The University of North Georgia’s Gainesville campus is now home to Delta Sigma Phi, its first North American Interfraternity Conference group.
Delta Sigma Phi is the second fraternal organization to be established on the Gainesville campus—the first was Lambda Theta Phi in fall 2019.
Delta Sigma Phi currently has 107 chapters across the nation with eight in Georgia.
“UNG seemed to be a good fit for us,” Brenden O’Connor, assistant director of new chapter development for Delta Sigma Phi, said. “We had our challenges since we started during the fall semester of the COVID-19 pandemic, but everyone was willing to experiment.”
Thirteen students were initiated into the fraternity this spring in the Student Center’s Robinson Ballroom. Aubrey Frazier, director of fraternity and sorority life at UNG, said installing another fraternity on the Gainesville campus was part of her office’s strategic plan.
“It demonstrates our continued effort to expand fraternities and sororities to the Gainesville campus and enhance the college experience for those students,” Frazier said in a release.
UNG is home to six other fraternities based on the Dahlonega campus. In addition, UNG has five Panhellenic sororities, three gender-inclusive fraternal organizations and one culturally-based sorority.
To be eligible for membership in a fraternity or sorority, students must be enrolled in a baccalaureate or associate program and have a 2.5 minimum GPA. Students may join a group no matter its home campus, but freshmen are ineligible to join until after their first semester.
“UNG believes that first-year students need to focus on academics to ensure the most successful transition to college possible,” Frazier said. “This allows them to become accustomed to college classes, get involved in other activities and make friends before joining a fraternity or sorority.”
