Phi Gamma Delta will colonize on USC's campus this semester after the fraternity was selected to join the Greek community two years ago.
Josh Moore, Phi Gamma Delta director of expansion, said he believes the fraternity was selected from others because of its core values of friendship, knowledge, service, morality and excellence.
“A new fraternity on campus should be a group of gentlemen that everyone on campus, whether they’re in a fraternity or sorority or not, should be able to look up to and say, ‘I’m glad they’re on campus. They’re making a positive impact,’” Moore said.
After the organization was invited to present about the fraternity and meet USC community members in the spring of 2013, it was selected to colonize for the spring 2015 semester.
“I think our organization has complimentary values with those of the university,” Moore said. “Those are obviously core values for a lot of people, and the university is no different.”
Representatives from the fraternity's headquarters will use an interview process to select the founding fathers.
Moore said this is an ideal time to colonize because of the number of students who do decide to go Greek and the number of men who showed interest in joining a fraternity but didn’t follow through — 500 men who went through fraternity recruitment received bids but chose not to accept them.
“There’s obviously a lot of men who were interested in going Greek but didn’t find their fit,” Moore said. “There are a lot of men on campus that might not have ever thought about going Greek before, but now that there’s this new opportunity, they might consider it because they get to make their mark.”
He thinks students should be interested in rushing Phi Gamma Delta to become a founding father and mold the fraternity into the experience they’re looking for with a fraternity.
The fraternity is offering scholarships throughout the six weeks representatives from the organization's international headquarters will be on campus to select founding members.
Any man who joins Phi Gamma Delta and has a GPA of at least 3.2 will receive a $250 scholarship. The organization will also be giving an additional $1,000 in scholarships to men not already in Greek life, regardless of whether or not they actually join Phi Gamma Delta.
“[Phi Gamma Delta]’s not for college days alone. It’s a lifelong commitment, it’s a lifelong investment definitely,” Moore said. “We’re looking for men who see that.”
Building a house in Greek Village is more of a long-term dream than a short-term plan for the colonizing fraternity.
“In the short-term, we’re more worried about establishing the chapter and making sure they’re a well-organized, high-functioning group of gentlemen,” he said.
Moore does, however, foresee the Phi Gamma Delta building a house after the fraternity’s first four to five years on campus, or “after the group is stable and can show that they can be at USC for a long time.”