From The Collegio of Pittsburg State University (www.psucollegio.edu) .
Jon Erman, left, junior in manufacturing engineer; Justin Hobbs, sophomore in public relations; Mike Wagner, freshman in business administration, Luke Raynor, sophomore in business management; hang out at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house after class Wednesday afternoon. Last spring the fraternity house had three members and currently has 10 members with 19 new members.
Sigma Phi Epsilon membership will increase to 29 this semester, up from three members last spring when the fraternity was forced to reorganize and restructure. Drastic changes were made after the alumni advisory council, a seven-member committee in charge of current Sigma Phi Epsilon branches, voted to reorganize the fraternity in November of last year."Basically we had 28 members at the beginning of last fall and there were a lot of bad things that happened," said Garrett Reist, one of the three members remaining in the house after the membership review. "We had date rape scares, which were false, members that made people mad in the dorms and we were basically just a nuisance to the campus."But Reist, junior in communication, says he doesn't regret getting involved."This past year has kind of been like a roller coaster ride," he said. "There have been great times and there's been awful times. I'm just glad I'm doing it."The alumni advisory council chose to review memberships and reorganize the current house instead of closing the chapter, removing all the members and completely starting over.Each member was offered the opportunity to go before the council for review, which Reist said many declined. Members were then given the option to remain active or accept early alumni status. Early alumni status meant members close to graduating could focus more on classes than the rebuilding of their house without losing their membership status."Our goal is to make sure that we recruit and re-establish ourselves on campus and uphold the principles of this organization so that we have a positive impact on the community, the university and each member," said Kevin Spritzer, president of the chapter's alumni board.As part of the fraternity's reorganization, the advisory council required the house to have an alumnus living with them. To fulfill this requirement, Chris Mainz moved into the house at 101 E Ford last semester to help the remaining members reconstruct the fraternity."We eliminated the people who were in the chapter last semester and we recruited; this is not new material for us," said Mainz, who will remain in the house until mid-October. "We're trying to get away from the 'frat boy' image. We want our members to graduate and contribute to the community instead of harassing their neighbors with keg parties."Sigma Phi Epsilon now has 10 members with 19 new members joining this semester. Since the reorganization, the fraternity has also had the highest all-fraternity GPA on campus. "The Sigma Phi Epsilon idea is centered around the balanced man concept," said Mainz. "It's about education and getting good grades, it's about sports and taking care of your body and it's about graduating. That's what Sigma Phi Epsilon is dedicated to."
