Fraternal History
Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity Inc. is the Oldest Latino Fraternity in Existence. The history of Phi Iota Alpha Latino Fraternity is the history of all Latino college students and professionals who strive to keep their intellectual heritage alive. Since its inception, when the legendary "Union Hispano Americana" (UHA) was first organized in 1898, the fraternity has upheld its inspirational and unique ideological foundation of Pan-Americanism.
The ideology of Pan-Americanism can be summarized as the "unification of all the Latin American nations and all Latin American people." The Fraternity has served as an "Ideological University" through the study and interpretation of Pan-Americanism inspired by the accomplishments of its Five Pillars, Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin, Bernardo O’Higgins, Benito Juarez and Jose Marti.
Through the years, this prestigious institution has witnessed a number of operational and structural modifications as a form of survival and adaptation to its time. Through it all, Phi Iota Alpha Latino Fraternity continues to fulfill its distinct goals by uniting its members fraternally in a manner in which, individually and collectively, they will contribute towards the fulfillment of the organization's mission and ideology; fomenting "the scientific study of the social, economical, and political problems of Pan-America;" and serving "as a source of personal growth in which in conjunction with academic preparation, each brother will find an appropriate environment to develop." In short, Phi Iota Alpha Latino Fraternity has always been, and will continue to be, a source of empowerment for Latinos everywhere.
Chapter History
In Fall of 2005 while surfing a social network, Diego Gonzalez found an advertisement about a Latino fraternity trying to expand. He clicked on the advertisement and it directed him to the fraternity website, where he started reading about the fraternity, their beliefs, mission and vision. He became more interested and contacted the fraternity expansion director. By connecting with the brothers from the Tau Chapter, Diego Gonzalez had the opportunity to attend their social, community service and cultural awareness events. While Diego Gonzalez was learning more about the fraternity and the requirements, he started reaching out to other individuals to inform them about the fraternity and the idea of starting a new chapter. One of those individuals was Edward Luna. Once Diego Gonzalez and Edward Luna connected, they both started to attend events and decided that it was definitely an organization that could offer something new at their school.
A year later, in Fall of 2006, Diego Gonzalez presented the idea to his close friend Luis Resendiz who had just became his roommate. Soon after, he provided him with information about the fraternity and his experiences with the brothers from both Tau and Alpha Eta Chapters. Upon reading information about the fraternity and learning about the different events the fraternity showcases for the community; Luis Resendiz agreed to join the group to bring Phi Iota Alpha to Texas A&M University. Next, under the guidance of Roger "Terco" Rivas, the three individuals came together to start reaching out to more people and began recruiting for the founding line in the Spring of 2006. However, recruiting became challenging since the organization was not officially recognized by the school and the name of the fraternity could not be used since the three individuals had not gone through the educational process. As such, the idea to start a F.I.A.T. club, Phi Iota Alpha's official interest group, emerged to help establish a chapter of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity at Texas A&M University. In order to be recognized as a Greek organization, the group also had to be accepted and recognized by the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC). Therefore, MGC had representatives from each Greek organization vote for or against Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity Inc. It was on April 16th, 2007, that they became recognized as a MGC member organization, and thus, officially a Greek organization at Texas A&M University.
The three individuals were inducted into the educational process during the summer of 2007 and began their journey to become brothers under the guidance of Brother Roger "Terco" Rivas and Brother Zeik "Juro" Molina from the Alpha Eta Chapter of the University of Texas at San Antonio. On August 25th, 2007, the three individuals crossed into the illustrious brotherhood of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity and became the founding line at Texas A&M University as the "Linea of los Implacables" conformed by #1 Edward "D.R.I.V.E.N" Luna, #2 Luis "Emprendedor" Resendiz and #3 Diego "Poderoso" Gonzalez. Lastly, the official name as member of MGC was changed from F.I.A.T. to Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
