Starting some new organizations on campus requires a certain... finesse. Namely, a way with Greek women.
This, at least, was the logic behind Theta Delta Chi (TDX)’s decision last week to send two of its representatives—one bearing roses—to Harvard’s three sororities in search of potential Harvard brothers.
Adam M. McCready, charge consultant for TDX, says it is not unusual for fraternities to look to the ladies for help finding eligible male recruits. After all, they can’t ask the rival frats for help.
If the “colonization” process succeeds, it won’t be TDX’s first encounter with Harvard. From 1856 to the start of the first world war, the frat was one of several dozen male social clubs on campus. Housed at 54 Dunster Street, now the Office of Career Services, TDX joined stalwarts like the Spee, the A.D. and the Delphic as well as other clubs who have also since departed—lost gems like the “Iroquois,” the “Argos,” and the “Stylus.”
McCready says the club closed because of concerns it was not meeting TDX’s national standards, but wouldn’t give more details.
If he succeeds in his hopes to reignite TDX’s Crimson tradition—minus the house—the frat would be the fifth on campus and the second new Greek club to come to Harvard in the last two years. Though Delta Upsilon’s Harvard chapter withdrew its official frat status this year—the men now call themselves the Oak Club—Greek life apparently remains strong.
With charges (TDX’s term for chapters) at MIT, Dartmouth, Tufts, and Brown, TDX seeks men who are dedicated to academics, moral well-being, and community outreach, McCready said.
In other words, “We’re not a bunch of beer-drinking idiots,” says Timothy J. Rotolo, president of the Tufts charge.
