Regrouping once more, Acacia seeks brothers

The fraternity is trying to rebuild its membership after seeing its membership fall in recent years. Thirty-three years after selling its house to the University and shutting down its charter, Penn's chapter of the Acacia fraternity is on its way to rebuilding its membership -- again. Last fall, the University threatened to shut down the Acacia's Franklin chapter -- which was recolonized in 1989 -- because its membership had dwindled to one brother. But recent intervention by national representative Mike Keating, coupled with the dedicated efforts of new members, have expanded the fraternity's membership to 11, including four new pledges, according to Acacia President Ned Nurick, a College senior. Like many national fraternities in the 1960s, Acacia, which was founded in 1906, was disbanded in 1965 in the wake of the rampant social protest of that decade. Its former house, known as the Drexel mansion -- which contained a chapel with stained-glass windows -- was located at the current site of High Rise South. The Franklin chapter was officially recolonized in 1989 after several students gradually rebuilt the fraternity's membership. In 1990, the chapter then won the Medeira Award, which is awarded by other Greek organizations to the top fraternity on campus. But in December 1991, several Acacia brothers were charged with sexual harassment after stealing and distributing a nude picture of a female Penn student. The fraternity was put on two years of social probation. According to Acacia Vice President Kevin Dougherty, a College of General Studies junior, this "highly publicized incident" caused a dramatic decline in the fraternity's membership in subsequent years. In fact, the fraternity did not have a single pledge in the spring of 1993. When the chapter was left with one member at the beginning of last fall, the national organization sent Keating to help attract more members. "[Keating] was 100 percent responsible for recruiting all six new brothers," Nurick said, explaining that Keating sent out mass e-mails and conducted one-on-one meetings to attract new pledges in the fall of 1997. This semester, the brothers are handling their own recruitment with some help from Keating. So far, the recruitment process is "going better than I expected," Nurick said. And both Nurick and Dougherty noted that the diversity of the brothers and the commitment to ideals such as community service could help them attract more members. "Being a fraternity that practices what we preach separates us from others," said Nurick. Dougherty also said he was encouraged by the leadership opportunities the fraternity provides. "The most attractive thing [about our fraternity] is the chance to be involved in something, almost from the beginning," he said. And Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Scott Reikofski -- who spent time with two Acacia brothers on a recent retreat for Greek presidents -- said the "small but devoted [fraternity is] doing well."