I Believe in Democracy

PRESIDENT'S GREETING

W I L L I A M T . F O R A N I I I ( M U T H E T A ' 0 1 ) N A T I O N A L P R E S I D E N T

Greetings brothers and friends. As we enter another holiday season and look to the year ahead, I want to express my gratitude to all that have made this past year a success for the fraternity. 2021 presented its share of challenges as we continued to navigate the impact of COVID-19 on the undergraduate and fraternity experience as well as a safe return to campus for all our chapters. We should all be pleased with the accomplishments of each undergraduate chapter this past fall – in operations, service, philanthropy, education, brotherhood, and recruitment. Our chapters have succeeded in providing men with the opportunity to develop meaningful connections and experiences.

I also want to take a moment to thank all of advisors and volunteers for their efforts over the past year. We would not have been as nearly as successful over the course of the past year without your involvement and support. I’d specifically like to thank those who contributed to our working groups on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Health and Safety, and New Member Education. Through this ongoing and collective work, the Fraternity has adopted a new position on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and created a system to report bias related incidents, created a pilot new member and member education program, and is examining its health and safety related policies and processes. Moving forward, we have also convened working groups focused on the fraternity’s growth and expansion strategy as well as the accreditation program.

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Triangle as much as I have as we look at democracy and civic engagement amongst college students as well as healthy new member experiences. Both articles and timely and uniquely relevant for Phi Mu Delta and the experiences of today’s member. Finally, as I’ve shared in previous messages, this is an important time for our organization. As we look to the year ahead, the National Council will continue our focus on long-term strategic planning heading into this summer’s Conclave in Pittsburgh. The Conclave Committee is planning a robust experience focused on brotherhood, fellowship, and education. I hope that you can join us in June as we gather and celebrate our successes and conduct the business of the Fraternity. In the meantime, your support of the Fraternity and the Phi Mu Delta Educational Foundation can help us deliver high quality, impactful educational experiences that will enhance and enrich the Phi Mu Delta experience.

It is a privilege and honor to serve you and I wish you and your family the happiest of holiday seasons.

I BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY...

B y S a m W a l t e m e y e r

About the Author: Sam Waltemeyer is the Assistant Director of Student Leadership, Involvement and Civic Engagement at Carnegie Mellon University. He led the university’s voter engagement efforts leading up to the 2020 Presidential Election and was an inaugural member of the Pennsylvania Student Voter Coalition. Sam joined Phi Mu Delta as a member of the Mu Omicron Chapter at Frostburg State University and currently volunteers with the Phi Mu Delta Educational Foundation.

DEMOCRACY IS UNDER ATTACK. Over the last few years, this has been the recycled cry of wonks, activists, media outlets, and politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. As a country, we continue to debate, with new vigor, the effects on our democracy in light of mail-in ballots, Citizens United, voter identification laws, and gerrymandering. We watched the Stop The Steal movement, the subsequent raid of the Capital building, and the de-platforming of political figures and celebrities bringing fresh questions on first amendment rights and censorship. Reviewing all of these developments and debates have left voters on all sides asking, “What is the future of our democracy?”

Democracy & Political Unrest on Campus

Conflict, civil unrest, and political activism are not new trends for college campuses in this country. One of the earliest recorded conflicts describes a duel between two students at South Carolina College in 1833 resulting in one them dead and the other mortally wounded. Apparently, both men wanted the last fish dinner in the dining hall. In 1881 students at Miami University in Ohio held a protest known as the Snowball Rebellion resulting in a third of the student population expelled and the rise of Beta Theta Pi. The 1960s began a wave of campus unrest with the Berkley student rights and free speech movement. 1970 will be known for anti-war sentiment spreading across campuses, as did the burning of ROTC buildings, with the Kent State Massacre being the most notable tragic moment of that era.

American college campuses are a microcosm of what is happening broadly in the United States. Take all of the tensions between progressive and conservative political viewpoints, debates over social issues, a heavy dollop of the zeitgeist, and concentrate it all, and you start to understand today’s college campus.

This puts the leaders of Higher Education into a very tough, often no-win, situation. At the top of their mind is the academic mission which ideally welcomes a spectrum of ideas and ideologies. Teaching is near paramount with the goal of helping students develop critical thinking, reasoning, logic, and ethical, or moral, decision making. What competes with those goals is the customer service experience and the desire for students to remain happy and feel served by their university. Balancing the academic and experiential goals is especially difficult when students demand accountability for offensive speech, public apologies, and divestment.

Although tensions with students can be strained universities and colleges find pride in participating in democracy. College campuses often host presidential, and vicepresidential candidate debates and are the backdrop of stump speeches. There is also pride in hiring former politicians and civil servants to join the collection of notable faculty.

Before going further it is important to understand how college students are interacting with one of the fundamental elements of democracy. Voting.

The Pew Research Center reports millennials, born 1981 to 1996, eclipsed Baby Boomers as the largest living American electorate. Millennials, combined with Gen Z (those born after 1996) made up 17% of the total share of voters in the 2020 presidential election.

According to Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Engagement and Learning, “based on votes counted as of November 18, 2020, 52% - 55% of voting-eligible young people, ages 18 - 29, cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election. ” This is compared to 45% in the 2016 presidential election. For many states, the Youth Vote was an important factor.

The following is the Youth share of all votes during the 2020 presidential in states where Phi Mu Delta hosts chapters:

College student voters are showing up to the polls and engaging like never before. When surveyed Youth Voters identified their keys issues as environment/climate change, racism, and health care access/affordability. When surveyed 83% of youth voters believe their generation has the power to create change. Nearly 80% of youth voters say that Covid-19 has made them realize the importance of politics in everyday life. Over 50% of youth voters surveyed tried to convince other peers to vote while 70% talked to their friends about political issues and the election.

Viginia = 20% New Hamphire = 18% Maine = 17% Ohio = 16% New York = 15% Pennsylvania = 13% Maryland = No information New Jersey = No information Vermont = No information

The Opportunity

Leaders of Higher Education have a dream where young adults can come together to engage in civil dialogue and programming with a common value of democracy. However, most campuses do not have a student-led organization trailblazing those efforts. Here lies the opportunity for Phi Mu Delta chapters to add significant value to their college campuses.

Phi Mu Delta has over 100 years of practice of bringing together people regardless of belief, or creed, to build community (brotherhood) with a common goal of improving the world around them (service). It also has practiced in debating, parliamentary procedures, activism, and holding another to the account which are all important elements of democracy.