Phi Gamma Delta, (Fiji) founded in 1848, is in the process of opening a chapter at NSU.
Fiji recruiters will be on campus until March 18 as part of a six-week recruitment period. The new members will be in charge of founding the NSU chapter, a process that could take 12 to 24 months to complete.
Danny Zayas, graduate assistant for Greek Affairs, said, “It’s a great opportunity to be a founding father. You get an amazing leadership experience.”
Fiji will be the third Inter-fraternity Council fraternity on campus. Zayas said IFC fraternities, which are governed nationally by the North-American Interfraternity Conference, are the traditional Caucasian fraternities. There are nearly 70 fraternities in the IFC.
He said the new group will give students who are not interested in the other two IFC fraternities on campus, another opportunity to get involved. NSU’s Fiji chapter will also give students an opportunity to be a founding father and to receive scholarships for being a brother.
Adam Saltz, freshman biology major, is one of 30 men interested in the international fraternity. He said he researched Fiji and the fraternity’s priorities matched his more than the other fraternities on campus. The priority he aligned with most, Saltz said, was the fraternity’s stance on academic performance.
“I also liked the idea of being a founding father and starting something the way you want it to be,” he said.
Wesley J. Martin, assistant director of expansion for Phi Gamma Delta, said one of the benefits of being in a fraternity is having a sense of belonging to the university.
Recruiters are seeking men who are academically-focused, are leaders, have some teamwork experi-ence and are gentlemen.
Travis Checketts, second-year student of College Student Affairs, and founding father of the University of Nebraska’s Fiji chapter, said, “I had to learn to do my part and do what I’m asked from the organization and trust that my brothers carry their own weight in the organization.”
The fraternity’s mission is “to promote lifelong friendships, to reaffirm high ethical standards and values, and to foster personal development in the pursuit of excellence.”
Jesse Hitt, director of expansion for Phi Gamma Delta, said members of the international staff visit chapters to ensure that the brothers are upholding those values, but that students still have the opportunity to make the organization whatever they want it to be.
Checketts agreed.
“They should take ownership of the college experience they want and should take from their four years at NSU what they want from it,” he said.
Zayas said students in the fraternity will have the support of the Office of Student Activities and some of the 950 alumni brothers in the area while they work to establish the NSU chapter.
Fiji will host a ceremony to announce its NSU founding fathers on March 3 at 8 p.m. in the Don Taft University Center.
