Assistant Dean of Students in charge of discipline Matt Burns released a letter to the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity on March 18 granting their re-affiliation with UR beginning in the Fall 2005.
“We are very excited about our re-affiliation,” President and junior Joshua Rosen said. “As a fraternity, we plan on continuing and improving our former traditions, including our focus on community service and academics.”
The fraternity was de-recognized by UR in the spring of 2003 and will have a two year probation period to compensate for the time they were unaffiliated.
During this probation period, the Fraternity Presidents’ Council and Residential Life will decide what restrictions are to be put on an organization with probationary status.
Burns could not be reached for comment, but in the letter he sent to the brothers of congratulating them on their affiliation, he wrote, “Effective immediately, you may reserve rooms under the name for the purpose of planning activities for the fall. You may not, however, sponsor any events or activities prior to the start of the fall semester.”
is still in the process of planning the activities they will host next year.
“Even though we are on probation, we are very happy,” brother and senior Evan Majzner said. “This will show the school that we will only get stronger and we will stay positive.”
They will not have enough brothers to apply for housing as a fraternity, but foresee doing so in the future.
“I’ve received a copy of the letter that was sent to , but I was not involved in the process that reviewed their request for re-affiliation,” Senior Associate Director of Residential Life Laurel Contomanolis said. “Residential Life will certainly be supportive of the group and will work with them as needed. The question has come up as to whether the group will be eligible to seek special interest housing status in the future, and I will be conferring with [Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs] Monica Smalls on this aspect of their return.”
Smalls is positive about the reaffiliation as well. “My hope is that the re-colonization of will add to the continuing campus-wide efforts of enhancing fraternity and sorority life on campus,” she said.
“We are a good organization, and I think that is why we were allowed to remain on campus,” Rosen said. “We had the highest grade point average of all the fraternities included in the Fraternity Presidents’ Council, and we did a lot of community service, especially for the American Cancer Society who wanted to honor us at one of their dinners for the work we did for them. These are traditions that we plan on
continuing.”
In addition to the two-year probation, is required to draft a written account of all the anticipated pledging activities to submit to Burns by April 30.
“We are still drafting our pledge process, but it will definitely be changed next year,” brother and junior Elliott Chun said. “Dean Burns has been very helpful. We plan on placing a strong emphasis on education and philanthropy.”
In the fall, will be allowed to participate in fraternity rush. Eleven seniors will make up the entire fraternity during this time.
“We are optimistic that people coming out to rush will meet us and get to know us and see how unique we are,” Rosen said.
Also in the fall, a probationary review committee, which has not been established yet, will meet to check up on the fraternity.
“I was notified about ‘s re-affiliation because I am involved in helping their event planning for next year,” Director of Wilson Commons Student Activities Anne-Marie Algier said.
The members of are excited about their affiliation. However, they are cautious and know that they will need to prove their worth once again.
“We are on a short leash for the next few years,” Rosen said. “We are still learning the specifics of what the next few years will be like, but as a fraternity we are all very proud.”
Paret can be reached at eparet@campustimes.org.
