Fraternity looks to set up at GCSU

An interest group for the fraternity Theta Chi has formed at GCSU with hopes of reaching chapter status by Spring 2011. There are three stages for groups to go through during the process of becoming a fraternity – interest group, colony and chapter.

Sophomore pre-mass communication major Joe Longoria started the interest group after going through spring rush this semester and declining the bids he received.

“I don’t have a problem with Greek life at all, it’s just I didn’t really think there were many options,” Longoria said.

Longoria chose to bring Theta Chi to GCSU because his father is an alumnus and his brother is currently in the fraternity at the University of Georgia. After coming up with the initial idea to start an interest group, he said he approached some of his friends to see if they were interested as well.

“I was definitely into it. I thought the fraternity system could use a fresh addition,” said sophomore political science major Michael McCarthy.

Once Longoria got a group of about 11 interested people, he contacted Theta Chi’s national headquarters and said that he wanted to make an interest group. After he mailed a formal declaration, Theta Chi’s governing body, the grand chapter, sent several alumni and then expansion coordinator Corey Fischer to Milledgeville.

“We’ve got to make sure that they’re going to abide by the regulations that are in Theta Chi and we want to make sure that these guys want to make sure to do good things. Follow community service, make good grades and present a good face for the university. And these guys did that,” Fischer said.

In most cases, Greek organizations petition to be on a certain campus. Once the organization is approved, alumni and representatives from the national headquarters can recruit members on campus.

However, since a group of students at GCSU took the initial steps for Theta Chi to come to campus, representatives from the fraternity are not allowed to recruit.

The transition from interest group to colony usually takes between a semester and nine months. It also takes the same amount of time to transition from colony to chapter. The exact length of the process is ultimately determined by the group’s motivation.

“I’m pretty confident that we could become colonized by the end of this semester or right at the beginning of fall semester,” Longoria said.

To reach colony status, the group must have at least 25 men, do community service and be recognized as a positive influence on campus. The interest group currently has about 20 men.

Once the group has 45 men, it can send in paperwork and fees to the fraternity’s headquarters, and petition to achieve chapter status. Once the group becomes a chapter, which will most likely happen by spring of 2011, it can then participate in rush.

Longoria is not only seeking to expand the number of fraternities at GCSU, but also the types of people involved with them, he said.

“We wanted to make this for people that weren’t even thinking about Greek life in the first place,” Longoria said. “We want to add a fresh option that they can go to.”

Posted by Courtney Kelly on Apr 2 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry