Group of men return, settling in after overcoming initial recolonizing issues
By SUSHMA SUBRAMANIAN
Staff Writer
Frederic Le Cao didn't rush, didn't pledge and never went through hazing. Yet, he's the president of his fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, which moved into a house on the Row this fall.
Le Cao's involvement in the Greek system began with a teacher's recommendation and a formal meeting.
Last year, DTD representatives recruited Le Cao and other USC students to recolonize at USC. Alumni had already gone through USC housing to get a house even before reforming the fraternity.
DTD was an active chapter at USC in the past.
"The Delts" came to USC in February 1941 but left in 1992 because of low membership.
Rather than adding enforcement to the weakening structure of its organization, DTD decided to leave and make a fresh return.
"We're back in the very house where we started when we first came in 1941," said Jim Bowersox, President of the Western Pacific Division of DTD.
DTD also once lived in what is now the ONE Institute on Adams Boulevard.
"The Delts have had a great history at USC," Bowersox said. "It's one of the best schools in the country, and we wanted to get back to an important campus."
DTD also has chapters at Chapman University and the Universities of California, Riverside; Irvine; and Los Angeles, which just started this week.
The national organization began recruiting members in September 2001. DTD sent three chapter consultants to USC.The fraternity has nine consultants who travel throughout the country by division and work with chapters to ensure that they are up to national standards.
The chapter consultants worked with professors and administration to get referrals and contacted and interviewed students who were interested.
Le Cao's organizational behavior professor turned in his name to a consultant.
Le Cao's interest peaked at the thought of joining a fraternity, and soon he and others became the founding fathers of DTD's USC colony.
Fall rushes have shown similar interest in the fraternity. DTD recruited 14 new members.
DTD was very selective about its recruitment, both socially and academically, Bowersox said. He also added that the Delts have the highest GPA on the Row.
"One of the big selling points for the guys was the opportunity to start traditions," said Le Cao, a junior majoring in business administration and international relations."Another thing is that a lot of the people were sold on the house.It's at the center of the Row, and it's really well kept."
The fraternity has not yet received its charter from the national organization in Indiana.The house will be up for approval in 2003.
"If we're going to get a charter, we'll have to prove that we can run ourselves," Le Cao said.
DTD is working on drafting bylaws and creating its judicial system to get recommendations for a charter from alumni and school officials.
But members are going about it differently this time, with strong alumni support, Bowersox said.
"We're a social house, but right now, we're working on a lot of internal stuff," Le Cao said. "We want to be a house where guys meet each other and create real, meaningful relationships."
The Delts' motto is to commit themselves to lives of excellence by practicing truth, courage, faith and power.
"Our goal is to turn guys into men by the time they graduate," Le Cao said, "make them people who are responsible for their actions."
DTD experienced some structural problems when it was formed because of its internal focus. The fraternity started out with 54 members last year. Twenty-six of them left when officers chose against making DTD "the typical fraternity" with alcohol and hazing, said Kave Niksefat, DTD treasurer.
"The other guys wanted DTD to be a lot like it is now, a frat back to its roots," said Niksefat, a sophomore majoring in public policy and management.
DTD is not a dry house, but members did not want to base their organization on alcohol, Le Cao said.
Steve Andrews, a junior majoring in communication and international relations, was one of the members who depledged.
"It wasn't a place I could be myself," he said.
He was upset that some Delts did not want alcohol at fraternity functions and did not want to pay to hold events such as exchanges and invites.
DTD is no longer experiencing structural problems, Niksefat said.
Bowersox was enthusiastic about the fraternity.
"We're very pleased to be back," Bowersox said. "We're looking forward to becoming a significant and contributing factor on campus."
Staff writer Sushma Subramanian writes about the Greek system. She may be reached at (213) 740-5667 or
dtrojan@usc.edu .
Copyright 2002 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 147, No. 24 (Monday, September 30, 2002), beginning on page 1 and ending on page 11.
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