Welcome to Delta Sigma Phi! Rushing Fraternities can be a challenging experience to go through. Each one of us has been in your exact seat, at one point or another. You meet all the brothers from each organization, asking the same questions, but sometimes you might get the information mixed up later when you have to talk about it. To make things a little bit easier, here are the most common of questions we are asked along with the answers. If you still have questions or concerns, feel free to contact us using the information provided! We look forward to seeing you during Rush week!
Q: I hear it’s really expensive to be in a fraternity. How much does it cost to be a member of Delta Sigma Phi? Where does the money go? And is it really “paying for friends” like my friends say?
A: Every important organization you will join in your lifetime will have some sort of fees or membership dues. Paying dues not only pays for programming at a national and local level, but also helps teach members about financial responsibility.
Your semester as a new member going through your education process is the highest it will be at a total of $450. However, that amount covers a number of items:
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- New Member Book (The Gordian Knot) |
- Delta Sigma Phi member insurance |
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- New Member Pin (10K Gold, engraved specially for you) |
- Initiation Fee |
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- National Delta Sigma Phi dues |
- Rush Shirt |
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- IFC membership Dues |
- Chapter Programming Efforts |
The semester following your initiation, your dues drop down to $400 a semester, which is quite a bargain in comparison to many of the other organizations on campus. Once initiated, part of your dues covers a your lifetime subscription to Delta Sigma Phi’s magazine- The Carnation. The fees that we pay to the national organization cover: Educational resources, Chapter officer workshops (regional conferences), National Staff visits, Insurance, as well as operating costs to update and provide new programs for our membership.
Q: I really don’t think I can afford joining Delta Sigma Phi; it sounds like a lot of money. Is it really worth it?
A: Only half of one's education comes in class. The other half comes from one's life. Where can you get better leadership experience, management training or lessons in teamwork than in Delta Sigma Phi? If you contemplate this for a moment, how could you not afford to join? Think of joining a fraternity as you making a large investment in yourself. How many people can say they have made such an investment?
If you have the drive to join our brotherhood, we have the ability to set up payment plans or look at other avenues of taking care of your dues. We can help anyone that has the heart to join us. Consider this the first showing of what brotherhood really is.
Q: My parents are worried about my grades and how going through new member education will affect them. What does Delta Sigma Phi do to prevent that from happening?
A: Above all else, academics are the first concern for all brothers and new members. After all, our education is an investment in our future, something that no one wants to play around with. At Delta Sigma Phi, we have study hours that each brother must complete on a weekly basis paired up with incentives. Also, during our new member education, your “big brother” is required to spend hours with you, making sure your studies are being completed, and if struggling in a class, your “big” helps you to find a tutor within the brotherhood or set you up with a session at the on campus tutoring center.
Q: I am worried that joining Delta Sigma Phi will take time from school and my social life. How much of my time would it take out of my week?
A: You will have chapter meetings once a week for no more than an hour and a half, along with the addition of any recruitment events, socials, or simply just going to lunch and/or as a brotherhood. Time investment can range anywhere from 3 to 6 hours a week.
Participating in any worthwhile activity requires a time-commitment. Through fraternity involvement, you will learn how to balance your academic work, campus involvement, and social activities. Time-commitment in Delta Sigma Phi varies depending on your interest in assuming leadership roles. Delta Sig is a way of life.
Q: My parents and I are worried about hazing. What is Delta Sigma Phi’s position on hazing?
A: Delta Sig does not believe in hazing. Rather, we believe that the new member education period should be a time where one learns about himself, his fellow new member brothers and the active members in a meaningful way. While the new member period does require a strong time commitment from each member, the experiences that a new member of our fraternity gains are invaluable. We do not sanction or tolerate hazing of any kind and strive to help each new member become a better man throughout his new member education period and then as an active member later on.
Q: You speak a lot about leadership. How can Delta Sigma Phi teach me about leadership?
A: In Delta Sigma Phi, you will be "in charge" of an event or a duty. Everyone in the fraternity is a leader, whether you're an officer, an executive, on a committee, or just a participant. You will learn by doing. You'll learn how to manage a budget, run effective meetings, speak in public, motivate others... skills that will help you in college and throughout your life. These days it takes more than just a degree to get a good job - it takes leadership experience, and by running for an office in a fraternity, you can get as much as you can handle.
Delta Sigma Phi is the first fraternity to offer the opportunity to apply to an annual Leadership Institute. Undergraduates can apply to be accepted to the most intensive leadership program offered today. Here members of Delta Sigma Phi from across the country experience leadership in a way that only the graduates of this institute can. Delta Sig is ranked in the top 5 among IFC fraternities in providing leadership training to its members.
Delta Sigma Phi takes its leadership training a step further during the fall and spring by offering Regional Leadership Academies across the nation. Ten members from every chapter are given the opportunity to travel and gather with brothers in their region. There, discussions are held on building stronger chapters, how to run chapters, and allow brothers to network with each other from all over the region. This semester, ten brothers from our chapter traveled to Atlanta, GA for the two-day academy.
Q: How long is the New Member Education program?
A: Delta Sigma Phi does have an education period lasting 6-8 weeks. During this time, you will learn about the history of Delta Sigma Phi, how to run an effective chapter, the duties of the officers and also be shown what it means to be a productive member of the chapter. During the education program, there will be weekly new member education meetings as well as meetings periodically to plan a fundraiser and a class project.
Q: How can joining Delta Sigma Phi help me in my future career?
A: Networking and Mentoring are two excellent benefits of fraternity life. The places you go and the people you meet can be a career pipeline for the future. Can you name anything else that would give you an immediate connection to more than 115,000 people across the world? Delta Sigma Phi is committed to help its members be successful in college and in life. By networking with alumni, you open yourself to a wide number of options for internships, career advice, even references for when you are applying for jobs once out of college!
Q: My parents still have concerns; they have the “Animal House” view of being in a fraternity. What do I do?
A: Don’t worry. Every parent has the same feeling. Our chapter has individuals ready to talk to any parents with concerns. We can set something up so your parents can talk with our President or Head of Recruitment, they can speak to some of our alumni to give a personal story as to how Delta Sig has benefitted their lives, or we can connect your parents with the parents of one of the active brothers to tell them about the impact that Delta Sig has made on their sons.
This can take place over the phone, through e-mails, or we can even arrange a weekend in which they come together and discuss their concerns in person. Family is of the upmost importance to us, because Delta Sig connects all of our families together. We want to make sure your family is comfortable with your decision.
Q: How involved are your alumni with the chapter?
A: Our chapter alumni are incredible! Delta Sigma Phi is the only fraternity to have an ACB (Alumni Corporation Board). The board stays in constant contact with the chapter, aiding the chapter in all of its matters. The ACB meets regularly throughout the year to discuss how the chapter is running, along with planning events for which the active brothers and Alumni can come together.
Currently, our ACB has an initiative called the “DO 100+: 100 brothers, 100 dollars or more.” This fund is put to use for a $3,000 scholarship they give every semester to active brothers and to aid in chapter house improvements. Also, all year long, alumni plan the Annual Homecoming weekend. Consisting of catered dinners at a local alumni’s house, along with a catered lunch just outside the football stadium with a large event style tent. Delta Sig is the only organization to have the alumni support that is able to do this.
In fact, some of our “founding fathers” are still active with the chapter to this day (our chapter was founded in 1959). That speaks leaps and bounds as to how strong our brotherhood is, carrying through the decades with a desire to still return to where their lives changed forever.
Q: So... Why Delta Sigma Phi?
A: In becoming a full member of Delta Sigma Phi, you enter into a network of 115,000+ initiated men, 75,000 living alumni and over 4,000 undergraduate men. You have a local network of gentlemen who become not only friends, but also brothers. The camaraderie and support you will experience is like nothing else. Delta Sigma Phi’s mission is to build better men one at a time. Furthermore, Delta Sig embodies academic excellence complimented by service to the university and local communities, as well as a balance of other social and university activities.
Delta Sigma Phi is offering you a unique and amazing opportunity. You have the ability to not just join something, but to create. Anyone can say that they joined an organization; very few can talk about how they created one. You will enter into the Greek community without the stigma or stereotypes of other Fraternity’s. It is up to you on what you become and what you make the Delta-Omicron chapter of Delta Sigma Phi.
INTERESTED IN DELTA SIGMA PHI?
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