Beta Theta Pi fraternity — one of the first fraternity houses on campus was removed from campus in 2007 — is making a comeback to the University and the Interfraternity Council, after being dormant for three years, with a new philosophy and a renovated house.

Fraternity houses stereotypically invoke images of beer kegs, blasting music, messy houses and overall “frat boys” disconnected from the non-Greek letter community, but Director of Reestablishment Phil Fernandez, a Beta alum from Miami, Ohio said he hopes Beta’s return will help to change this perception.

Last night in the Michigan League, men interested in the fraternity, sorority members and Beta advisors gathered to hear a presentation on the fraternity. Members of the organization will move into the house this fall.

Fernandez, who was hired by the Beta Alumni Association, said the goal of the event was to introduce the fraternity to the campus community.

Though the fraternity is just getting back to campus this year, Beta began a self-improvement campaign about 14 years ago, when the national fraternity “took a real honest look in the mirror and it didn’t like a lot of the things that it saw,” Fernandez said.

Many of its chapters had serious risk management problems, low academics and dwindling alumni involvement. To combat these issues, national Beta leaders created the “Men of Principle Initiative,” which started as an option for chapters but is now a mandatory program for all the fraternity's chapters.

“(The initiative) wasn’t necessarily something new,” Fernandez said. “It was just the same things that we are supposed to be about, but it was repackaged and rebranded.”

The national Beta organization closed the University’s chapter of the fraternity three years ago, not for any specific reason they say, but because of a series of actions that “didn’t meet” or “align” with the national organization’s standards, Fernandez said.

“The guys weren’t bad guys. They were smart; they got good grades,” he said. “There were just some things that the (chapter’s) culture holistically wasn’t meeting with some of our expectations.”

Fernandez said the chapter had repeated risk violations and failed to comply with sanctions from those violations.

Fernandez said the national Beta organization wanted to return to the University because it is home to “high caliber students.” In addition, Fernandez said the fraternity has an extensive history on campus.

The chapter is recruiting new members using both conventional and unconventional methods, Fernandez said.

LSA senior Brett Vasicek, vice president of internal recruitment for IFC, said he was “very impressed” with Beta’s presentation last night, adding that he sees the fraternity becoming a very strong chapter.

Instead of having a traditional recruitment process, the fraternity is using an application process, whereby the fraternity contacts specific students and asks them if they are interested in joining. The chosen students are then given an application form and awarded bids on a rolling basis.

So far 25 men have been given applications and 10 have been returned. Fernandez said officials are planning to hand out the bids by the end of this week and over the weekend. Fernandez added that the fraternity is in contact with about 150 men and is continuing to contact more.

LSA senior Joseph Eisman, who was at the meeting last night, said he’s involved in three student organizations and co-chairs two of them, but that he’s still interested in joining the fraternity.

Eisman said one of the hardest parts of being a senior is finding an organization that utilizes a senior’s unique role. He said Beta provides this opportunity by allowing him the chance mentor younger men.

LSA sophomore Hari Vutukuru, another interested potential new member of Beta who is involved in four student organizations, said the chance of a fresh start that the fraternity offers is what drew him to Beta.