The Brown & White

Two new non-residential fraternities, Delta Chi and Pi Kappa Alpha, have been inducted into Lehigh's Greek community this semester.

Neither chapter will have a house nor central meeting location on campus, but representatives of the new fraternities say they don't think they'll struggle to recruit members.

"Not having a house hasn't seemed to have an effect," said Kyle Waletich, a Delta Chi representative. "A lot of students like that there is no house."

Tim Malacrida, '11, joined Delta Chi and said not having a house alleviates a lot of risk for the fraternity.

Many students are excited to be involved in Greek life but live off campus with their other friends, said Tim Smerz, a representative of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Lehigh is a good place to expand because it offers the type of men that his fraternity seeks, Smerz said.

Delta Chi has held information sessions and advertised across campus in order to attract new members.

These sessions were designed to inform students of the ideals associated with Delta Chi and the benefits of joining the fraternity, especially as a founding father.

Pi Kappa Alpha, however, recruits strictly on a recommendation-only basis, Smerz said.

These recommendations can come from various sources such as faculty, staff, coaches or sororities, Smerz said. They have not held large scale information sessions like those of Delta Chi.

Pi Kappa Alpha reviews the recommendations in search of men who fit the acronym S.L.A.G., which stands for scholars, leaders, athletes and gentlemen.

However, this does not mean the fraternity will be comprised of only varsity or club athletes, Smerz said.

"Athlete means someone with a competitive drive to do the best they can," he said.

Both fraternities also emphasize a high academic standard is important to becoming brothers.

Lehigh requires a GPA of 2.25 for any student to attempt joining a fraternity. But, Pi Kappa Alpha recommends a 2.3 in most cases, Smerz said.

The idea of leadership is important to both fraternities, as the students who became involved this year will be the founding fathers of their respective chapters.

"Having the opportunity to be a founding father was a major thing in my decision in joining," Frank Vadino, '11, said. "Once I heard about the non-residential fraternities, I was onboard."

Vadino also said being a founding father presents challenges that are not available in the recruitment processes of other fraternities and is a chance to do something different.

Waletich said these characteristics of leadership are what they are looking for at Delta Chi.

Recruitment to the fraternities was aimed to be more formal, in comparison to the residential fraternities at Lehigh.

"The guys who came to campus were a very professional group," Malacrida said. "The recruitment seemed like a more formal experience. I didn't get that from the others."

The recruitment is also not limited to incoming freshmen, which is typical of the current residential fraternities.

"We definitely want a diverse group of students, including age group," Smerz said.

Representatives from each new fraternity said they believe targeting upper classmen has contributed to the high interest they received.

While there are no future plans for either fraternity to have a house, representatives from both fraternities said a decision to have a house would be made by school officials and members of each chapter, not by the national fraternity.

Apart from Lehigh, Delta Chi also opened new chapters at seven other colleges and universities over the past year, including Hamilton College and Western Alabama University this spring.

Pi Kappa Alpha also expanded over the last year with nine new chapters, including chapters at Emory and Texas State universities this spring.