UR Greek: Kappa Sigma receives approval to return

This is the final piece of a four-part series on changes in Greek life at University of Richmond. You can read the other pieces here.

Kappa Sigma nationals have been in contact with the University of Richmond regarding their return to campus, though no official date has been decided upon. The earliest the fraternity could return would be in the spring of 2017, said Meg Pevarski, assistant director for Greek life.

“We have a tentative semester on the books,” Pevarski said. “But we also want to get through Fiji’s colonization because obviously on a campus this size where we are committed to roughly 3,000 undergraduate students, we want to make sure our community is ready for an expansion if it happens.”

Since Kappa Sigma left campus in the spring of 2013, it has been on a “working timeline” with a fluid return date that just stipulated the chapter could not return to campus until at least four years had passed, Pevarski said.

Mitchell Wilson, executive director of Kappa Sigma, said he is excited to return to campus and has already begun speaking with alumni about the prospect.

“[Richmond has] given us the approval to come back,” Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of what the time frame will be.”

Kappa Sigma nationals withdrew the charter because of violations to the fraternity’s code of conduct, Wilson said.

“We took the actions that we saw as the responsible actions to close the chapter,” Wilson said. “We worked with the University of Richmond to make that decision and to develop a time frame or the ability to come back to campus and recolonize.

“So that’s what we have done, and we’re looking forward to coming back and finding a group of students who are going to be a values-based college fraternity, and we’re going to look for leaders and people who want to represent our standards and values on a day-to-day basis.”

Similar to Fiji, Kappa Sigma has been paying rent to Richmond to keep its fraternity lodge, and will move back into its previous lodge. Sigma Alpha Epsilon is not paying rent for its lodge, which is currently vacant, Pevarski said.

Contact reporter Ellie Potter at elizabeth.potter@richmond.edu