As the CSUN Greek community continues to grow, the Sigma Nu and Delta Upsilon fraternities are in the process of being chartered at CSUN and receiving official recognition from their national chapters.

“We’re more involved in getting high-quality brothers,” said Sigma Nu president and founding father Chris Perry. “Finding, building and maintaining ethical leaders.”

The charter process that a fraternity must go through consists of two steps, said Jamison Keller, Greeks adviser in the Matador Involvement Center,

The first step is similar to those taken by any organization to receive university recognition at CSUN. The main components for university recognition include constitutional submission to the Matador Involvement Center and attending the mandatory Clubs and Organizations Recognition Conference, which both fraternities already completed, Keller said. The second step involves meeting the minimum requirements of the fraternity’s national chapter.

The entire chartering process, in most cases, takes between a year and a year and a half of functioning on campus, Keller said.

Sigma Nu has not been chartered at CSUN since 1994, and the fraternity began its most recent process to be chartered in October 2004, Perry said.

The fraternity’s current goal is to function as a fully chartered chapter, even though they have not yet received their charter, he said.

Sigma Nu must prove to their national chapter that they are a functioning chapter so they can gain recognition, Keller said.

Sigma Nu’s National Chapter also requires that its member fraternities are at least the average size of other fraternities on campus, which hold 38 members, Keller said.

“(Sigma Nu) knows I know what they’re all about, and that I will hold them accountable to that,” said Keller, an alumnus of Sigma Nu.

Sigma Nu has 23 members at the moment, Perry said.

“None of the guys know the ritual, and that won’t happen until they get the green light to become a chapter,” Keller said.

He said that the Sigma Nu candidates would not become fully initiated brothers until they receive their charter from the national chapter.

Perry said he hopes that the fraternity will have enough members by the spring semester so the fraternity can be chartered.

The Delta Upsilon fraternity is in its first semester at CSUN, said David Espinoza, Delta Upsilon member.

The fraternity submitted all the documents required for a campus charter, Keller said.

“Right now we need to get a couple more guys to actually get colonized,” Espinoza said.

The Delta Upsilon Fraternity was founded in 1834, according to Espinoza, and is the sixth oldest nationally known fraternity.

He said the fraternity prides itself on being a “non-secret fraternity,” with no rituals, oaths or handshakes, which, he added, makes the fraternity different from other fraternities on campus.

Espinoza said Delta Upsilon once had enough interest by potential members to get chartered, but the fraternity had to let go some of its members due to their lack of involvement. Members of the fraternity showed interest, but did not make effort in participation, according to Espinoza.

“I don’t want founding fathers that ain’t doing nothing,” he said.

The first members of a fraternity, when chartered on a college campus, gain the responsibility of being the “founding fathers” of that chapter.

“We need to get our name out there,” Espinoza said, adding that Delta Upsilon started rush two weeks after everyone else on campus. “It’s kind of hard right now (to get members) because people interested in fraternities already rushed.”

Unlike most new fraternities on campus, Delta Upsilon’s initial startup has been left to students who do not know how to do it without the support of their national organization, Keller said.

“We’re all brand-new to this, myself included. We’re trying to do the best we can,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza said Delta Upsilon would not get chartered this semester, though he has his goals set for next semester, when he believes the fraternity will have a better rush period.

Keller said calls come into his office once a month from national chapters inquiring about setting up a chapter at CSUN. Three other national chapters have shown interest in starting chapters at CSUN, Keller said. The time in which their chapter could be introduced, however, should be at a time in which they would get more recognition.

According to the Fall 2005 list of recognized socially based fraternities and sororities on campus compiled by the Matador Involvement Center, there are about twice as many fraternities on campus then there are sororities.

“I think what the campus needs is more sororities, not fraternities,” said Andrew Wilds, ZBT alumnus.

Mary-Alexandra Andrusco can be reached at maryalexandra@gmail.com.