After leaving campus in 1974 when its last member graduated, Sigma Alpha Kappa regained its charter Tuesday after the Student Government Association voted in favor of reinstating it as Loyola’s fifth social fraternity.
News of the fraternity’s charter had political science senior and SAK vice-president Jordan Huck elated.
“I’m very excited. I’m glad to see the amount of support we received,” he said.
Tuesday marked the second time SAK went before SGA in recent weeks. Previously, it applied for charter as a fraternal service order and received a majority of votes in its favor but fell just short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass a resolution.
Some members of the congress-at-large said they were unsure of what exactly made up a fraternal service order.
According to economics/finance senior and SAK president Brandon Thibodeaux, the conditions for a fraternal service organization were to be introduced by Bernard Knoth to SGA members on Oct. 7, the same day Knoth resigned as university president.
With no set guidelines before them for receiving charter as a fraternal service organization, SAK members decided to take a different approach.
Instead of applying for charter as a service fraternity, Sigma Alpha Kappa went before the Intrafraternity Council and asked to be admitted as a social fraternity ,with an emphasis on service.
The council agreed to recognize Sigma Alpha Kappa as a social fraternity if it were to receive its charter from SGA.
In attendance at Tuesday’s SGA meeting were several supporters of Sigma Alpha Kappa, including political science junior and IFC president Fernando Bautista, as well as political science senior and LUCAP External Affairs co-chair Mirya Holman. Both Bautista and Holman spoke on behalf of their organizations.
“On behalf of IFC,” Bautista said, “I would like to welcome them into our Greek community.”
Holman also voiced her support, saying that Thibodeaux and other SAK members have approached LUCAP several times about offering service and that LUCAP fully supports SAK.
In addition to supporters, Thibodeaux himself spoke to the congress and made his case for a Sigma Alpha Kappa charter.
“We want to work with the IFC,” Thibodeaux said. “We have fulfilled the requirements that you have set before us.”
Thibodeaux also said that Sigma Alpha Kappa would not necessarily be competing with other social fraternities, but rather offering another choice for those interested in rushing a Greek organization.
Although no longer strictly a service organization, SAK members say their fraternity will still focus largely on service to the community.
With a tentative goal of raising $50,000, Thibodeaux has begun plans on a turkey drive in co-operation with Students In Free Enterprise as well as projects with Covenant House, a program for needy families who have just moved out on their own, and the New Orleans Recreation Department.
Service is so essential that Sigma Alpha Kappa plans on making it part of the pledging process, he said.
“It’s a really good way to actually get something accomplished,” Thibodeaux said, “It’ll be interesting.”
