Next spring, Bradley will welcome a new fraternity to campus.
During an Interfraternity Council (IFC) round table meeting on Sunday, chapter presidents voted to not only welcome expansion to the greek community but invite the national fraternity Delta Sigma Phi to campus.
With an eight to 14 vote, IFC voted to invite Delta Sigma Phi, or Delta Sigs, to colonize on campus spring 2014.
“A lot of it came down to personal preference,” IFC President Alex Kapustka said. “When Delta Sig was on campus, it seemed that they were talking with us rather than at us. It seemed that they wanted to bring a breath of fresh air to campus and help Bradley as a whole.”
Kapustka said Delta Sigma Phi has been notified that they are welcomed to come to campus.
“I commend [our] chapters on taking a really good look at the chapters and choosing the one best for the community,” said Associate Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Jesse Koch. “Delta Sig has a lot to offer that our community doesn’t currently have.”
The next step in the process is to outline a contract between IFC, the university and Delta Sigma Phi.
Koch said the contract will be drafted over the summer and will detail how the university will collaborate with the fraternity to help them be successful.
Items within the contract will include basic logistics such as if the university will reserve space on campus, provide fraternity representatives with parking passes and a space on campus where they can stay.
“It’s just a pain in the butt for them not to [be able to stay on campus],” Koch said. “They’re going to be extremely busy, and the closer to the action they can get the better.”
In addition to organizing logistics, Koch said IFC can support Delta Sig recruitment by helping them get in touch with potential members and contacts to receive referrals.
“IFC can give them names of men who signed up for [IFC recruitment] but didn’t go through the recruitment process,” Koch said.
Conversations about expanding the IFC community initially began last fall when three national fraternities approached IFC in question of the opportunity to expand on campus, Kapustka said.
IFC then invited two fraternities, Alpha Tau Omega and Delta Sigma Phi, to campus to present and essentially sell their chapter to Bradley IFC.
“I’ve been pretty excited,” said Lambda Chi Alpha Chapter President Zak Sebastian. “I know there’s a lot of fraternities on campus but when Lambda Chi Alpha got rechartered it brought energy, and I hope this fraternity does the same.”
Sebastian said he is excited about bringing a new fraternity to campus, especially since that fraternity will be Delta Sigma Phi.
“[The Delta Sigs] told us they will recruit people in ways they think the campus is lacking,” he said. “For instance, if they think Bradley has bad school spirit they will try to recruit people with leadership with school spirit.”
Although in fall 2014 Delta Sigma Phi will be able to formally recruit with IFC chapters, Sebastian said he doesn’t think it will impact Lambda Chi’s recruitment.
For Koch, this isn’t his first experience with expansion. But nonetheless he is looking forward to Delta Sigma Phi joining campus.
“I’m definitely excited,” Koch said. “Knowing them, there is no reason to believe they will not be successful.”
