When extensive damages from a Senior Week party drove Walnut Hill Properties to decline Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) an extension on the lease to its house, the brothers returning to campus this semester did not take it lightly.
"It was pretty embarrassing," SigEp President Stephen Gurdo, a senior, said. "We had seen similar things happen on a much smaller scale…[but] we ran into trouble when the people that [damaged the house] left right after because they were graduating."
Seven brothers who had planned to live in the fraternity's former property on Curtis Avenue scrambled to find a room for the year, and SigEp was charged with footing the bill for the required repairs.
In the short term, everything worked out. The displaced students found housing on and off campus, and the graduated members of the fraternity responsible for the damage agreed to raise the necessary funds. Now, SigEp's leadership says, the goal is to reestablish the fraternity's reputation and its presence on campus, putting the past behind them as they navigate the logistical and effects of losing its physical base.
"It was kind of tough at first," Gurdo said. "People were hesitant to put in a lot of effort. They kind of felt like giving up."
"We've all had to just accept what happened and move forward," junior Will Yu, Vice President of Recruitment, said. "Everyone has decided that ‘I'm not going to let SigEp hide in the shadows.'"
Gurdo, whose term as president ends mid-December, is trying to leave the chapter in the best position possible.
"It's been a lot of working with the administration and updating our policies and by-laws, just trying to do what we need to do to make ourselves a better fraternity," he said.
The work will pay off, according to Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Su McGlone.
"This is an opportunity for them to strengthen the chapter and focus on themselves," she said.
Recruitment in the future will be especially more difficult without a property on campus now.
"Not having a house means it's really hard for the community, especially younger members, to realize who we are," junior Mike McCarthy, SigEp Vice President of Programming said. "We're just not out there as much."
"We were debating whether or not we were going to do the fall rush," Yu said. "But we decided that we were going to push for it."
This fall, seven new brothers joined the SigEp fraternity.
"They don't care that we don't have a house," Gurdo said of the new brothers. "They just want to be involved with us."
Despite the successful fall rush, the challenge of spring and future recruitments is impending.
"We're really trying to stress spring recruitment as much as possible," McCarthy said. "Without a house, we're worried about what sort of numbers we're going to get."
Even without a house, the chapter is doing their best to remain active in philanthropy, brotherhood development and recruitment.
"We're trying to really step up in terms of philanthropy this semester," McCarthy said. The chapter volunteered at East Somerville Elementary School in October, carving pumpkins with first graders for Halloween. Most recently, the SigEp brothers participated in the Walk to Defeat ALS last Sunday, raising funds to donate to the ALS Association.
In addition to philanthropy events, Yu said, the chapter has also revamped their website to feature their efforts more in detail.
McCarthy added that ensuring the sense of brotherhood amongst the fraternity's members has proved difficult.
"It's a lot harder to keep the brotherhood together as a whole," he said. "Brotherhood development has really had to step it up." McCarthy specified that his goal for this fall semester was to do as much as possible through programming to foster a sense of togetherness.
"It's upsetting [that] we don't have that common area that people know they can always go to regardless of if there's anything planned," Gurdo said.
Despite the challenge of finding a location, the chapter has been active internally with chapter meetings every week and frequent brotherhood events, one of which included celebrating Tufts' Homecoming with their fellow brothers and alumni, as well as a weekend trip to Belmont Firearms and Range.
"I think just the fact that everyone has really come together has been a really good reflection of what SigEp stands for," Yu said. "We're still very much interacting with one another, and still very cohesive as a group."
The fraternity is working to obtain a new property to house its membership, Gurdo said.
In addition to paying the bill for the damages, he explained, the chapter must present documents to the administration by Dec. 1, which encompass the fraternity's plans for continuous development, building maintenance and how they would handle a similar situation if it were to repeat in the future.
McGlone said that if SigEp continues their efforts to reevaluate their priorities and grow as a community, she is willing to work with them regarding housing in the future.
"I do recognize the challenging position that they're in right now, but I think they're ready to do all the things they need to do … if they continue to work with me on that, I'm going to be able to help support them and we'll be able to work with Walnut Hill."
Although Gurdo said this will not guarantee the fraternity housing, McGlone said that SigEp is taking steps in the right direction.
"I've really enjoyed working with them this year," she said. " [But] I do not think you need a house to be a strong fraternity. They have been able to be successful without it."
