The History of the Gamma Mu Chapter

Upon entering the new room, a candlelight discussion commenced and elections were held. Elected President David "Uncle Bob" Cozzi, knew that the Colony was up against tough odds, having only 9 members and knowing that by 1992, the requirement for chartering was 35 members. The Colony had a great deal of work to do, if they would EVER become an established chapter of Theta Xi. Having been cut free of the "dead weight" of the disaffiliates, the Montclair Colony had a surge of fraternal spirit, brotherhood and energy. Only now, could the Montclair colony accomplish the tasks at hand. Placing an immediate emphasis on rush, the Colony members began its efforts to increase its membership, however this time taking care, not to recruit members akin to those who disaffiliated. By the Spring of 1991, the colony grew to 12 members. During the Fall of 1991, a tremendous effort towards rush brough over 55 prospective members to Theta Xi, a record for both colony, and campus. After selecting those prospectives most suitable for Theta Xi, the colony had grown to 30 members strong. Entering the early part of Spring 1992, the colony had reached it's goal of 35 members, all within a single year, after facing almost certain death.

On May 1st,1992 the members of the Gamma Mu Chapter of Theta Xi were initiated at the Gamma Chapter of Theta Xi, Steven's Technical Institute, Hoboken, NJ. Those original pre-Genesis members had endured the longest Associate membership at Montclair State, over 2 years. On May 2nd, 1992 the Gamma Mu Chapter of Theta Xi was chartered and it's officers installed, ending one Quest and establishing another.

Ironically, the trials and tribulations of Gamma Mu's history parallels the history of Theta Xi's original formation in 1864. The massive disaffiliation and dissention which was rampant in the Montclair Colony, was also apparent during Theta Xi's early days. In 1863, Sigma Delta Fraternity had been going through extremely trying times. The brotherhood and organization was suffering, and membership was declining. One member described the situation as being "a sad state of affairs", and in 1864, Sigma Delta held a vote to determine who would stay within the fraternity and who would leave. Bottles were placed upon a table with the names of the current members, and each individual was instructed to vote favorably by placing a white bean within the bottle, or unfavorably by placing a black bean. Members receiving a majority of black beans were asked to leave. Those leaving took their hats and said "I guess I'm not wanted here", and promptly left. After this disaffiliation, the remaining members decided upon a new name of the organization. Selecting two names "Theta Xi" and "Theta Psi", however Theta Psi was already an established fraternity, so Theta Xi was the adopted name. This marked the birth of Theta Xi National Fraternity at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy NY.

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