Newsletter: September 2025

Results of the May 2025 Bylaws Amendment Vote

Last spring, three amendments to Mu Phi Epsilon’s International Bylaws were presented to the membership for a vote. All three amendments were passed by large margins and are now in force. This does not mean that individual chapters need to amend their own bylaws, but it will mean big changes for some of Mu Phi Epsilon’s operations. The International Bylaws have been updated, and the current version is available online.

The most important thing is that now Mu Phi Epsilon has moved to a more directly democratic one-member-one-vote model for decision making. This is a result of Resolution B, which passed with 76% of the vote. (All amendments to the International Bylaws require a 67% super-majority to pass.) What this means is that YOU are now an elector, as long as you are a member in good standing, with all dues and financial obligations paid to IEO. The next time we have an election or a vote between conventions, each of you individually will receive a ballot and have a vote. No longer will the franchise reside only in your chapter alone—all members will have their own vote.

And you soon will have an opportunity to exercise that vote, because as a result of Resolution A (which passed with 82.6% of the vote), the timing and process of election of International Officers has been adjusted. Although the election of International Officers still will occur in Convention years, the elections will now precede the Conventions, so that we all can arrive at Convention knowing who our next set of leaders will be, and they can attend the Convention to receive training and experience in their new roles and be installed (as before) as the final business act of the Convention. This means that the next International Executive Board will not be elected by a small number of delegates to Convention but rather will be elected by ALL the members of Mu Phi Epsilon before the Convention, and it should provide even stronger continuity of leadership for our fraternity. Please watch your email inboxes for a Call for Nominations in October and for balloting information in February. (By the way, these changes are another reason why it is crucial that you always inform IEO right away about any changes to your contact information!)

Finally, Resolution C (which passed with 72% of the vote) changes voting procedure at Convention itself. While we still expect every active chapter to send at least one representative to participate in proceedings, any business votes at Convention now will be open to any dues-current member who has paid the full Convention registration fee. No member who has registered for the full Convention will be prohibited from voting on business before the Convention, addressing a complaint that the Convention Task Force heard from numerous members about what incentive there was for non-voting delegates to choose to attend Convention if they were barred from voting. (Of course, there also will be fewer opportunities to consider and vote upon “business” at the 2026 Convention, as it will be a day shorter than recent Conventions have been, with correspondingly fewer business sessions. There are many reasons besides “business” to attend Convention, and you’ll be hearing about a number of them throughout this program year – we hope you can join us, registration is open!)

I want to thank all of our members for their thorough consideration of these amendments to the International Bylaws last spring, and I look forward to every member engaging and investing in future votes as the fraternity moves forward into the future.

Loyally,

Kurt-Alexander Zeller, President