Last winter, five students from different walks of life came together to restart Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, a chapter that has lain dormant for more than 50 years. Today, one of those students has since graduated, but four of the original students along with two new pledges are continuing the pursuit to build a fraternity according to their own standards.

Breaking into a well-established community such as the Greek community has proved to be difficult, but not discouraging to the members of Delta Sigma Phi.

“Summer rush was definitely different for us.” said junior Nick Wallace. “Because usually you would have potential pledges come in to look at and stay at your chapter’s house.” Wallace is the rush chair and vice president for Delta Sigs.

President Evan Tom agreed that not having a physical structure is one of the biggest setbacks for recruiting new members.

“The first question out of everyone’s mouth when you talk to them about joining is, ‘How is the house?’” said Tom.

Wallace and Tom were hoping to have enough members to rent a house on Greek Row by this quarter, but feel confident that even without a house they can attract enough new members to get an official charter.

Wallace worked as an orientation leader through the University during the summer and was able to talk to many incoming freshmen about his house. However, Delta Sigs still had trouble getting commitments. Wallace attributes this to the fact that they were unable to house potential members during the summer and let them know what the house is all about.

Now that all potential members are living on or near campus, Wallace and Tom agree it will be much easier to begin recruitment in earnest, without worrying about where to house members in the interim.

“Fall will be a much easier time to recruit because housing isn’t such a critical issue,” said Wallace.

Wallace and Tom have set a goal of gaining at least 10 members by the end of the quarter and are optimistic they will reach it.

For Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, it was not long ago that they were in the same situation as Delta Sigs.

Zeta Beta Tau was officially re-colonized in March of 2007 with only 11 members, but since finding a house on 47th and 17th, their membership has grown to 33 and will be up to 40 by the end of this quarter.

“It was very difficult for us to find a house with everything we wanted,” said Bryan Kornswiet, president of Zeta Beta Tau. “It was also really hard to recruit, because when you don’t have a house, it’s hard to seem credible, plus having events off campus can get expensive.”

Both Delta Sigs and Zeta Beta Tau agree the community has been essential to their success as fledgling chapters.

“We’ve observed that the Greek community is very nurturing,” said Kornsweit. “It really helps to have assistance from older houses that are more established.”

Wallace agreed that there is ample willingness to help developing fraternities amongst the community.

“[The Interfraternity Council] has been absolutely great in helping us,” he said. “They really want to help us get involved with recruitment and community events.”

Tom and Wallace know they still have a lot of work ahead of them before their goals are realized, but they welcome the challenge gratefully.

“Challenges are what makes brotherhoods strong,” said Tom. “When you go through them together, you come out that much stronger.”

Wallace agreed that this experience has already helped to grow strong bonds within their tight ranks.

“We may even decide to keep the house small,” he said. “We don’t want to be typical. We’re a new house, and we should be offering something different to the community.”

The fact that houses are able to grow and develop without actually having a physical structure shows that bonds within the community go much deeper than tradition and ceremony, Kornsweit said.

“A fraternity is not a physical structure, but a brotherhood,” he said. “And we’ve always made sure of that.”

Reach reporter Casey Smith at news@dailyuw.com.