September 29, 2008

Around 300 fraternity and sorority new members gathered on McCarthy Quad Thursday for the first IFC-PHC tailgate barbeque.

Held in advance of USC’s football game against Oregon State, the event served as an opportunity for the newest members of the Greek community to meet each other and socialize in a casual environment.

The event was open to new members from each of USC’s 20 IFC-affiliated fraternities and 10 PHC-affiliated sororities.

Trojan Hospitality provided a full menu of burgers, salad, and deserts. Attendees also received picnic towels, custom designed for the event.

The Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils sponsored the event to encourage unity within USC’s Greek community. This was the first time that IFC and PHC joined forces for a new member barbeque, but representatives from both organizations hope that this year’s successful event will serve as the beginning of a new tradition that can be expanded in future semesters.

Please contact John Legittino for more information.

September 28, 2008

New members from USC’s 20 IFC-affiliated fraternities attended the Rape Awareness Seminar on Monday, an informational presentation sponsored each semester by the Department of Public Safety and the Los Angeles Police Department.

This year’s seminar included an added session by MenCARE, a campus organization dedicated to ending sexual violence through peer education.

After MenCARE’s introductory session, DPS and LAPD presented to the audience before opening the forum to audience questions. In total, the seminar lasted just over one hour.

The Rape Awareness Seminar is part of IFC’s required new member programming, which aims to educate new members of the Greek community about important campus issues and introduce them to key university groups and administrators. Other events include presentations from SJACS, student government, the health center, and DPS during the New Member Retreat.

Please contact John Legittino, IFC Vice President of Public Relations, for more information (E-mail: Legittin@usc.edu).

Fraternity rechartered, hopes to return by spring, have residence near Row by fall 2009.
By: Kevin Gasendo | Daily Trojan
Posted: 9/18/08

After an 11-year hiatus from The Row, the Kappa Alpha fraternity is coming back for an encore in an attempt to reshape its image. Kappa Alpha Order is in the process of re-establishing a chapter at USC and will soon join the Interfraternity Council. The 143-year-old fraternity had been at USC since 1926, but it was disbanded on the orders of the fraternity's national headquarters after a series of disciplinary infractions in the mid-1990s.

Jesse Lyons, Kappa Alpha's director of chapter development at USC, said the plug had to be pulled not because of a specific event but a buildup of problems at the house. "It was a multi-year decline marked by discipline troubles and violations of risk management," he said. "It was a lack of being a fraternity and more of being a social club." Kappa Alpha has 130 undergraduate chapters across the country. According to the fraternity, there are more than 1,000 USC alumni who were members of the house.

Lyons said the gap between the closing and re-establishment of the chapter was necessary in order for the house to reshape its image. "Sometimes a clean break is needed," he said. "This way, we get new people who don't have ties to what happened before."

Ray Carlos, assistant director at USC's Office for Fraternity and Sorority Leadership, said the disbanding and revival of fraternities and sororities is common with Greek organizations. "It's been so long that whatever culture Kappa Alpha had that forced them to leave before, it's gone now," he said. "You take a break and come back fresh with new people." As of now, Kappa Alpha doesn't have any members and didn't host IFC rush, since its charter process is not yet complete.

Lyons is on campus trying to collect recruits with interviews and presentations. His goal is to train those who are chosen to become the fraternity's leaders when it regains full status. Formal bids haven't yet been extended, but a target date has been set for Oct. 31 for Kappa Alpha to be installed as a provisional chapter for the spring semester.

Lyons said this interim stage of development is meant to expose new members to fraternity practices on a smaller, more manageable scale. "They'll do things like community service and hold their first events," Lyons said. "It's done in a way so that they can expand on it later." The goal is for the fraternity to be re-chartered into full status by January 2010.

Kappa's re-emergence is part of a three-year plan created by the university and IFC to add one new fraternity each year. Kappa Alpha is the second fraternity to be added; Sigma Alpha Mu arrived in 2007. The fraternity's strong local alumni base was influential in the decision to bring them back. "We've seen that a strong alumni base provides a good foundation for Greek organizations," Carlos said. "They help counsel and mentor the current members along with providing financial assistance and stability."

IFC was also impressed with Kappa Alpha's alumni support and is strong national presence. "Their strength nationally and their vast alumni from here were natural draws," said IFC President Chris Reilly.

The fraternity has created an organization to find a place for the chapter's new house; its goal is to have a temporary or permanent residence by Fall 2009. "We'd love to get as close to The Row as possible," Lyons said. "We want the guys to feel like they're involved and connected with the rest of the Greek community here."

Reilly said IFC is excited to welcome in a new member. "We're extremely happy to have them," Reilly said. "They'll bring in quality members and enhance the overall Greek life."

© Copyright 2008 Daily Trojan | http://media.www.dailytrojan.com/media/storage/paper679/news/2008/09/18/News/After.11.Years.Kappa.Alpha.Returns.To.Usc-3438500.shtml?reffeature=recentlycommentedstoriestab |

Nearly 350 fraternity new members attended this semester’s IFC New Member Retreat.

By: Daniel Gabel
Monday, September 15, 2008

The retreat featured a keynote address by Dave Westol, the former Executive Director of Theta Chi fraternity and a nationally renowned speaker on Greek leadership issues. Westol’s engaging one-hour presentation focused on new member programming and the pitfalls of hazing.

After the keynote presentation, students broke into smaller groups and rotated through four different discussion sessions. DPS/LAPD, the health center, and SJACS returned this year to lead breakout sessions, and USG participated for the first time. USG President Jens Midthun and Greek Senators Rob Moore and Holden Slusher discussed the latest student government initiatives and urged students to become involved in campus affairs.

The New Member Retreat, sponsored every semester by the Interfraternity Council, introduces the newest members of the Greek community to key university administrators and valuable campus resources.

This semester’s retreat took place on Sunday, September 14. New members from each of USC’s 20 IFC-affiliated fraternities attended the event.

Contact: John Legittino
IFC Vice President, Public Relations
Tel: 312.286.1526
E-mail: Legittin@usc.edu

Groups cite strong recruitment tactics, surging interest for considerable rise in members.

By: Kevin Gasendo | Daily Trojan | Copyright 2008 Daily Trojan |

Media Credit: Photo courtesy of Interfraternity Council
Rushing · Fraternity members and rush hopefuls packed an Interfraternity Council barbecue on McCarthy Quad earlier this month.

Posted: 9/4/08

Following a week of rush events, both the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council have reported their highest turnouts ever.

PHC sororities accepted 579 women and 438 men were offered bids into IFC chapters.

IFC President Chris Reilly said he was pleased with his organization's growth, which was reported at 7.1 percent from last year, added on to a 33.1 percent spike from the year before.

"I was satisfied that we could sustain growth," he said. "It's a testament to increased active participation from all of the houses."

Reilly attributed the growth to a stronger outreach push than usual.

"We e-mailed a schedule of rush to everyone who registered," he said. "We held our IFC-wide barbeque in front of Leavey Library the Sunday before rush, and we also passed out DVDs that introduced our community."

PHC President Ashley Mahaffey said she was thrilled with the high recruitment numbers, and with how individual sororities handled the surge of new girls.

"We couldn't have been happier," she said. "I'm incredibly proud of the leaders of every chapter. They accomplished what they set out to do, and this is the result."

Part of the increase in recruitment numbers might be because of a new PHC Row sorority, Sigma Delta Tau, Mahaffey said.

The recruitment process for fraternities included off-campus events at sites such as Yankee Doodles in Santa Monica, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles and the Laugh Factory in Hollywood. Recruits also participated in activities such as indoor skydiving, billiards and bowling.

The opportunity to meet other potential fraternity brothers excited Max Tomaszewski, an undeclared freshman.

"I would have been disappointed if I hadn't met a lot of people," he said. "Rushing helped me get a sense of belonging and magnified my excitement for being at USC."

Yet some involved in coordinating rush said the spike brought logistical complications.

"It was difficult to transport everyone to events," said Idris Jatoi, president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. "It was also problematic in trying to get to know people. At one point there were seven guys rushing named Nick, so we had to work at differentiating between them."

Some also said the crowds of potential pledges detracted from the experience.

Jasmin Varjavand, a sophomore majoring in public policy, management and planning, said she was taken aback by the number of women involved in recruitment.

"During rush itself, it was literally a rush," she said. "I would have liked to have gotten a little more one-on-one time with my rush counselor as well."

Simone Wicks, a sophomore majoring in business administration, said having more people come out to recruitment intensified the competitive atmosphere.

"Having fewer girls rushing would have helped my chances," she said.

Choosing new members also became more difficult, said Scott Emmer, president of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.

"The pool was bigger and it was harder to narrow down," he said. "We had more long nights for evaluation."

At the same time, Emmer was pleased at having so many people interested in joining.

"It was a good problem to have," he said. "At the end we were selecting between some really high-quality guys."

As for ways to improve rush, IFC's focus is on creating a way to keep potential members from dropping out of the process.

"We're looking into a logistical process for increasing retention rates," he said. "We're going to try and database everyone who registers so that they're better exposed to all of the fraternities and not just a few."

© Copyright 2008 Daily Trojan |

Original Article: http://media.www.dailytrojan.com/media/storage/paper679/news/2008/09/04/News/Ifc-Panhellenic.Council.Offer.Record.Number.Of.Rush.Bids-3415220.shtml |