Off-campus frats provide unique greek experience

If Kappa Delta Rho President Nathan France had the chance to snap his fingers and magically give his off-campus fraternity an on-campus house, he’s not sure he’d take it.

“I always wanted one, but I’m not sure if it’s the right thing for us,” France said.
Kappa Delta Rho is one of a number of off-campus fraternities at IU, and while they might not be as well-known as others, France said off-campus fraternities are important to a healthy greek system.

France said this is because off-campus fraternities cater to guys who might not otherwise join a fraternity.

Research about people who join fraternities break potential members up into three categories: “always joiners,” who are set on joining fraternities when they first come to campus; “never joiners,” who don’t consider fraternities as an option; and “sometimes joiners,” France said.

“Instead of putting an emphasis on the ‘always join’ guys, who sometimes don’t even know we’re an option, we go out and talk to the ‘sometimes join’ guys,” France said. “For some, being in a large fraternity just isn’t their thing.”

Since leaving its last on-campus house in the early 1990s, Kappa Delta Rho has had anywhere from 12 to 20 members, which France said he believes keeps members from forming cliques with just their pledge class.

“You get to know everyone on a much more personal level,” France said.
France also said having a smaller pool of members allows everyone to be involved in multiple aspects of the fraternity.

“For example, I’m doing much more than just being president. I’m also involved with philanthropy and scholarship as opposed to just being a member,” France said.

Junior Rick Bowen, president of Phi Kappa Tau, said his fraternity makes up for not having one place to call home by scheduling several events.

“We usually have three to four events a week, and that makes us really close,” Bowen said. “And all the guys tend to call each other anyway.”

Freshman Tom Ahlert said he doesn’t think there’s a difference between the experience of on- and off-campus fraternity members, but he said he joined Phi Kappa Tau because he didn’t want to be a part of the pledge process he had heard about from other fraternities.

Ahlert said off-campus fraternities are seen as less legitimate organizations, if they are thought about at all.

“It’s not that they have a bad reputation,” Ahlert said. “It’s that they have no reputation, which can be just as damaging.”

Bowen said being off campus does provide challenges for his fraternity.

“I do love the freedom with being off campus,” Bowen said. “But it’s so much easier on campus. I just think having a house that is centrally located makes it easier to communicate. It’s really tough for us sometimes.”

He also said recruitment can be difficult for Phi Kappa Tau, which currently has 52 active members.

“A lot of guys end up saying, ‘You know, I really liked you guys, but at the end of the day I was looking for a house,’” Bowen said.

France said he traces some of the problems off-campus fraternities have with recruitment back to stigmas people have about a fraternity not having a house.

“Some people don’t even know we exist – others don’t even care,” France said. “Some people view it as if you’re not on campus and you don’t have a house, you don’t matter.”

Still, France said it is important for greeks to remember that their organizations were created by their founders on a set of core principles, not on the notion of having a house.

“The thing people forget is that it’s not a house,” France said. “It’s a chapter.”