The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life is diversifying Greek options as a new fraternity’s expansion team comes to campus on Oct. 14.
The staff of Phi Sigma Kappa, which closed in 2007 due to low membership, will stay for about four to six weeks to work on establishing campus interests. The fraternity’s operations coordinator Ryan Budke and other staff members will begin with a “names list” which will include the names and contact information of students interesting in joining the chapter.
Related: Phi Sigma Kappa to recolonize at Penn
“I will also present to the sorority women at their chapter meetings to introduce myself and ask them for help and recommendations,” Budke said. As a group begins to develop, there will be several one-on-one meetings, small group activities, sporting events and dinners to get to know the men.
By mid-November, the group will be officially colonized and recognized by the national organization. “I’ll continue to support the recruited men,” Budke said. “We put them on what we call a 365-year-round recruitment mode.” The colony will continue to recruit men up until the spring 2014 semester, when they will then participate in spring recruitment.
Related: Phi Sigma Kappa recolonizes, looks to regain house
Budke spent a week on campus last semester and did a pre-site visit with the organization’s alumni and administration. With the help of OFSL director Scott Reikofski and OFSL associate director Stacy Kraus, Budke has received the contact information of some transfer students and “no bids” or students who did not join in past recruitment seasons. He plans to reach out to these students and connect with different Greek chapter leaders to meet more men.
The fraternity will also be enlisting the aid of Penn alumni throughout the colonization process. “The University, along with our alumni who are also members of the fraternity, look forward to welcoming Phi Sigma Kappa back into our fraternity community,” Reikofski said.
He called Phi Sigma Kappa a “well-respected organization in the fraternity world” and added that it “has had a long relationship with the University of Pennsylvania.”
Related: Penn sorority life expands with Alpha Delta Pi
The original Mu chapter was chartered at Penn in 1900 and is one of the organization’s oldest chapters. They were re-chartered in 2001 but closed six years later. “The main reason we’re looking to come back to Penn is because it’s one of the earliest chapters. It has a lot of history and we’re ready to bring back that group to continue the tradition of legacy there,” Budke said.
Phi Sigma Kappa is looking for men who display the organization’s three cardinal principles, which are brotherhood, scholarship and character. “We’re looking for the best of the best that Penn has to offer,” Budke said.
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