A group of 46 UA students aim to recolonize the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and gain recognition as one of the Interfraternity Council fraternities on campus at the start of the fall 2015 semester.
Recently, fraternities nationwide faced heavy scrutiny; some have been in the public spotlight for issues such as sexual assault at the University of Virginia and racism at Oklahoma University.
Jack Leslie, a pre-business freshman and president of the potential UA chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, said they are hoping to be colonized as a chapter by the end of this semester. Leslie said he has had multiple conversations with nationals and has worked with Matt Roy, head of expansion at Lambda Chi Alpha, to try to colonize Lambda Chi Alpha at the UA.
Leslie said he was a pledge at another fraternity and did not like the way things were being run. He said he does not like the negative stigma he feels fraternities have at the UA right now and wants to change that. Leslie’s father was a Lambda Chi at Texas Christian University.
“I wanted to create my own organization from the ground up,” he said. “I wanted to bring back a positive light, because where I’m from, in Texas, Greek Life is huge on campus, and it’s very positive.”
A group of the potential founding fathers has signed a lease for a house on east Sixth Street, between north Tyndall Avenue and north Park Avenue, so fraternity brothers will have a house in the fall, according to Leslie.
Danny Erlich, an economics freshman and one of the potential founding fathers, said joining this fraternity was a unique opportunity for him, because he missed the traditional fraternity recruitment process.
“The idea of becoming a founding father really drew my attention, and once I met all the guys and realized how good of a match it was, I decided to go for it,” Erlich said.
Erlich added he was invited to be a potential new member along with a few other men, and was asked an array of questions by the current members in a group interview setting.
“After that interview, we left the room so the guys could take a vote on each of us,” Erlich said. “We were told the decision the next day.”
Erlich said his favorite thing about becoming a part of the group is meeting guys that he can see himself building lifelong relationships with and having a chance to make his own mark on the UA.
Brian Kewin, president of the Interfraternity Council at the UA, said the IFC has not yet received a formal letter of interest from the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
“The expansion process for fraternities here at UA is very extensive and starts with a letter of interest from the national headquarters,” Kewin said, “followed by the submission of an expansion packet, an expansion presentation, and a decision by the Dean of Students.”
The Lambda Chi Alpha national expansion representative did not respond to questions about a new chapter in Arizona.
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