UNC Alphas hang on after intake moratorium

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At a time when most Greek organizations have seen alcohol disappear from rush season, two fraternities have seen the disappearance of rush entirely.

There are three members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. after a national moratorium on recruiting, and the number could dwindle to zero if it holds for the next two years.

The loss of Alpha Phi Alpha at UNC would mean more than the loss of a slot at annual National Pan-Hellenic Council step show. It would mean losing a group that has been on-campus since 1976.

The moratorium came as a surprise to the group in January, when it had 11 members.

Hazing incidents at other universities brought a halt to recruiting for chapters across the nation.

“It caught a lot of chapters off-guard,” said Terence McPherson, the UNC chapter’s president.

Phi Beta Sigma, another historically black fraternity, is also dealing with a halt in recruiting. Members could not be reached for comment.

At the time of the moratorium’s announcement, Jenny Levering, assistant dean of student life for fraternity and sorority life, said the UNC chapter had no recent history of misbehavior.

Omar Glover, the UNC chapter’s vice president, said he thinks the fraternity’s national leadership has his chapter’s best interests at heart.

If the ban holds through next year, Glover said he is poised to be the chapter’s lone member. McPherson and Treasurer DaShon Williams are both seniors.

Glover said he is confident that he could lead the chapter by himself, but the moratorium has already made its operations more difficult than last year, especially when it comes to the planning and funding of events.

“It’s really making us creative,” McPherson said.

In the past, the group was able to hold events like its annual Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant without worrying about how to pay for them.

This year, members said the group has to pay more attention to planning and funding events than before. In addition to the sale of tickets and memorabilia, they have had to look to alternative sources of funding, such as donations from alumni.

The group said it has not yet had to cut any of its planned events due to reduced revenue. Alumni have been more than a revenue source for the group. The members said they look to recent graduates for guidance and help when it comes to the nuts and bolts of running a fraternity. They said personal communication with former members is not uncommon, but the number of conversations about business they have had with them is more than they anticipated.

“They really put us in a position to keep going on,” McPherson said.

The three men “crossed the line” — or formally joined the fraternity — in Fall 2009. Glover said he was influenced to join the fraternity by his father, who was a member during his college years.

They said the occasional freshman approaches them to ask about joining the fraternity.

They welcome the interest, but do not discuss the ban. And they do not want to discourage prospective members.

If the fraternity’s membership dissolves, members said the fraternity’s strong alumni network should be enough to keep the name alive. They said they remain optimistic that it would not get to that point, but are considering appealing the moratorium if it does.

And Glover said he cannot envision a UNC without the group.

“The people who would want to be Alphas will never decrease,” he said.

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