A Parents Guide to Delta Chi
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about The Delta Chi Fraternity. We want you to be as excited and comfortable with your son's interest in the Fraternity as he is.
Delta Chi understands that the expectations of today's college men are growing, and as a Fraternity we wish to enable your son to meet and exceed those expectations and be a successful member after graduation. The Fraternity provides support to our chapters and individual members through leadership programs, written and online programming and Leadership Consultant visits to all chapters and colonies on a regular basis. Alumni are engaged to supervise the operations of the chapters, and minimum standards for all Delta Chi chapters and colonies are in place to ensure all brothers are having a quality fraternity experience.
Below are some questions and answers that may help you understand even more about Delta Chi and how you can support your son's decision:
What is the history of Delta Chi?
On October 13, 1890, eleven law students at Cornell University formed a Law Fraternity, Delta Chi. In 1922, the Fraternity officially went "general," thus opening its membership to men in all areas of study. In 1929, Delta Chi became the first fraternity to officially abolish hazing practices associated with "hell week". Since its founding at Cornell, Delta Chi has grown to more than 120 chapters and colonies across the United States and Canada and has initiated more than 90,000 brothers. The success of Delta Chi has hinged on the continued recruitment of excellent young men and the support of experienced alumni from the local to international level.
What are the values of Delta Chi?
Certainly the most public and perhaps the best-known description of the purposes of Delta Chi, the Preamble's principle ideals offer profound potential as a guide to daily life as a brother:
"We, the members of The Delta Chi Fraternity, believing that great advantages are to be derived from a brotherhood of college and university men, appreciating that close association may promote friendship, develop character, advance justice, and assist in the acquisition of a sound education, do ordain and establish this Constitution."
Delta Chi also has a collection of expectations for each member to uphold. These Ten Basic Expectations serve as an extension of our Preamble and give us more specific principles to live by:
1. I will strive for academic achievement and practice academic integrity.
2. I will respect the dignity and worth of all persons. I will not physically, mentally, psychologically or sexually abuse or haze any human being.
3. I will protect the health and safety of all human beings.
4. I will respect my property and the property of others; therefore, I will neither abuse nor tolerate the abuse of property.
5. I will meet my financial obligations in a timely manner.
6. I will neither use nor support the use of illegal drugs; I will neither abuse nor support the abuse of alcohol.
7. I will acknowledge that a clean and attractive environment is essential to both physical and mental health; therefore, I will do all in my power to see that the chapter property is safe, properly cleaned and maintained.
8. I will know and understand the ideals expressed in my fraternity Ritual and will incorporate them into my daily life.
9. I will exercise compassion and understanding in dealing with all persons.
10. I will challenge all my fraternity members to abide by these fraternity obligations and will confront those who violate them.
What about pledging or hazing?
As your son joins Delta Chi, he will become an associate member through a public ceremony that will explain the benefits and obligations of membership in Delta Chi. Once he is an associate member (often called an AM for short), he will begin his associate member education program, which will include personal development activities and programming as well as education on the values, history and operations of Delta Chi on a local and international level. He will be assigned an active big brother who will work with him as a mentor and confidant if he ever has questions or needs support in his effort towards full membership.
Delta Chi is strongly opposed to any practices that are or may appear to be hazing. The experience of Delta Chi associate members should be one of education, challenges, personal development, and excitement. Hazing in any form contradicts these goals and is a direct violation of both the Ten Basic Expectations of a Delta Chi and the oath that every member takes during his initiation.
The Fraternity takes any actions that put any member or associate member in danger very seriously, and the incidents of hazing in all fraternities and certainly Delta Chi have been increasingly infrequent in recent years. Delta Chi's effort to make the undergraduate experience a positive one, full of fun, personal growth and preparation for professional success is one of the reasons Delta Chi has been so successful for more than 115 years, and with men like your son living up to those values every day, the future keeps looking better.
What educational opportunities does Delta Chi provide?
The educational and personal development opportunities available to your son are only limited by the time he is willing to put into them. Starting at the most basic level, the associate member program includes academic skills and support as well as personal development programs like community service events, philanthropic activities, social events, intramural competition and active and alumni mentoring. Your son can step up and take a leadership role in the chapter by becoming a committee chairman or executive officer. There are also leadership opportunities beyond the chapter that the Fraternity may be able to assist him with, such as running for office on an Inter-Fraternity Council, student government, or other clubs that have brothers as members.
Beyond the local chapter level, Delta Chi Law requires that the Regent, elected regionally by the undergraduate members of Delta Chi, hold annual leadership conferences for each of nine geographic regions. The Regional Leadership Conferences (RLCs) include a variety of speakers on topics ranging from chapter management to personal development to risk reduction and safety. Each RLC is attended by members of Delta Chi's International Executive Committee and/or the Executive Director, undergraduates and alumni from each chapter and colony within the region and is hosted by a chapter in that region.
The zenith of Delta Chi conferences is the International Convention, which is held every other year in a major city in North America. This culmination of international brotherhood includes business sessions at which amendments to Delta Chi Law, the Ritual and financial structure are debated and voted upon by the undergraduate delegates. It also includes a leadership college similar to the RLCs but on a much larger scale, including professional speakers and the opportunity to network with undergraduate and alumni brothers of all ages, chapters and professions. The conventions also include an etiquette luncheon and a black tie banquet and awards ceremony at which the good works of brothers are recognized.
Delta Chi also encourages members to attend other educational programs put on by outside organizations, such as the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI), LeaderShape, regional Greek conferences (MGCA, WRLGC, etc.), and other leadership development programs.
So again, the chance for your son to develop as an individual and challenge himself to succeed as a member of Delta Chi is only limited by his desire.
What impact will Delta Chi membership have on my son's grades?
Your sonÂ's academic success is paramount to any other activity he is involved with while in college, and Delta Chi's primary purpose is to support his effort to graduate. College life is fun, so it takes personal discipline to ensure he can be successful in his social and academic endeavors. The balance between work and play that he will learn through his involvement in Delta Chi is a life skill he will carry through to his professional and family life as an alumnus.
Through his associate member program and as an active member, his academic success will be the deciding factor in his continued involvement within the Fraternity. There is a minimum GPA required for an associate member to be initiated into Delta Chi. There is also a minimum GPA required for an active member to be in good standing and for him to hold a leadership position. If your son wants to be an active member and eventually hold a leadership position, he will be expected to keep up his grades. If a memberÂ's grades fall below the minimums, the chapter will address those concerns and support the brother in bringing his grades back up.
Delta Chi as a fraternity has a minimum college GPA requirement of 2.25, or a 2.5 high school GPA if this is his first semester in college, to be initiated, and all Delta Chi chapters and colonies must maintain a cumulative GPA above a 2.5 to be in good standing. However, oftentimes an individual chapter will set higher minimum standards to meet the higher academic rigors of its institution.
To find out the minimum academic standards for a particular chapter, you are encouraged to contact its recruitment chairman or the "Â" (President). Either of those gentlemen will be more than happy to answer those and any other questions you may have.
Are Delta Chi chapters like the fraternities shown in Animal House?
Fraternities are values-based organizations dedicated to their founding values and the development of young men to successful alumni. They're also a lot of fun.
If you take an organization that outwardly appears to be solely about having fun, with secret rituals and handshakes, and add the modern touch of shock entertainment, you get movies like Animal House and Van Wilder. But those Hollywood representations of college students are no more accurate than Police Academy III is to police officers or Airplane is to the aviation industry. Fraternities are a fun topic for movies and TV shows because we are proud to identify ourselves as a group, and we are more than comfortable with poking fun at ourselves.
What most people don't see on TV or in the movies are the chapter meetings where we have speakers on sexual assault prevention, our community service projects, our study skills workshops, or our alumni reunions. We understand that our community service projects wouldn't make for good TV. In the meantime, weÂ'll quietly continue to do what we do best: develop the leaders of tomorrow.
Is it expensive to be a Delta Chi?
The Fraternity is self-sustained through dues charged to its members. Each chapter may charge chapter dues for local operations, and Delta Chi receives part of those dues in the form of a one-time associate member fee of $90 and an initiation fee of $200. Active members also contribute $440 per semester in dues to Delta Chi. You can ask the local chapter "Â" (President) or recruitment chairman to provide you with a breakdown of all local dues and financial obligations. The financial commitment may be significant but so are the returns on your son's investment, and as the saying goes, "You get what you pay for."
The funds contributed to Delta Chi are returned to members through Leadership Consultant visits, International Conventions, written and electronic programming materials, a resource website, access to professional-quality supplies, and the operation and maintenance of an international headquarters office, just to name a few. It is a full-circle organization that is supported by the continued success of its individual chapters.
If the chapter on your son's campus has a chapter house, there will be a room rental fee if he chooses to live there. You will probably find he gets a great deal for the money when he lives in a Delta Chi chapter house, compared to living in the residence halls or in off-campus apartments.
Each chapter is also billed for full risk management insurance coverage for all active members once in the fall. This insurance covers a variety of activities and is extended to associate members in the fall and spring semesters but is not designed to supplement personal health or renter's insurance.
Is my son going to have time to be involved in Delta Chi?
Any organization that expects its members to be the best they can requires an investment of its members' time. But this is time well spent. Studies have shown that men "involved" during their college careers are more likely to stay in college, do well, and graduate. The support system provided by Delta Chi will help your son manage his time more effectively and thus be more productive with his time.
To put it plainly, would you rather your son spend his free time performing community service, leading a committee meeting and playing intramural sports or sitting around playing video games? Fraternity membership is not a free pass at hard work, but rather the understanding that hard work is expected and that balance between academics, athletics, social events and community involvement is the key to a well-rounded college experience.
How can I be involved in my son's Delta Chi experience?
Hopefully, when your son told you that he wanted to join Delta Chi, you were as excited as he was about the experience he will have. The best thing that you could do to support his decision is to learn as much as you can about Delta Chi and his particular chapter.
Many chapters have already developed or are currently developing parents' clubs so that their moms and dads can be directly involved and will enhance their son's experience. If the chapter doesn't currently have a parents' club, maybe you can help start one. Parents are also eligible to serve on an Alumni Board of Trustees* and/or House Corporation. Fathers are also eligible for alumnus initiation, assuming he has not been initiated into another inter/national social fraternity.
You can be as involved as you want to be in your son's fraternity experience, and you are encouraged to talk to him about what he's doing with his brothers. The more you know, the more you'll appreciate his accomplishments.
* Delta Chi only requires a majority of the voting members of an Alumni Board of Trustees to be initiated members of Delta Chi.
