New houses strive for establishment in greek community

There are 65 greek organizations on campus, but in fall 2010, a group of 87 men came together to bring one house back to campus: Alpha Epsilon Pi. Sophomore Aaron Millberg, current AEPi president and a founding father for the new chapter, was one of these 87.

“I rushed a lot of other houses on campus,” he said. “The rush process for AEPi was an interview with the national guys and a bunch of, like, meet-and-greet type of things.”

This varies from the typical rush process in which potential pledges visit various fraternities and get to know the brothers before receiving a bid and signing.

“We basically got inducted like they do pledges, but we didn’t have your typical pledgeship,” Millberg said.

The sorority Theta Phi Alpha is currently going through the process of becoming an established chapter, a year after AEPi. Women from  Theta Phi nationals came to campus this fall to recruit girls to start an IU chapter.

Ali Farr, a newly active sister in Theta Phi, found out about the sorority through Facebook. She contacted the administrator and interviewed with two national members.

A few days later, she got the call that she had been selected to become
a sister.

Farr said the struggle now is spreading TPA’s name throughout the greek
community.

“We’re trying to introduce ourselves and get known,” she said. “We’ve been
attending other philanthropies. Some girls go to dinner with other sororities.”

The sisters have also been attending events with various fraternities, such as helping with Lambda Chi Alpha’s philanthropy “A Nightmare on Third Street” and Acacia’s Waterball event. 

On top of this, Theta Phi must also complete “19 Pearls,” or activities such as philanthropies and fundraising, before it can become initiated as an official chapter on campus, according to guidelines from its national organization.

“It’s challenging to do all the things the other chapters are doing at the same time we’re doing our specific tasks,” said Ashley Dillon, junior and president of Theta Phi.

AEPi had to do this all last year. Chapter members had to fulfill a list of requirements that included social and athletic events.

After becoming initiated as a chapter, AEPi acquired a house by simply taking back the house it had used before. The national fraternity owns the land, so Phi Sig, the old tenants, vacated once AEPi made its reappearance.

“They kind of always knew we were going to have the house because we own it,” Millberg said.

One year later, AEPi is still struggling to get its foot in the door of the greek community.

“The biggest challenge I think we see, as far as the greek community as a whole, is the whole reputation thing,” Millberg said.

He said they’ve seen more success than other members in the greek community thought they would.

“As far as people knowing who we are and knowing that we’re back, we haven’t seen too much of a challenge involving that,” Millberg said. “The social thing was something that a lot of people were skeptical of us.”   

In this case, Millberg said having younger people in the house — mostly sophomores and freshmen — has helped them, because at least for pairing with sororities, younger guys know more girls in the houses.

“People said there was no way we’d have a homecoming pair this year, and, obviously, that hasn’t been a problem,” Millberg said.

AEPi and TPA are working to become more established houses.

The fraternity Acacia is one of the older fraternities on campus; it’s been here since 1936, according to Acacia President and sophomore Josh Minnick. The fraternity hasn’t left campus since its creation.

“We were originally chartered in 1920,” Minnick said. “And we’ve had two separate charters on campus, but it’s always been a continuous move.”

The Acacia house is located on Third Street near Indiana Avenue, with distinctive white pillars and the gold name “Acacia” marking it near the roof.

Minnick said he thinks the house’s location has helped its members to establish such a lasting social reputation in the greek community.

“I think one thing that gives us a name is the fact that we, one, kind of have a unique name and our location,” he said. “Pretty much everyone at some point in the year will go down Third Street, and those houses are a lot more visible.”

While some fraternities and sororities, such as AEPi and TPA, struggle to establish themselves, Minnick said it’s not something to focus on.

“A reputation, in my opinion, is never permanent,” Minnick said. “I mean, people may say we’re a good house. People may say we’re a bad house. That changes all the time, from person to person.”

While AEPi and TPA work to become known in the community, Minnick said this challenge doesn’t exist solely for incoming houses. It’s something that every house, old and new, has to consider.

“I don’t think, really, there’s ever any aspect of a fraternity that just goes away,” Minnick said. “No one ever really has room for complacency because the landscape of the greek system changes all the time.”