Acacia informal rush to strengthen chapter

The InterFraternity Council is continuing to expand with the reestablishment and strengthening of the Acacia fraternity. Acacia is currently holding informal rush, according to Wharton junior Scott Friedberg, the fraternity's president. He explained that Acacia's rushing process is less structured than IFC spring rush in that it is not governed by "dates and times." "Because we are small and we like the intimacy of a tight brotherhood, we're moving toward having more of a continuous informal rush process where as we meet great guys in the University and invite them to hang out with us," Friedberg said. "That's how the old Acacia operated." The fraternity currently has eight active members, most of which are upperclassmen, making this spring an "important time to recruit the future of Acacia," according for Friedberg. Acacia suffered "image problems" in 1991 when Judy Schlossberg, then a College junior, filed sexual harassment charges against four of the fraternity's brothers after they photocopied and distributed a nude photograph of her belonging to her boyfriend, an Acacia alumnus. The University found the fraternity collectively responsible for the incident, and placed Acacia on a two-year social probation. The fraternity then lost its house to members of the Bicultural InterGreek Council in 1993 after membership dwindled severely. Lambda Phi Epsilon currently occupies the house. But Friedberg emphasized that the current Acacia has no ties with those involved in the Schlossberg incident. "We're completely separate from the Acacia that had all the problems," he said. "But we have really tight alumni ties with the brothers from the years before that who kept closely to the values of the fraternity and worked to make Acacia one of the strongest fraternities on campus." Acacia plans to keep fraternity membership under 20, according to Friedberg. He added that Acacia favors informal rush because it allows the brothers to "really get to know" rushees, which makes the selection process easier. Acacia's focus on community service and brotherhood is what "makes the fraternity strong," according to Tom Carroll, director of programming for the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. Friedberg said the fraternity aims to improve the community through long-range service projects.