New fraternity builds members

Driving down Jordan Avenue or Third Street after dark, greek letters light up the darkness. But one name heard on campus is absent -- not because the windows of its house are boarded up, but because the house doesn't physically exist. Yet.\nPhi Kappa Tau was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1906 and the Beta Lambda chapter at IU was started in 1949. The chapter became inactive at IU in 1993. But after a decade of absence from campus, a colony was formed March 31 of this year.\nNow the colony is in the middle of recruiting members.\n"We were worried," recruitment chairman and sophomore Tom Davidson said. "We don't have a house on campus and a lot of guys look at the house as a visual landmark."\nHe said the men looked at some of the other presentations the other fraternities had prepared and decided to do something different to get to know the students recruited.\n"We saw a lot of other fraternities had PowerPoint presentations," Davidson said. "We wanted to keep it informal so our approach was a comedy show."\nVice president and junior Christian Filimon said entertainment played a key role in keeping potential members interested in the house.\n"You could see it in their faces," Filimon said. "We have guys completely full of energy, and the response was overwhelming."\nDavidson said he is hopeful for the upcoming pledge class. Five bids have already been given out, and more are expected in the near future.\nBut the road to this success was not a quick one.\n"Phi Kappa Tau was interested in coming back to this campus," said Eddie Rauen, leadership consultant from Phi Kappa Tau executive offices. "IU has a campus rich in greek tradition."\nWhile he was here last year, Rauen helped to chose the current members. In fact, he said he picked around 95 percent after having in-depth, one-on-one conversations with the men.\nPresident and junior Chris Sweigart went through formal Rush both his freshman and sophomore years, but never chose a chapter to pledge.\n"I didn't see what I wanted," he said. "Phi Kappa Tau offered me a chance to be part of something bigger than myself, to create something I could leave behind and come back to."\nFilimon said he saw the fraternity as a chance to make history.\n"I wanted to build something from scratch," he said.\nThe chapter hopes to get its charter by the beginning of 2004.\n-- Contact staff writer Kathleen Quilligan at kquillig@indiana.edu.