TUCSON, Ariz.
Delta Lambda Phi has been around the University of Arizona campus since the early ’90s.
But by the end of this year, it expects to gain official status from
the UA’s Interfraternity Council as the institution’s first official
gay fraternity.
The UA has 25 fraternities with about 1,200 members. Some are for
specific minority groups such as Latinos or American Indians. But Delta
Lambda Phi would be the first based around sexual orientation — it’s
for “gay, bisexual and progressive” men.
For Dan Churgin, Delta Lambda Phi means a chance to get back in the
Greek system. Churgin pledged a UA fraternity as a freshman, but by
then, he already knew he was gay and had second thoughts about it. The
20-year-old junior ultimately decided not to go through with
initiation.
“I didn’t feel comfortable,” he said. “I wasn’t out and I knew it
would be more difficult to come out being in the fraternity than if I
wasn’t there.”
But now he’s back in the UA Greek system as one of seven members of
Delta Lambda Phi. The fraternity is gearing up this week for “rush” —
where fraternities and sororities hold events to form a new pledge
class.
Another rush is scheduled for February and Delta Lambda Phi expects to have 25 to 30 members by the end of the school year.
In July, Arizona State University’s Sigma Phi Beta gay fraternity
became the first national, collegiate-based organization of its kind in
the country.
— Associated Press
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
