St. Elmo's may return to all-male status

The undergraduate members of the St. Elmo's Community, known formally as Delta Phi, have decided to pursue becoming an entirely male organization, according to a member of the fraternity who spoke on the condition of anonyimity. Currently, the 15-member fraternity is the only co-ed social Greek fraternity on campus. "It's always been known to be a possibility among some people," the member said. St. Elmo's president Kai Olsen said they have not officially voted to expel or discontinue admitting women in the future, and declined to comment on whether the issue has been discussed. The year 2001 officially marks the 20th anniversary of the chapter's decision to admit females. Currently, the fraternity has more male than female members. The fraternity admitted a pledge class of four this spring, all of whom are men. But though the house itself decided to pursue going all-male, it needs additional approval before they can officially implement this policy. The undergraduate board, as well as the graduate board of governors, both have to vote on the matter, St. Elmo's graduate club president and alumni president Renny Ponvert said. The current officers of Penn's St. Elmo's chapter make up the undergraduate board, and the graduate board is comprised of alumni of the Penn's chapter. The current members of the fraternity "vote on it within the house and then come to us with their recommendation about what they'd like to do," Ponvert said. The graduate board has yet to vote on such an issue, he added. But two weeks ago, the graduate board met with undergraduates at Penn in their quarterly meeting, discussing the prospect of going all-male, Ponvert said. However, no final decisions were made. Those involved in the meeting decided to meet again to further discuss the issue once midterm exams are finished. Ponvert said that he wants to make sure any final outcome is fair and is made with the future of the fraternity in mind. The fraternity is "making sure it's not just a particular group of individuals, that it's a long term consideration of the merits," he said. And Ponvert said that he is currently unsure how a graduate board vote on whether to turn all male would turn out. "I couldn't anticipate," he said, noting that there have been women members of both the chapter's graduate and undergraduate boards for about 20 years. "There are strong feelings on either side." The anonymous St. Elmo's member said that since no one can be expelled from the fraternity "without committing a serious infraction," the decision to go all-male will likely be implemented by declining to accept future female pledges. "In all likelihood, we'll only be rushing males," he said. He added the decision to try and become all-male was not made solely by the male members of the fraternity. "It was made with the understanding of the women in the house," he said. "They were involved in the decision." Additionally, "the decision was not made in one sitting," he said, adding that "no one was excluded, if anyone wasn't involved it was because they weren't at a given meeting." The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs has not been notified of the fraternity's decision, OFSA director Scott Reikofski said on Friday. According to Reikofski, the fraternity notified OFSA last spring and again this fall "that they were not going to go all-male." Ponvert said that OFSA notification is not a necessary part of the decision to go all-male. And while Ponvert said that the St. Elmo's national fraternity "permits full and equal women members," there are "definitely St. Elmo's on other campuses that are all male."