By Alli Dayton, Managing Editor
Fiji brothers (Photo Provided)
This February, the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity initiated 11 members into its chapter, following a two-year suspension.
In Dec. 2020, Gettysburg College suspended FIJI until Jan. 2023, following violations of the College’s COVID-19 protocols. During a campus-wide quarantine period intended to reduce increasing COVID-19 cases, FIJI hosted a party that prompted their suspension. In addition to FIJI’s disobedience of COVID-19 guidelines, the organization committed other conduct violations from 2015 to 2020.
In Aug. 2015, the chapter was found responsible for hazing incidents in which new members were required to do line ups, wall sits, and wear assigned costumes. In Dec. 2015, FIJI was found responsible for enforcing dress regulations for new members, requiring them to clean the chapter house and mandating that they raise the fraternity flag early each morning.
In 2019, the chapter received a 19.8 out of 100 in Greek evaluations, which measure academic achievement and intellectual engagement, member recruitment and retention, community engagement and organizational management.
At the time of FIJI’s suspension, Director of Student Activities and Greek Life Jon Allen stated that the re-establishment of FIJI could begin in spring 2023 and that the fraternity could re-occupy their chapter house by fall 2023.
The organization began its re-establishment in fall 2022 through the efforts of Zach Brooks ’25 and current Chapter President Ethan Foote ’25.
“We started with an interest group of guys who wanted a different experience out of Greek life than what was currently offered,” said Brooks. “We met with Jon Allen and he put us in the loop that FIJI was looking to do an expansion at Gettysburg College.”
Brooks, who is now the corresponding secretary for the chapter, said, “We realized that what FIJI wanted to do…aligned with what we thought was missing from the Gettysburg Greek life community.”
After agreeing to facilitate FIJI’s re-establishment, interested students like Brooks connected with FIJI’s national headquarters and alumni.
“A group of alumni with graduation years spanning from the mid-1980s to the early 2010s have been working with the student interest group, Phi Gamma Delta Headquarters, and the College on the re-establishment process,” noted Allen. “Over the course of the re-establishment process, this group of alumni will become the advisory board for the chapter…to provide ongoing advising and mentoring to the chapter members.”
Several members expressed that they joined FIJI as an alternative to the traditional fraternity experience.
“When I looked on campus, I saw that in order to be part of [Greek] organizations, you kind of had to fit into a specific box and I didn’t really want to fit into that box, so I saw FIJI as an opportunity to create my own box,” said FIJI Recording Secretary Joey Labrie ’25.
FIJI member Geoffrey Meadville ’25 specifically identified the negative reputations of other Greek organizations as one of his reasons for joining.
“Greek life on this campus has a really terrible reputation…so I was like, well, I’m not joining those because they sound awful,” said Meadville.
Members also highlighted a desire to change perceptions of Greek life that may prevent students from joining Greek organizations.
“We wanted to make sure we created an inclusive space, so no matter someone’s identity, they felt welcomed,” shared Brooks. “We wanted to target people who wouldn’t traditionally be in Greek life…like international students and members of the LGBTQ community.”
Meadville added, “We wanted it to be…kind of like a model fraternity for the rest of campus to look at and say ‘we can match that’ or at least feel challenged by and pushed to do better.”
Additionally, members discussed their chapter’s focus on positive components of the fraternity experience.
“We wanted to focus on aspects like philanthropy and high-achieving academics,” said Brooks. “We have a national philanthropy…and then we talked about wanting to identify a local organization in Gettysburg we could support.”
Labrie and Brooks noted that FIJI is currently focusing on establishing connections with campus organizations.
“We have been reaching out to different sororities about mixers,” shared Labrie.
Brooks added, “We signed up to have a team at Airbands, we signed up for the wiffle ball tournament…we also want to find ways of getting involved with other clubs and organizations on campus.”
The chapter is also prioritizing recruitment for this semester, with a goal to recruit approximately ten additional members, according to Labrie.
In the future, FIJI hopes to rejoin the Interfraternity Council (IFC) as a voting member, according to Brooks.
“FIJI is currently a probationary member of IFC because they are not paying dues this semester,” stated Allen. “Once they start paying dues in the fall they will be a full voting member of the IFC.”
FIJI also plans to regain control of its chapter house, located at 105 West Water Street, in fall 2024. In spring 2021, FIJI’s chapter house accommodated a group of 16 first-year students, as a result of the housing de-densification process that occurred due to the pandemic. Then, in fall 2021, the location became Athena House, a cohort of sorority women, overseen by OSAGL.
“Our senior year, regardless of how many members we [have], that space is ours again,” said Meadville.
Although OSAGL is working to determine a relocation plan for Athena House, the current building will be returned to FIJI in 2024.
“We will be working with the leadership in the house and the Panhellenic Council over the next year to assess the needs and wants of the sorority community,” said Allen. “Based on the outcome of that assessment we will work with Residential Education to identify a new space that can house the program.”
Athena House Risk Manager Kay Brackett ’23 discussed the impact of losing Athena House’s existing space.
“Replacing a safe space for women on campus with an organization that was no stranger to Title IX investigations is extremely disheartening,” said Brackett. “I can only hope that Athena House will find a new space and that this new beginning for FIJI’s organization will be focused on improving their previous reputation on campus and committing themselves to creating a safe and welcoming social space for all.”
Despite their emphasis on rebranding the organization, members have experienced challenges with rehabilitating FIJI’s existing reputation among the student body.
“Sorority women…have a very pessimistic attitude toward us as an organization,” shared Meadville.
Meadville further explained that prior to his initiation, he received questions from peers about, “how soon you’re going to start a drug ring or what’s your plan for date raping girls.”
Former Students Against Sexual Assault President Sydney Kaplan ’22 expressed her perspective on FIJI’s return to campus.
“I don’t believe that FIJI should continue to be punished for breaking Covid safety measures two and a half years ago; the organization did its time and that is more than sufficient,” said Kaplan. “…Regardless of the fact that classes of brothers have cycled in and out of FIJI for decades, the organization itself has maintained a subpar reputation in recent years and is repeatedly and consistently noted as problematic. At what point do we stop this vicious cycle? Now is the perfect opportunity for FIJI to disappear from campus before their resurrection gains traction.”
In response to negative perceptions about FIJI, Labrie said, “our past doesn’t dictate our future.”
This article originally appeared on pages 6 and 7 of the March 2023 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
