.…this is who we are.  Our Founders chose our name for us in 1912.  This is the name on our articles of incorporation and in our governing documents.  As an organization, we protect our name, logo, and identity through trademarks.  I am proud to be a Theta Phi Alpha…I wouldn’t want to be anything else!  I know our members feel the same.  As I’m scrolling through Facebook and Instagram and seeing pictures of recruitment and other events, sometimes I cringe a little.  I see images with TPA on banners, balloons, and wooden letters.  Sometimes, I see us referred to as Thetas.  I would like to explain why this makes me cringe!

What fills your bucket? In other words, what fills your heart with joy and causes you to smile until your face hurts from smiling? For me, spending time with Theta Phi Alphas fills my bucket! My bucket is overflowing after attending Officer Leadership Training (OLT) at the University of Maryland and a gathering for alumnae in the Washington D.C. area this month.

Dear Theta Phi Alphas,

Picture this. It’s August 1985. A freshman college student has just been moved into her dorm room by her parents. Her parents cried as they left campus as she is the first child they have taken to college. She doesn’t have a car or a phone in her dorm room, just a pay phone at the end of the hall. This is before the days of cell phones or personal computers. She is lucky that a few friends from her high school decided to go to the same college and they all made plans to find each other at freshman orientation. At freshman orientation, she sees her friends from high school and they all make sure they are in the same group for orientation.