Lambda Chi comes back

The Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity is returning to campus after an 11-year absence.

The fraternity, which was founded at Boston University in 1909, was formed at the University of Richmond in 1918 and held its charter until 1999.

The Lambda Chi Fraternity Board of Directors declared the chapter inactive after it violated alcohol, hazing and risk management regulations, according to a Jan. 28, 1999, Collegian article.

But an underground organization that used the title, "Lambda Chi Alpha," was active until around 2007, spokesman Matthew Schultz said. Schultz works for the national Lambda Chi organization as an Educational Leadership Consultant.

"The reason you remove someone from campus is to clear out their old ways," Alison Bartel Keller, director of Greek Life said. "And so when they come back in, they come in trained from headquarters. Their alumni are trained to changes within the national fraternity. They have a positive, correct and renewed initiative. So, old ways aren't even known to these men."

Schultz, along with Senior Educational Leadership Consultant Patrick Voldness, stationed themselves at the Student Activities office and started recruiting members on Jan. 19. The men used word-of-mouth recommendations from administrators and students as the main way to find potential recruits.

"This past weekend we went to all the sororities and asked them for referrals of men who have good character," Schultz said. "Usually sorority girls are pretty good judges of who's a good guy."

Students from all grade levels were given bids. Recruiting from every class year is typical of a fraternity start-up, Keller said.

Senior Kevin Grayson first heard about the fraternity at a Richmond College Student Government Association meeting at the beginning of this semester.

"At that point in time, I didn't really even think about it," he said.

Grayson later met with Voldness after fellow senior Mike Murray urged him to check it out, and quickly became interested. He liked the type of members it attracted, and the fraternity's openness and diversity.

"It doesn't try to change us and mold us into what they think we should be," he said.

Grayson said the fact that the fraternity did not use a pledge system also attracted him.

"I knew a lot of guys that pledged fraternities my freshman year, and they just seemed like the most depressed people on campus," he said.

Rather than entering a pledge system, students who accept bids between now and the initiation ceremony in April will become associate members in one of three associate member ceremonies taking place prior to the initiation ceremony.

"Associate members hold the same privileges as a brother, ceremonies taking place before to the initiation ceremony.

"Associate members hold the same privileges as a brother, and can attend meetings and vote," Voldness said.

An Associate Member Ceremony was held at the Tyler Haynes Commons on Jan. 31. Lambda Chi alumni from the Richmond area, hailing from a wide variety of alma maters, affixed pins to 31 men at the ceremony. The ceremony marked the official beginning of the new colony, Voldness said.

Members of the Hampden-Sydney College chapter of Lambda Chi were supposed to attend the ceremony, but were unable to make it because of the road conditions. Alumni stepped in to read the traditional speeches.

Some of the traditions have changed during the years, University of Delaware alumnus Kristian Mayr said.

"I went on the Web site, and it helped me refresh my principles," he said.

Mayr learned about the acronym LDRSHIP - which stands for Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Service and Stewardship, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage - and how it forms a core part of the fraternity's ideals.

Associate members will focus on these traits during the time leading up to their initiation.

"Every week you'll go through an experience that relates to those core values," Schultz said.

After seven weeks, there is one week of pre-initiation. The initiation ceremony will be held in April and, unlike the associate member ceremonies, will be closed to the public.

"This is kind of a hybrid," Richmond College Dean Joe Boehman said. "It's an alternative to what's already out there but it's still within the traditions within the fraternity system. The big thing for this group is, 'How do they establish themselves as something distinctive, but still recognize that they want to be part of the fraternity system?'"

The former chapter had a lodge, but it was torn down to make way for special events parking, Keller said.

"We have two open lodges at this point, and we haven't decided which one they were going to use," she said. "They will have a facility available to them."

Grayson said: "It's exciting to have the idea of getting the lodge, but that's one of the last things that was brought up. There will probably in the future be social events, but that's down the road after we've established ourselves as a respectable fraternity."

An additional fraternity on campus is a welcomed thing, Keller said.

"It's most often always a good thing to bring a new chapter because they bring a new energy, they bring an excitement," she said. "They bring their values into the process. It gives men another option, and so that's always good."

The fraternity will continue to recruit new members until the initiation ceremony. There is no limit on the size of a fraternity on campus, but Keller said the typical goal was to be close to the average chapter size so as to be competitive within the Greek system.

Contact staff writer Leigh Donahue at leigh.donohue@richmond.edu.