On May 23, 1964, the Mu Phi Chapter of Alpha Chi Rho was chartered at Clarion State College in Clarion, Pennsylvania. The founding fathers of the Mu Phi Chapter laid the groundwork for a fraternity that would survive the next 34 years. Alpha Chi Rho here at Clarion has survived, much like our own national history, times of hardship and times of prosperity, four recolinizations and times of anti-Greek sentiments.
Entering the fall 1997 semester, the Mu Phi Chapter was on its last legs. With only six Brothers active, no house, and a huge debt, the crows at Clarion needed new blood to survive. And that's when the next generation of Crows took over. It began with six freshmen that lived on 4B Campbell Hall. These six men decided that they wanted to start a "new" fraternity here at Clarion, for the simple reason that no existing fraternity, all of which had their own good qualities, really suited their idea of what a brotherhood should be like. Brother Mike Vislay, who was one of the six, met with Dr. John Postlewait, IFC Advisor, on the possibility of starting a new fraternity at Clarion. The most efficient way of achieving this goal was to recolonize a chapter that had previously existed at Clarion. This left the six with Alpha Chi Rho, who were planning on closing the chapter, and Delta Chi, whose charter was revoked a couple of years earlier. AXP met with the six first, and so the first step to the birth of the Mu Phi Colony was taken.
Soon after this, the first meeting with potential brothers was held. Seven young men who lived in Nair and Wilkenson Halls were present. They then decided to join the newborn fraternity. Within a couple of weeks, the first meeting with Alpha Chi Rho nationals was held. Brothers' John Tedesco, Bryan Coin, and Adam Tscherney, from the Theta Phi Chapter at Thiel College met with the group, which then consisted of 17 men, and instituted the men as an interest group of Alpha Chi Rho. At this meeting, officers and chairs were appointed. The Executive Board of the interest group consisted of President Mike Vislay, Vice-President Mike Obley, Secretary Matthew McCabe, and Sergeant of Arms Matthew DiRaimo, Postulant Educator Jim Donnelly, and Chaplain Jim Stuckeman. This laid the groundwork for the interest group to get pinned and on our way to receiving the Mu Phi Charter.
Now that we were on our way to becoming a colony, we had to fulfill our requirements to become a colony as explained by national headquarters. We began our first on-going community service activity, which was playing BINGO with the elderly at a local nursing home. We also conducted fundraising activities such as credit card solicitation. Soon our newfound brotherhood grew to 33 members and February 21, 1998 was set as the date that we would be pinned as a colony of Alpha Chi Rho. Brothers from the Theta Phi Chapter at Thiel College, the Kappa Phi Brothers of Slippery Rock, Brothers from the Phi Pi Chi Chapter of IUP, and Brothers of the then Tau Chi Phi Colony at Monmouth attended the regional conclave/pinning. On the afternoon of Saturday, February 21, 1998, the Mu Phi Colony of AXP was pinned in room 250 of the Gemmell Multipurpose Complex by Alpha Chi Rho Executive National Director Matthew Jenkins.
We had grown quickly and succeeded in our first two goals as a fraternity. But our largest obstacle was still ahead of us. The rest of the spring 1998 semester was spent preparing for the charter by community service and fundraising. We had our first mixer with the Delta Zeta sorority. Our name was beginning to be known in Clarion, the Crows were back, and they were stronger than they had been in years. Our co-ed softball team won the intra-mural championship, giving us our first intra-mural championship. Soon summer came and everyone went home.
Entering fall 1998, the Crows from Clarion were only looking towards the future. Brothers Mike Vislay, Jeremy Lacko, and Troy McCurdy had attended the Leadership/Scholarship Academy at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA during the summer and came back to the colony equipped with the tools of success. We were moving into our first house at RD#3 Box 311, South Fifth Ave, just two doors down from the old AXP house. We were waiting to take our first postulant class named Delta Alpha. The class, President Ed Hiser "Pyle", Vice-President, Eli Bowen "Tri-Kap", Secretary Chet Orelli "Squiggy", Treasurer Robb Lawrence "Fetus", Eddie Isabella "Taz", and Rocco Trivarelli "I.R.O.C." These six young men laid down Mu Phi's expectations for the future. In addition to the new brothers, the crows voted Dr. Aric Kraus as our academic advisor. It was fitting that Dr. Kraus was voted to be our advisor, because it was his first year teaching at Clarion. The fall 1998 semester came to a close with the crows voting on their first sweetheart, Jeni Beckwith, a sister of Delta Phi Epsilon. Christmas Break sent the Crows home to their families and looking towards our charter.
