Phi Delta Theta is an official University fraternity after a two-year absence, a year of colony status and a tragic loss.
The fraternity received its official installation Dec. 10, more than two years after the Phi Delta national headquarters suspended the LSU chapter due to extremely low recruitment.
Sean Wagner, director of expansion for the fraternity’s national organization, said the former group, which has no connections to the current group, failed to meet the organization’s minimum recruitment standards.
The University chapter merged with Lambda Kappa and gained colony status in March 2005 when then-president Kevin Brown approached the national organization with the idea to re-charter. Wagner said the national organization would have initiated contact if an LSU student had not.
“It’s vital to have a presence at an institution such as LSU,” Wagner said. “We would like to maintain that we’re at all the flagship universities in the states that we’re present. LSU is obviously that in Louisiana. It was very much a priority for us to be back.”
Brown, who is serving as a representative on the Interfraternity Council, said the installation was overwhelming.
“It had been a long road,” he said. “It was over a year’s hard work. I was really proud of myself and the other guys, especially since we lost one of our most crucial members.”
Vice president and campus celebrity Dustin “DC” Clemons was killed April 16 in a car accident that also injured friend and Phi Delt brother Patrick Boutte, who is recovering.
“Something like that can either really ruin a group or drive them to move forward, and that’s exactly what they did in DC’s spirit,” Wagner said. “They continued to be successful.”
Brown agreed.
“I think that if DC was still around,” he said, “we would’ve come together, and it would’ve been because of him. His passing really helped us break down our cliques and see the organization for what it really needs to be. I don’t want to say it was a rallying point, but it encouraged us and gave us the inspiration we needed to do it for him, to get the job done.”
Angela Guillory, assistant dean of students and director of Greek Affairs, said the fraternity did an excellent job recruiting.
“They had a lot of energy,” she said. “The guys were pumped about it. They were excited about selling Phi Delta Theta.”
Brown said the group faced initial recruiting problems with its colony status and lack of a fraternity house, but they engaged in formal recruiting and were met with success-fifteen new members during fall rush.
“We’re the type of fraternity that basically lets anyone hang out with us,” he said. “It’s gone really well.”
The fraternity is making transitions in many areas, led by new chapter president Corey Ritts, who recently attended the national fraternity’s Presidential Leadership Conference in St. Louis.
“I have a lot of confidence in how well he’s going to do,” Brown said. “I was more worried about starting the fraternity. He’s going to be more worried about building a consistent recruitment.”
Phi Delta owns a house between the Theta Xi and Sigma Chi houses, but it is in desperate need of repair and is scheduled to be renovated this summer. Phi Delta also hopes to purchase the adjacent property on the corner lot.
The fraternity is involved in many community activities, including fund-raising and philanthropy.
“We’re heavily involved in the community,” Brown said. “We do two philanthropy events a year. We have a mandatory minimum community service hours for our fraternity. One reason we’re so well established on campus is because for the past year all we’ve done is [community service].”
The Phi Delts recently received a community service award from the national headquarters for exemplary service.
“The group has shown sincere interest in involvement in service and philanthropy above and beyond what’s stipulated,” Wagner said. “They continued to excel through their hardships, and that tends to be a great sign of things to come because they really are headed in the right direction to be one of our stronger organizations within our entire organization.”
 
Contact Parker Wishik at [email protected]