After a six year hiatus, the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity has returned to Shippensburg University.
Engaging in the fraternity’s seven core values — loyalty, duty, respect, service and stewardship, honor, integrity and personal courage — Lambda Chi Alpha is in search of a new generation of men at SU that will not only be a good fit for the fraternity, but for the men at SU as well.

If both ends meet for the fraternity and the students, a bid will be offered. Once a good foundation is established, which usually takes between three to five weeks, Lambda Chi Alpha will spend the next month educating its men on how to properly run a chapter.

Michael DeCourcy, expansion manager for Lambda Chi Alpha, says this educational month is important in order to make sure the chapter succeeds.

“We teach them everything they need to know in that time period, and then they are initiated as brothers,” DeCourcy said.

Once this is complete, the students will be in full control of their colony. However, 12 months after this is complete, the men in charge of their colony will have the ability to petition to become a full chapter — as long as the fraternity’s 15 chapter standards are met.

Some of those standards are proper membership, proper academics, an alumni basis and a financially solvent operation so that the chapter does not rack up an enormous debt.

If all standards are met, the chapter gets the petition and will go through an interview process with Lambda Chi Alpha’s board of directors in order to determine whether the chapter gets to become a full chapter. Granted the chapter is approved, its official name will be Phi Tau Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha.

According to DeCourcy, Lambda Chi Alpha has always been different from the rest of the group. “We’ve always been a progressive fraternity,” DeCourcy continued. “We grew very quickly because we realized we wanted to be the common man fraternity. We wanted to be accepting and progressive and allow as many to come in as we can.”

In 1928, Lambda Chi Alpha was one of the first fraternities to openly condemn hazing, and also officially abolished pledging in 1972. All new members of the fraternity are referred to as associate members and have all the rights of an initiated member.

“You are equal from the day you join. There are only two things you can’t do. One is you can’t vote out a brother. You can bring charges against them, you can testify against them, you can do all that. The only physical thing you can’t do is vote them out,” DeCourcy said. “The second thing is you can’t initiate yourself because you don’t know the initiation ritual. Those are the only two differences.”

DeCourcy also stressed that Lambda Chi Alpha is not just here to recruit and leave. They are here to find the most potential leaders who are going to be successful and give back to the community.
If you have an interest in joining, follow the fraternity on Twitter or like them on Facebook. Additionally, to find out more about the fraternity visit their website at Lambdachi.org/join.

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