Phi Alpha Mu

Phi Alpha Mu (ΦΑΜ) is a local, social sorority at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, United States. It was established in 1926 and has over 1,000 alumnae.

History
In 1923, Phi Alpha Mu began as a group called the Snake Charmers at Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College. Snake Charmers evolved into an organization called F.A.M., jokingly referring to themselves as "Find A Man". The club combined with another local sorority, Zeta Gamma, adopting the Greek letters for F.A.M, thus becoming Phi Alpha Mu in 1926.

The mission of Phi Alpha Mu is "to promote love, trust, loyalty, and respect between each sibling and to support growth and learning as individuals and as a group while providing service and compassion to our community, thereby ensuring the survival of the group and the group's ideals."

In 1926, Western Maryland College officially recognized the sorority and it became one of the first Greek organizations on campus. The sorority adopted Gamma Beta Chi as its brother fraternity in 1941, another local organization at McDaniel.

Although there is continuous pressure to become a national organization, which started in the 1970s when other fraternities and sororities joined national organizations, Phi Alpha Mu did not follow the trend and continued to maintain the traditions that made it a unique organization. Today, Phi Alpha Mu is the only remaining original local sorority at McDaniel College. It has more than 1,000 alumnae.

Symbols
The name Phi Alph Mu was selected for the Greek letter acronym ΦΑΜ or F.A.M., the group's former name "Find A Man".

The sorority's colors are purple and white. Its flower is the purple pansy. Its mascot is the purple cow. Its symbol is the torch of learning.Its mascot is the purple cow. The values or pillars of Phi Alpha Mu are Love, Trust, Loyalty, Respect, and Melioration.

In 1937, the sorority began publishing its yearbook, The Torch.

Membership
Phi Alpha Mu is also one of the few sororities that currently initiates transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming, and genderqueer members, stating "We as Phi Alpha Mu are proud to accept sisters and siblings no matter gender identity, gender presentation, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, color, disability, religion, etc. Discrimination has no place in Phi Alpha Mu and we as a sorority will continue the fight both as sisters and siblings, as well as a Greek Organization."

Philanthropy
Serving the community is one of the main values of Phi Alpha Mu as stated in the mission statement. The official philanthropies of Phi Alpha Mu are House of Ruth and American Cancer Society. The organization is very active in the local community as well, participating in various philanthropic events such as Relay for Life and their annual Race for Her 5k, which benefits both the House of Ruth Maryland and the Phi Alpha Mu Endowed Scholarship, a scholarship to aid sorority women with financial difficulties.