The Collegian

Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Collegian file photo Delta Tau Delta recruits men not attracted to existing frats to reestablish its Hillsdale chapter.

Delta Tau Delta fraternity will begin a monthlong recruitment process on Hillsdale College's campus in October after the fraternity's four-year absence.

The college's Delta Tau Delta chapter, which lost its charter in 2003, will return with the help of both on- and off-campus officials. Alumni and representatives from Delta Tau Delta's national office will meet with students on campus Oct. 6 and 7 to form a new member class.

If enough students show interest in the chapter, a public formal pledging ceremony will be held Nov. 9, and the new members will set goals for the fraternity on Nov. 10, said Nick Goldsberry, director of expansion for Delta Tau Delta. Goldsberry said he will be a part of the recruiting process.

"I think it will be neat," Goldsberry said. "We want to offer something different for students looking beyond the three fraternities [on campus]."

The fraternity recruitment team will select members after one-on-one interviews with potential new members.

They will then choose a president and an executive committee for the chapter from that group.

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said the fraternity will not become an official chapter until its members prove responsibility over one to two semesters.

"They will remain a colony until they can show that they are a viable group," Petersen said. "They then can become full members when the integrity of their purpose is clear."
The recruitment team will seek help from other student groups on campus. Delta Tau Delta representatives have asked sororities to help them recruit members for the fraternity.

The chapter lost its charter in 2003 after 136 years on campus amid controversy over pledge activities. Problems heightened in 2003 when administrators learned of a series of incidents involving kidnapping, public disturbances, physical injuries, a car accident and the use of an electronic taser gun.

The chapter was Delta Tau Delta's oldest when it was disbanded, said alumnus Bishop Peter Beckwith, '61.

"It was a sad comment on undergraduates and how irresponsible they could be," Beckwith said of the chapter's closing. "It was not a fraternity, it was a frat. There's a difference."

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