After a month of recruitment, potential members plan to pledge at an initiation ceremony Friday
Maria Schmitt
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
Nearly a month's worth of recruitment and interviews will end Friday night in the pledging ceremony of the founding members of Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
Decisions about student executives became official Wednesday night. The college's
Delta Tau Delta chapter, which lost its charter in 2003 amid controversy over pledge activities, is returning with the help of on- and off-campus officials.
National branch recruiters said events that they coordinated with the fraternity's pledges - Monday night football gatherings, capture the flag games and a community service project - have been well-attended and that the number of men interested in the fraternity is comparable to other fraternities on campus.
"We're looking good to hit the campus average," said Jameson Root, a chapter leadership consultant.
The men who join the fraternity Friday night will attend a retreat with a different group of national recruiters starting Saturday. The group will discuss their vision for the colony and learn about leadership.
Once the colony meets certain national standards, they will be able to petition the national office for official status, recruiters said. If approved, they will become an official chapter and will have a house near campus.
Senior Sam Russell said he is joining the fraternity because he wants to give back to those who have helped him during his time at Hillsdale. He said he thinks he can do so by helping underclassmen in the new fraternity.
"The purpose of this fraternity in coming back to campus is to build a fraternity of leaders on campus and hold gentlemen to high expectations," Russell said.
Russell said the recruiters are looking for men to fill a "classical fraternity" niche that holds members to standards of honesty, integrity and virtue.
Freshman Jon Gregg plans to join the fraternity, and said he first heard about it through junior Paul Mueller, who helped recruit several students.
"He thought I'd be good fit for it," Gregg said. "I talked to the guys at the tent and I realized they're people I really respect and want to be brothers with."
Gregg said he's excited about being one of the founding members of the fraternity.
"I think it should be a pretty cool opportunity to influence something," he said. "We can make it whatever we want it to be."
Root said students will have a large hand in developing the fraternity.
"They really get to create almost everything," he said.
Gregg said he looks forward to "living together with a bunch of guys I really respect, who are committed to what I'm committed to."
Despite his few qualms about becoming disconnected from the rest of campus, Gregg said he is first and foremost a Hillsdale College student, which will keep him from alienation.
The national recruiters said other fraternities and sororities have supported Delta Tau Delta's return. "We're happy to be back," Root said.
If you go:
What: Formal DTD pledging ceremony (open to the public)
Where: Phillips Auditorium
When: 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
Decisions about student executives became official Wednesday night. The college's
Delta Tau Delta chapter, which lost its charter in 2003 amid controversy over pledge activities, is returning with the help of on- and off-campus officials.
National branch recruiters said events that they coordinated with the fraternity's pledges - Monday night football gatherings, capture the flag games and a community service project - have been well-attended and that the number of men interested in the fraternity is comparable to other fraternities on campus.
"We're looking good to hit the campus average," said Jameson Root, a chapter leadership consultant.
The men who join the fraternity Friday night will attend a retreat with a different group of national recruiters starting Saturday. The group will discuss their vision for the colony and learn about leadership.
Once the colony meets certain national standards, they will be able to petition the national office for official status, recruiters said. If approved, they will become an official chapter and will have a house near campus.
Senior Sam Russell said he is joining the fraternity because he wants to give back to those who have helped him during his time at Hillsdale. He said he thinks he can do so by helping underclassmen in the new fraternity.
"The purpose of this fraternity in coming back to campus is to build a fraternity of leaders on campus and hold gentlemen to high expectations," Russell said.
Russell said the recruiters are looking for men to fill a "classical fraternity" niche that holds members to standards of honesty, integrity and virtue.
Freshman Jon Gregg plans to join the fraternity, and said he first heard about it through junior Paul Mueller, who helped recruit several students.
"He thought I'd be good fit for it," Gregg said. "I talked to the guys at the tent and I realized they're people I really respect and want to be brothers with."
Gregg said he's excited about being one of the founding members of the fraternity.
"I think it should be a pretty cool opportunity to influence something," he said. "We can make it whatever we want it to be."
Root said students will have a large hand in developing the fraternity.
"They really get to create almost everything," he said.
Gregg said he looks forward to "living together with a bunch of guys I really respect, who are committed to what I'm committed to."
Despite his few qualms about becoming disconnected from the rest of campus, Gregg said he is first and foremost a Hillsdale College student, which will keep him from alienation.
The national recruiters said other fraternities and sororities have supported Delta Tau Delta's return. "We're happy to be back," Root said.
If you go:
What: Formal DTD pledging ceremony (open to the public)
Where: Phillips Auditorium
When: 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
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