DSP: Road to home

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DSP: Road to home

Delta Sigma Phi fraternity lost its house more than two years ago due to a range of violations, including possession of alcohol. Now, the men of DSP are on their way to reclaiming their home. An agreement between Dean of Men Aaron Petersen and the chapter states that an accreditation score of 80 or higher will allow the college to move forward with a plan to return the house to the fraternity. The accreditation is done by the national fraternity.

“We want to see a strong accreditation score from them,” Petersen said. “We need to see that they can sustain strong effort and performance, which is something we’ve talked a lot about. What we’ve been after with them is to improve the heart of their chapter. We want them to continue being serious about fraternity, and making a strong positive influence on this campus and in the community.”

In the past three years, DSP has gone from an accreditation score of zero to a 72, according to junior Paul Wendt, future chapter president.
“We have made a lot of improvements over the last two years,” Wendt said.
Fraternal accreditation is determined by a number of factors, including participation in philanthropy projects, alumni events, and national conferences.

Part of those improvements included attending a conference of the national Delta Sigma Phi fraternity in Indianapolis, Ind., in January.
“The Indianapolis conference satisfied one of our requirements for accreditation,” Wendt said. “We got 20 guys down there in contact with our national headquarters, and before, we hadn’t really had much contact with the national fraternity.”

Wendt said the conference focused on recruitment tactics and philanthropy ideas, as well as a number of team building exercises. Petersen and Associate Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers also attended the conference.
“Dean Pete kept the ship running and let the national fraternity do their job,” Wendt said.
Upon their return to campus, a conversation began about how fraternity members could return to their house. Petersen and Chapter President senior Joe Snyder developed a plan that put the men of DSP on track to return in the fall 2014 semester.

“I’m moving forward with them returning to the chapter house, and I am presuming a strong accreditation score,” Petersen said. “There will be 10 to 15 guys that I’ll move into the house. There are going to be some restrictions and expectations, and we’re going to work together on those details.”

Snyder said his work with Petersen was productive.
“The focus was on getting the house back and setting a good score,” he said. “After the meeting, all the officers sat down, and we all made a plan, and, as long as we accomplish that, then we’ll get the house back.”
Snyder said aspects of that plan include service projects, philanthropy events, increased recruitment, increased fraternity GPA average, and alumni engagement.
“We’re just trying to accomplish everything that we’ve set,” he said.
According to Wendt, part of the problem that resulted in the loss of the house was the existing

culture at the time.
“There was an attitude in the house that was more relaxed,” he said. “Nobody was very respectful of the property. We felt entitled, and that’s really changed.”
Wendt said the fraternity has plans to improve its campus presence.
“Nobody wants this to happen again,” he said. “We have a negative connotation here at Hillsdale, and we want to change that. We want to do more philanthropy events. We want to expand our recruitment to non­football players, and we definitely want to get our accreditation score as high as we can get it.”
Petersen said the effort put forth by the men of DSP these last two years has been earnest.
“It’s encouraging to me,” he said. “They genuinely want to do better. From what I’ve seen, they’re going to have a stronger score than they’ve ever had.”
Wendt said the fraternity plans to continue improving.
“We’re moving forward to try to change that culture that’s been haunting us,” he said.
Snyder agreed.
“My class was the last class to live in the house,” Snyder said. “These young guys don’t know what it was like to live there. I know they’ve seen all the work we’ve done. We’ve set a good foundation over these last two years.”