Letter from the President

Dear Prospec­tive Phi Delt Parent,

It is an honor that your son is inter­ested in join­ing the Cal­i­for­nia Delta chap­ter of Phi Delta Theta. On behalf of the entire mem­ber­ship, I would also like to offer con­grat­u­la­tions on your son’s enroll­ment to the­Uni­ver­si­ty­of­South­ern Cal­i­for­nia. USC allows its stu­dents to pur­sue the high­est aca­d­e­mic excel­lence while enjoy­ing a steady stream of social activ­ity and uni­ver­sity tra­di­tion. The Greek sys­tem on cam­pus enriches all aspects of the under­grad­u­ate expe­ri­ence and aids its mem­bers in reach­ing their fullest poten­tial as col­lege students.

Here at Phi Delt we pur­sue this enrich­ment by embrac­ing our fra­ter­nity his­tory and tra­di­tion. Phi Delta Theta was founded at the Uni­ver­sity of Miami at Ohio in 1848 by six stu­dents known as the Immor­tal Six, and was cre­ated under the umbrella of three car­di­nal prin­ci­ples: (1) the cul­ti­va­tion of friend­ship among its mem­bers, (2) a stead­fast devo­tion to schol­ar­ship and acad­e­mia, and (3) the devel­op­ment of a high stan­dard of moral­ity. The three prin­ci­ples drive our com­mit­ment to excel not just as schol­ars, but as well-rounded men with a sense of respon­si­bil­ity to each other and the community.

The men of Phi Delta Theta-California Delta strive to give back to the USC com­mu­nity, and we have estab­lished our­selves as lead­ers across cam­pus. Our mem­bers have been involved in orga­ni­za­tions includ­ing: Tro­jan Foot­ball Team, Cross Coun­try & Track, USC Stu­dent Gov­ern­ment, Global Med­ical Brigades, Tro­jan Men Acapella, KXSC Radio, Tro­jan Real Estate Asso­ci­a­tion, Latino Busi­ness Stu­dent Asso­ci­a­tion, Mar­shall Case team, USC Value Invest­ing Group, Robot­ics club, NASA Intern­ships, Daily Trojan, SC Busi­ness Film Fes­ti­val, USC Roller Hockey, Break­Through Dance, Joint Edu­ca­tional Project, Mar­shall Out­reach Vol­un­teer, Troy Tones Acapella, Cam­pus Cru­sade, and many, many more. We are proud of the diver­sity of inter­ests within our chap­ter and the hon­or­able rep­u­ta­tion it has given Phi Delt across this wide spec­trum of cam­pus orga­ni­za­tions, as well as in the eyes of the university.

I know that fra­ter­ni­ties carry a lot of stereo­types and even stig­mas, and that many par­ents are hes­i­tant to allow their son to join one. My par­ents were not on board when I first told them of my plans to become a mem­ber of Phi Delt either. How­ever, after see­ing my aca­d­e­mic suc­cess and meet­ing the fra­ter­nity broth­ers I had come to call some of my best friends, they real­ized what a pos­i­tive impact Phi Delta Theta was hav­ing on both my col­lege expe­ri­ence and my per­sonal growth. The safety and suc­cess of our mem­bers is of the utmost impor­tance to us, and we hold each other account­able for main­tain­ing an envi­ron­ment con­ducive to uphold­ing these priorities.

I hope I have given you a good idea of what we are about at Phi Delta Theta-California Delta. If you have any ques­tions or con­cerns, please don’t hes­i­tate to reach me via email or by phone. Join­ing a fra­ter­nity is an expe­ri­ence unlike any other, and I can assure you that your son will find that it has a pos­i­tive impact on all the facets of his under­grad­u­ate career.

Sin­cerely,

Pablo M. Ortiz
Pres­i­dent
Phi Delta Theta-California Delta
portiz@usc.edu
(650) 391‑7883