HOUSEN/COVINGTON 2021

“Young King, 
Keep your head up
Even when you’re fed up
Even when you get knocked down
Just know you can always stand back up
And stand proud”
I found the lines of this poem on MEDIUM and it took me right to our fraternity, Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. Why? Because in the 58 years of our fraternity’s we’ve been knocked down by others and even by our own brothers as a failed experiment. Our brothers have been fed up so many times not only by the circumstances outside our fraternity but also by the circumstances that were happening within our organization. It has been hard to hold our heads up high when our organization has suffered through the economic woes of growth, the diminishing growth of brothers who dedicate themselves to our fraternity, the dwindling of many of our chapters both graduate and undergraduate. Yet, we have always had our 12 founders to lean on to provide us strength and guidance. It is time for our own structure and our own strength to provide the pathway to brighter times for Iota Phi Theta Fraternity. That’s why I support the Housen/Covington alliance to ensure our fraternity will stand tall and not fall back. Iota Phi Theta Fraternity adopted a theme a few decades ago “building traditions not resting upon them”. It made for a great tee shirt but in actuality it harmed the future growth and stagnated our fraternity. Why? Because we needed traditions. We had traditions. The founders and the initial lines of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity provided the basis of those traditions but somehow those traditions were lost in the building not resting concept.
Our ancestors strength was based on the fact that traditions linked our communities together. So when I saw the icon ONEIOTA it presented a sense that we would indeed begin to build traditions that would finally solidify our foundations. It’s time KINGS to understand that it takes a man to stand for something and to stop falling for nothing. We can move Iota Phi Theta Fraternity to a period of tremendous growth with the understanding that as men it is our duty and responsibility Housen/Covington 2021.
Joseph Hall
6A1974
A TRADITIONAL BROTHER