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Jewish fraternity waiting on OK
Eleven USC students are possibly days away from founding the first Jewish fraternity on campus, something local Sigma Alpha Mu colony leaders said they are excited about.
"I think it is very important that all campuses have something like this diversity," said Danny Chassen, colony vice president and second-year political science student. "In bringing that diversity to campus, I think that it will help attract students to campus."
Ira Klein, Sigma Alpha Mu colony president and second-year print journalism student, said he decided to start the fraternity about a month ago, which involved national and university recognition.
Klein said he spoke with Matt Wittenstein, the associate executive director of Sigma Alpha Mu, who came to campus several weeks ago to help organize the chapter. He returned recently to officially colonize the 11-member group.
"The process has been pretty efficient and they have done a good job with communication between school and national chapter," Chassen said. "From my understanding, it is going pretty well."
Klein said the group has assembled so quickly it has raised some eyebrows of the Interfraternity Council, which determines the destiny of any aspiring fraternity.
After being brought to the attention of the council two weeks ago, the proposed charter for the new fraternity was postponed and then postponed again last week to remain on the council's agenda.
"As far as we are concerned, we are functioning as a fraternity whether they recognize it or not," Klein said. "We are still serving in that capacity."
Chassen said the council could be hesitating because it has a tendency to wait before granting charters to fraternities that are not yet established as school organizations.
The group has created a constitution, Chassen said, and they have the 10 people mandatory to be a student organization, but they are waiting on the approval of the dean of their faculty adviser to make the jump to charter-eligibility.
Chassen also said the colonization of the group was to ensure that by next year, attendance and funding would have swelled.
"The fact that we were able to get 10 people to come so quickly is encouraging for the future," Chassen said. "If we are going to get this core of guys, then we will blossom into a fraternity by November." Chassen said that a group has to be a colony for a year before being recognized as a fraternity by the national charter.
Klein said if their charter as a student organization and fraternity is granted, he foresees Sigma Alpha Mu having a hall in McBryde where other Greek organizations currently reside.
"This doesn't really matter to us," Klein said. "We are still functioning as a group in this 'what is in a name' thing."
Regardless of getting their charter granted, Chassen said the group is meshing well, and the brotherhood they are forming will enable them to do the community service.
"We are just talking about so many great things we are going to do," Chassen said. "We are like kids in a candy store with their eyes wide open."
The next Interfraternity Council meeting to discuss the proposed organization will be held this afternoon at 4 p.m. in the ODK/Mortar Board Room in the Russell House.
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