Students organize national fraternity
New Greek group aims to recruit, raise recently low male rush rates
Emily Faber
Issue date: 9/26/08 Section: News
Trinity has historically been one of the rare universities in the US with no nationally affiliated Greek organizations, but this Saturday a newly approved fraternity on campus will become an official colony of the national fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha, known as the Pikes for short. The move will leave a permanent mark on the current Greek scene, transforming it into a mixture of local and national organizations that could potentially offer students who are considering going Greek a broader array of choices. The last fraternities before the Pikes to be created at Trinity, Alpha Theta Chi and Alpha Delta Epsilon, were instituted in 1997, and neither of them remain on campus today, according to Coordinator for Greek Life and Student Programs Josh Beebe.
Optimistic about the role the fraternity can fill on campus, Pike President David McFarlane, junior, cited a recent trend of decline in the numbers of male students pledging fraternities at Trinity as a problem the Pikes could ameliorate.
"I think we can coexist well [with the local fraternities]. We'll be drawing in the guys who used to have no inclination to rush because they didn't fit in with those other groups," he said. "Those groups will still be attracting the guys they have in their own systems, but we'll be getting new guys."
Aiding the new fraternity, which currently has 27 start-up members, will be expansion officers sent by the national organization, according to McFarlane. He explained that these officers will remain for six weeks to help publicize the Pikes, hold information meetings about them and help the general process of recruitment go smoothly and successfully its first time around. Pike Social Chair Robert Davidson, sophomore, added that on top of this, the Greek community has been supportive of the Pikes and has readily suggested tips and tricks along the way.
The main goal of this first year, McFarlane said is to recruit. According to him, the fraternity's hopes are set on "establishing a really strong base. We just want to start out strong as a close brotherhood to build on for the rest of the years."
Optimistic about the role the fraternity can fill on campus, Pike President David McFarlane, junior, cited a recent trend of decline in the numbers of male students pledging fraternities at Trinity as a problem the Pikes could ameliorate.
"I think we can coexist well [with the local fraternities]. We'll be drawing in the guys who used to have no inclination to rush because they didn't fit in with those other groups," he said. "Those groups will still be attracting the guys they have in their own systems, but we'll be getting new guys."
Aiding the new fraternity, which currently has 27 start-up members, will be expansion officers sent by the national organization, according to McFarlane. He explained that these officers will remain for six weeks to help publicize the Pikes, hold information meetings about them and help the general process of recruitment go smoothly and successfully its first time around. Pike Social Chair Robert Davidson, sophomore, added that on top of this, the Greek community has been supportive of the Pikes and has readily suggested tips and tricks along the way.
The main goal of this first year, McFarlane said is to recruit. According to him, the fraternity's hopes are set on "establishing a really strong base. We just want to start out strong as a close brotherhood to build on for the rest of the years."
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