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Finding its place The Delta Lambda Phi National Social
Fraternity finds a home at N.C. State.
------------ On Nov. 17 three years of hard work and struggle were finally rewarded for members of the Beta Alpha chapter of Delta Lambda Phi National Social Fraternity. On this date, the fraternity was officially chartered at N.C. State. . But what sets Delta Lambda Phi apart from the forty-plus Greek organizations at NCSU is that this fraternity is made up of progressive men who are gay or bisexual. Delta Lambda Phi was established by Vernon L. Strickland III on Oct. 15, 1996, in Washington D.C. Strickland’s goal was to create a fraternity where gay and bisexual men would be accepted in a nurturing and caring environment. The members of DLP abide by the organization’s three key principles: to promote dignified and purposeful social and recreational activities for progressive men, regardless of sexual orientation; to lead in determining the rights and privileges of individuals in society; and to present a strong and positive image which respects the diversity of all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation. In the fall of 1998, Clayton T. Wilkerson and Marshall Smith internalized that philosophy by taking the initiative to establish a DLP chapter at NCSU. In the past three years, DLP has gone through six pledge classes-this is how long it took them before they had the required amount of members to officially become a fraternity. On this three-year expedition to become chartered, DLP encountered tremendous amounts of support. The offices of Greek Life, Tom Stafford and Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, to name a few, made an otherwise challenging task into an easy one for DLP. The founders knew what they wanted to accomplish, yet getting the chapter started was a huge challenge in itself. The main problem that DLP faced was finding ways in which to publicize the fraternity to students. In the beginning, DLP was labeled as a special interest group and not a fraternity. “Finding out how to do the publicity was really challenging for us,” said Marshall Smith, who is one of the founding members and is now a current alumni member. Smith added that another challenge included, “trying to get in contact with the right people at the right times to fill out the right forms so that we could become a registered organization.” “It was a lot rougher than I anticipated,” said Clayton Wilkerson, another founding member and current chapter president. “You have to get people to be as passionate about it as you are for the fraternity, and also see the vision that you have.” Some of their recruitment methods included mailing lists, contacts through other clubs on campus, fliers, emails and publications. While there are currently many productive homosexual and bisexual organizations on campus, Wilkerson feels there was still a void on the campus. “We didn’t really have a social group where gay, bisexual and progressive males could go just to have friends outside of the other outlets that you’d try to meet people,” said Wilkerson. DLP isn’t open to only gay and bisexual males. There are heterosexual members in DLP chapters throughout the country and Smith says that the doors are also wide open in the NCSU chapter for heterosexual males who feel that the fraternity is right for them and who would feel comfortable in DLP. DLP’s plan for the future is synonymous with every other Greek organization in existence today—longevity. Members of DLP agree that the recruitment of new members will not only increase their presence on campus, but will also supply them with a secure and confident future. Their knowledge on how to organize and maintain a fraternal organization, plus more community activity, will establish them as a key component to NCSU’s Greek life. In DLP’s three years of existence, they have already repeatedly participated in the annual AIDS Walk, Evening With Friends, which is another AIDS fund raising charity and Service Raleigh. For more information on Delta Lambda Phi visit their Web Site at
www.ncsufrat.org.
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