Phi Gamma Delta fraternity will (re)open chapter at USU
Utah State University’s InterFraternity Council voted Monday to invite the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity to open a chapter on campus.
This will be the second time the fraternity, nicknamed “FIJI,” will have a presence on campus — its original USU chapter closed in 1997 after nearly 30 years.
Sigma Chi president Matthew Morgan said it wasn’t any “large event that brought the chapter crashing down.” Membership sort of “fizzled out.”
Other organizations were considered, including Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Tau Kappa Epsilon. But in the end, IFC decided FIJI would be the best choice.
“We were impressed with the standards they set for their brotherhood, their current academic and philanthropy successes they’ve seen throughout the years, and felt that they would be able to add a new and individual piece to our community — that they wouldn’t take away from any of our organizations but also add to them,” said Ryker Moore, the president of Alpha Sigma Phi, USU’s newest fraternity.
Of the fraternity representatives present at Monday’s meeting, only Sigma Phi Epsilon’s delegate voted against allowing FIJI to open a chapter at USU.
Members of Sigma Phi Epsilon (nicknamed SigEp) felt adding another fraternity wouldn’t necessarily increase students’ interest in going Greek, the chapter’s president, Ian Nemelka, said via Facebook message.
“If there was a demand for another fraternity, the number of students in rush classes among the already established fraternities would represent that,” Nemelka said.
SigEp’s members believe the problem shouldn’t be solved by adding more fraternities, Nemelka said, but by appealing to more students through existing organizations.
“It’s not an options issue, it’s an image issue,” he said.
Morgan said Sigma Chi’s members made a similar argument when IFC voted to bring Alpha Sigma Phi, to campus. But dissenting votes aren’t uncommon in IFC, he said.
“At the end of the day, we’re a Greek community,” Morgan said. “And yeah, you’re looking out for yourself but at the end of the day everybody realizes that we’re all tied together.”
However, Morgan and others on the council felt Phi Gamma Delta was particularly well-equipped to attract members.
For one thing, since the fraternity already existed at USU in the past, alumni were available and willing to help the chapter get established and advise its members, Morgan said. That’s not something a fraternity entirely new to the university could offer.
Beyond that, Morgan said he and other IFC members were impressed with FIJI’s track record for successful expansion.
“We’re looking for solid, consistent growth, not just somebody that’s going to come in, flare up, then die out,” Morgan said.
The addition of Phi Gamma Delta to USU’s current selection of fraternities will make for eight total fraternities on campus, with only three sororities. That’s because the process for introducing new sororities is more complicated and difficult than for fraternities, Morgan said.
Recruitment for USU’s chapter of Phi Gamma Delta will begin during the Fall 2017 semester.
@alyssarbrts
Exciting news for the USU Greek community!!