An attempt was made by the national officers to postpone the 1918 annual convention in an effort to consolidate the interior position of the order, but the storm which had been hovering for years was far too advanced to stem. Ironically, the Wesleyan Commons Club hastened the storm by proposing in a 1917 round robin letter that the order use a Greek-letter name "Phi Mu Delta." The "progressives" insisted upon meeting and settling the question. Only a small representation attended the convention, delegates from seven of the remaining thirteen chapters. The progressives controlled the delegates of four chapters, the democrats of three. A compromise was tried but found unacceptable to either side. The progressives insisted upon a Greek-letter name and exclusive membership policies and the democrats leaned over backwards on the fundamental democratic principles of the order and insisted that the original wide open membership plan be strictly enforced and the old name retained.