Sigma Beta Rho’s (SBR) motto is “Brotherhood beyond all barriers.”

Now, the former Asian-interest-fraternity — who have rebranded themselves as multicultural — are making good on that motto by toppling a long-standing barrier: diversity in the Interfraternity Council (IFC). In search of better recruitment numbers and more involvement with the university’s expansive Greek community, SBR has joined IFC this quarter.

SBR attended their first IFC meeting as members Wednesday, said Suvir Bharil, rush and recruitment chair for the fraternity.

While the IFC is composed of predominantly white students, Bharil sees SBR’s joining the organization as a way to “change the image of what fraternity life is all about.”

SBR is made up of 20 active members at the moment. Next year, Bharil added, the fraternity hopes to significantly expand membership using newly available and powerful IFC recruitment tools.

Previously, Sigma Beta Rho — established in January 2003 as an Asian-interest fraternity — was affiliated singularly with the United Greek Council (UGC). Nearly all of the chapter’s founding fathers were of Southeast-Asian descent (including Pakistani, Indian, Thai and Bangladeshi).

The UGC was established in 2002 as an umbrella organization dedicated to promoting unity among minority Greek-letter organizations.

Although SBR had a positive experience with the UGC, last year, the members united behind a plan to expand while remaining a multicultural fraternity.

While most of the eleven fraternities and sororities that are members of the UGC have titles such as “Asian-interest” or “Latino-interest,” this does not mean they are exclusive and therefore only accept members of a certain ethnic or racial composition.

“My own sorority is an Asian-interest organization, which means the events we do and communities we support are geared towards the Asian community,” Kathy Chin, president of UGC and member of Chi Sigma Alpha, said.

“Most of our members are first-generation and interested in serving their respective communities,” added Chin.

Although Chin’s sorority does not have an official chapter house, many of the members, including her, live together in apartments.

While SBR is now officially a member of the IFC, the fraternity plans to stay involved with the UGC.

“Sigma Beta Rho is a unique case,” Chin said.

SBR’s membership status in the UGC and the IFC is the first time a fraternity or sorority has done both, Chin explained.

“We’d like to keep our relationship with the UGC and provide a bridge for them to interact with the IFC,” Bharil said.

“Just because the IFC is mainstream doesn’t mean they are all that different from us,” said Kamran Ali, SBR’s UW-chapter president.

As for the rest of the year, SBR plans on running spring rush using both their old school-tabling and word-of-mouth tactics while also employing the IFC’s recruitment pull.

“The IFC offers so many resources,” said Russell Herzog, vice president of SBR. With this change, he added, “we can expand, grow our reach, and become a bigger player in the Greek system.”

Reach reporter Brian Byrnes at news@dailyuw.com.