After two years away, Sigma Pi recolonizes

The Greek scene at Penn just became a little larger.

Sigma Pi, a fraternity that left campus in 2005 due to dwindling membership, colonized last night with 13 new members.

Colonization is the first step on the way to becoming a University-recognized chartered fraternity.

The new members "will continue to learn what they need to know to run a fraternity," said Scott Reikofski, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.

There are currently 27 official fraternities on campus.

The colony's 13 new members met last night in the Benjamin Franklin room at Houston Hall. As part of the colonization ceremony, the new brothers elected officers for the fraternity; Wharton sophomore Mark Zhu was elected president.

Zhu will lead the fraternity through the process of becoming officially recognized by the University. It must first apply for associate membership to the Inter-Fraternity Council, then seek provisional recognition from the University.

"We'll work with them like we work with every fraternity," said Reikofski, who added that such work would include training new executive officers.

The new brothers must increase membership and meet other benchmarks, like community-service and academic requirements, set by both the University and the national branch of Sigma Pi.

After accomplishing these goals, the fraternity can become an officially chartered and recognized fraternity.

The colonization comes after two expansion consultants had been on campus to try and assemble the necessary number of interested students to form a colony.

Through a series of information sessions, the expansion consultants extolled the benefits of joining the fraternity, emphasizing the networking opportunities available from joining the 110-year-old fraternity.

Nick Frees, one of the expansion consultants, said in an informational meeting that he and another expansion consultant had been visiting sororities on campus and asking them who would make good Sigma Pi brothers.

Frees said he hoped that enlisting the girls' help would encourage them to be social with the Sigma Pi members.

Beyond the 13 new members, Frees said that more students wanted to join in coming weeks.

After one recruitment meeting last week, Wharton sophomore Larry Crane-Moscowitz said he planned on joining the fraternity.

Frees also noted that there were 10-15 interested freshman who will be able to join in the spring, when Sigma Pi will be able to participate in IFC recruitment.

"I think they offer a really great sense of community," Crane-Moscowitz said.

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