Fraternities Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kappa Sigma are striving to impress the administration in an attempt to get their fraternity houses back by fall 2002.
The fraternities will probably be able to reapply by the end of November, according to Linda Newman, executive director of residence life and University Dining Services.
“Now, it’s up to them to impress the University,” Newman said.
They plan on doing just that.
Sigma Phi Epsilon is focusing on being more involved on campus and improving its collective GPA, said Harold Howell, its president.
“They’re gonna know we’re here to learn,” Howell said.
Kappa Sigma now lives in Conklin North after losing its Conklin D house last year because the 30-member fraternity was not big enough to fill it.
Higher recruitment is one goal, according to Jerry Fork, alumni adviser for Kappa Sigma. “Our plan is to … gain membership and get strong.”
Kappa Sigma also intends to show the University that it contributes to the community, said Mike Behn, its president.
When the University received the Red Cross Good Neighbor Award last week, it was largely because of one Kappa Sigma member, Behn said. That member, Matt Kaderly, organized a fund-raiser giving more than $600 to the Red Cross after September’s terrorist attacks.
“We’re doing our best to show the University that we deserve a house,” Behn said. “If they don’t (give us the house), we will keep applying.”
Last spring, members of Sigma Phi Epsilon learned they would have to move out of their house on fraternity row, where they had lived for about 30 years.
Most of the group’s 63 members live off campus because they could not fit in the available space in Conklin North. Many members who would have otherwise lived in the fraternity house now live off campus, Howell said.
Sigma Phi Epsilon members violated the University housing agreement by leaving various items in their house’s cubbyholes when they checked out at the end of last year. Filled cubbyholes create a fire hazard, according to the agreement.
However, their house director, Kay Robinson, told the group check-out was complete, according to Howell. After getting the approval of Robinson, who was appointed by Greek Affairs, the fraternity assumed that all was well when it was not, Howell said.
Regardless, Howell is confident that Sigma Phi Epsilon will return to its house on fraternity row. “We’re not gonna let them take away our house for long,” Howell said. “We’re bigger men than that.”
Last spring, Kappa Sigma members heard news that they might lose their house. However, administrators suggested they might be able to share Conklin D with Sigma Lamda Gamma, a historically Latino sorority.
However, they learned only one day before graduation that they would not be able to return, Behn said. “I was devastated.”
Without a house, there is less of a sense of brotherhood in the group, Behn said.
“The difference between having and not having a house is more than just physical,” he said. “You get to know the brothers so much better when you live together and depend on each other.”
Both fraternities were already on probation, Linda Newman said. “Probation is kind of like saying to them ‘we’ll give you one more chance’.”
Both groups missed their second chance when they failed to live up to the University Housing Agreement, Newman said.
“It’s necessary to hold each group to the standard,” she said. “Our actions aren’t designed to tear down the community but to help it.”
Greek Affairs is careful when choosing whether to revoke a fraternity’s housing, especially if they have a history there, Newman said. “It is not a decision that is taken lightly.”
Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kappa Sigma are not the first fraternities to have their housing revoked. Sigma Alpha Epsilon lost its house in 1999. Delta Upsilon lost its in 2000. It still has a chapter at the University.
