At the beginning of the semester, the fraternity brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi have made Sigma Phi Epsilon’s former fraternity house on Broad Street their new home.
Fraternity brothers said they hope the new location will provide them with more space for their growing membership.
“In the past two years, our membership has doubled,” said Matthew Raisman, a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi and current president of the Temple University Greek Association. “The old house can no longer accommodate our size.”
The fraternity’s former house was located on 16th and Berks streets, where there were four brothers to a room. In previous years, the fraternity held a lottery to determine which brothers could live in the residence due to limited space.
“It’s imperative that fraternities or sororities have a house so that they can have meetings and get things done,” said Raisman, a senior marketing major. The house was acquired this summer from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, which has not occupied the space for at least a year. According to Extern of Greek Affairs Dan Folk, the fraternity has dissolved.
“The fraternity violated certain policies that lead them to no longer be recognized by the university or their national fraternity association,” Folk said.
In the fall of 2005, Sigma Phi Epsilon was suspended by the university for one year following an incident described in a police report as “hazing,” and for violation of sections of the Student Code of Conduct.
Although Sigma Phi Epsilon does not meet formally on campus, the fraternity members remain in close contact with each other, according to a member who asked not to be named.
Alpha Epsilon Pi’s new location on 2012 N. Broad St. can house about 20 brothers. Currently, 13 brothers are living in the house, including President Marc Prine.
Prine explained that besides having enough space to conduct meetings, the experience of sharing a house with one’s fraternity brothers is important and irreplaceable.
“It’s an amazing experience,” said Prine, a junior psychology and kinesiology double major. “There is always someone around to play Madden with … always someone to talk to … and there is always someone in the house to study with.”
According to Prine, the new location not only means more space, but an increase in the number of recruits, especially since the house is within one block of five of the residence halls on campus.
“Broad Street has always been the main place to be on Temple’s campus,” Prine said. “You can’t get any better than that.”
Despite the circumstances, Prine said Sigma Phi Epsilon has been helpful during Alpha Epsilon Pi’s transition into the Broad Street residence.
“They have been nothing but very helpful,” said Prine, of Sigma Phi Epsilon. “They told us the best ways to deal with the landlord … and all the little problems in the house that we would have learned over time they pretty much told us about.”
A newly-formed fraternity, Kappa Sigma, is working on acquiring the Alpha Epsilon Pi’s old fraternity house, along with recognition from the university.
Malaika T. Carpenter can be reached at malaika.carpenter@temple.edu.
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