Fiji fraternity disbands due to low membership

 Phi Gamma Delta members dissolved their OCU chapter earlier this month at the encouragement of their headquarters.

Fiji members have considered closing the chapter since December 2018. Dexter Hudson, music and Fiji alumnus, said their headquarters requested a chapter review and recommended they dissolve the chapter.

Fiji was established as a colony at OCU in 2010 and chartered in 2015.

Hudson said he was at the April meeting where members voted to discontinue the chapter. He said the brothers agreed it was the best decision for the chapter and its members.

“It’s our job to give them the fraternity experience,” Hudson said. “We don’t have the resources to provide that.”

Carlos Sanchez, English senior and Fiji president, agreed that the stress of the decision affected members negatively. 

“Our graduate adviser suggested that we give it until Spring Break, see if we could recruit more guys, and, if we didn’t, we could have another meeting to discuss it more seriously,” he said.

Fiji gained two new members this year through fall and spring recruitments.

Fiji had 10 members at the end of the fall semester, compared to Lambda Chi Alpha with 53 members and Kappa Sigma with 45.

Hudson said Fiji served as a “niche fraternity” on campus. 

“They could just come and be themselves. They knew that from day one,” he said.

When the members received the first suggestion from headquarters to review the chapter, their faculty adviser encouraged them to wait a semester to decide. 

Sanchez said despite losing their chapter, the brothers will not lose contact with each other. 

“We’re all brothers, and, even if we’re not, we’re still friends. We’re still going to hang out,” he said.

The members planned to host one last game night at the end of the semester, but there were too many conflicts with other events, Sanchez said.

Despite Fiji’s inability to gain enough new members to sustain their chapter, Levi Harrel, director of student engagement, wants to bring in another Greek men’s organization to campus  in Fall 2020.

Harrel said the Interfraternity Council will vote about the matter and, if approved, Harrel will contact organizations to petition. 

Having a third organization on campus helps to temper the rivalry between Kappa Sigma and Lambda Chi Alpha, Harrel said.

“I think a third organization balances out this community,” Harrel said. “We are a community of fraternity men, and, though our affiliations may be different, at the end of the day, we stand for the same values.”