And you thought you should never do business with friends. Sophomores Nikhil Abraham, Leslie Wang, and Pritesh Gandhi are planning to do just that, by bringing to campus Delta Sigma Pi (DSP), a nationwide coed business fraternity. Tufts' DSP was recently granted "colony" status until its brothers prove to the national office that they are dedicated to maintaining a full chapter on campus.
Wang, who is double majoring in Quantitative Economics and American Studies,
got the idea from a friend at UCLA who is the president of their DSP chapter.
"Watching them I thought, man, Tufts really needs something like this," Wang said. "There's a void here at Tufts with business. I thought the fraternity would bridge this gap."
"It's a shame that a university like ours does not have more organizations that encourage brotherhood," Gandhi said. "We have the pre-vet and pre-law societies, but those people don't become your brothers."
To the disappointment of some, the bylaws of the fraternity prohibit chapters from having a house. This rule is in place to maintain accountability of the fraternity. The sponsoring organization does not wish to promote socializing that centers on drinking, which they feel has more likelihood of occurring in a house. There are specific drinking policies for the fraternity. The Boston University and Boston College chapters are presently inactive because they did not abide by the drinking policies.
"Fraternities normally have a negative connotation and that's unfortunate," Abraham said. "DSP is supposed to be a fraternity of the people. It's an academic pursuit. Studying business is a very structured program with very specific goals."
Wang lists the main focus of the fraternity as being brotherhood, community, leadership and professionalism. She says that there is a very supportive network nationwide between all the members of the various chapters of the fraternity.
Sophomore Kavita Patel agrees that DSP would be a welcome addition to campus, especially for those who hope to enter the corporate world at one point after graduation.
"There really aren't any opportunities for people who are interested in business at Tufts because there's no business school here," Patel said. "It is a good opportunity for networking, especially when the market is in a bad state as it is now."
Chapters of DSP are not limited to universities that have business schools. Georgetown is one university that has a chapter but no business school.
"This fraternity will bring name recognition to the University," Gandhi said. "In business it is who you know, it's networking. If this fraternity does one thing, it is going to make access to jobs easier for Tufts graduates."
Abraham agrees that DSP could open more doors for students who are in need of jobs and internships. According to Abraham, other schools outperform Tufts in the area of getting their students recruited by successful alumni and corporations.
"At other schools they hold $25,000 events, invite alumni and recruiters and students have jobs by the end of the night," Abraham said. "It is being done around the country with a high level of success."
Wang says that the group's organizers already have seen significant interest from the student body, which includes 40 to 50 students wanting to be on the mailing list in addition to interest expressed via e-mails from students who are abroad.
Freshman Roneel Punjabi says he found out about the business frat at Tufts through a Daily ad and followed up on it. He says a bunch of people he knew wanted to join, mostly sophomores and a few freshmen.
"I think that maybe a business frat could make [Tufts] more attractive for future students," he said.
Wang, who was unable to enter the entrepreneurial program as a sophomore, thinks that being a member of DSP would be a good alternative for people in a similar situation.
"The high demand of business classes at Tufts shows that there's a huge demand for a fraternity in this field," she said.
DSP is open to all of the student body, though the leaders are focusing on freshmen and sophomores in their recruitment efforts, in order to sustain the organization and fill leadership roles in the future.
The first DSP chapter started 90 years ago at NYU. Today, there are over 250 Chapters around the country and 200,000 members and alumni.
