Envisioning the Future of Convention

By Kurt-Alexander Geller, International President

What a wonderful time we had at our 2023 convention in Grapevine! We enjoyed fabulous music, inspiring workshops, stimulating discussion and, most of all, the warmth of friendships old and new as we gathered for our first face-to-face convention since 2017 to build “A Bridge Forward” for our beloved Mu Phi Epsilon.

To thank everyone who made it possible would exceed my word count for this column, but I must give a shout-out to all the volunteers from our host provinces, Central and South Central, and most especially to our amazing convention chair, Nancy Laine. We also must express our gratitude to our partners at the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation who generously sponsored many of the most memorable events and activities. For 60 years, the Foundation has been making great things happen for members of MφE, and they certainly did with this convention!

The business sessions were full of lively discussions. The delegates representing you made several significant decisions, including elevating our wonderful social media manager, Haley Stevenson, to join INEST Jess LaNore and International Editor Kat Braz as an appointed, nonvoting member of the International Executive Board.

The delegates also voted to authorize the IEB to form a task force to study and make recommendations about the future role of conventions in Mu Phi Epsilon. The fact is, wonderful as conventions like the one we have just had are, they are increasingly unaffordable for both the fraternity and its members. Fully one-third of our chapters were not represented by a delegate at this convention because they could not afford the registration and the travel. Nor do we want only official delegates to come to the convention — convention should be a time for all Mu Phis to share, yet comparatively few of our members do participate. Ultimately, the expense of putting on a convention every three years is a significant strain on our finances, both organizational and individual. The task force will be studying many possibilities and scenarios for the future of conventions and will be asking everyone to weigh in with their views. They will be creating a survey of the membership, and I urge all members to share their thoughts and to have some earnest discussions this fall at your district conference and within your chapters. Mu Phi Epsilon needs to know — what would future conventions be like so that no member, including you, would dream of missing one?