The Nevada Sagebrush

Phi Beta Sigma was recently chartered by their national organization.

They were recognized by the university in March.

The multicultural fraternity has five members and is looking to recruit new members.

Tony Contini/Nevada Sagebrush: From left: Lee “Turtle” Massey, Reginald Greer, Sergio Villaseñor and Anthony Dionisi are inducted into the national Phi Beta Sigma organization.

A new multicultural fraternity at the University of Nevada, Reno will hold recruitment events for the first time after being chartered Aug. 26 by their national organization.

The fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma, currently has five members and was recognized by the university in March. At their ceremony in the Joe Crowley Student Union, the five members were formally inducted into the national fraternity and heard speeches from national members as well as university administration, including Provost Marc Johnson.

Anthony Dionisi, the president of the chapter, said he doesn’t want to consider getting a house for the fraternity until it has grown. Growth is important to the fledgling chapter, Dionisi said, as well as acceptance.

“I want us to grow here and I don’t want our fraternity to be a fraternity made up of just one kind of person,” he said.

UNR alumnus Mayo Thompson, who first joined the organization at the University of Arizona, started the Reno chapter. When Thompson moved to Reno for graduate school, he felt the fraternity could help the university with graduation rates, social community and the “overall feeling of the place.”

Reginald Chhen Stewart, the director of the Center for Student Cultural Diversity, said he connected with Thompson during the student’s frequent visits to the center, which became Thompson’s recruitment pool.

Stewart said new fraternities help provide more choices for students, which makes the Greek system friendlier to the campus.

“The importance of fraternities and sororities in general is having enough variety,” he said.

He also said the Greek system is beneficial to campus because it regulates grades and helps members graduate, which he said is one of its main differences from clubs.

Charles Ranson, Phi Beta Sigma’s Western regional director, said during the ceremony that grades were the most important thing for the new chapter to take care of.

“Education is first,” Ranson said. “My fraternity is number two.”

Though Thompson said the fraternity is historically a black fraternity, it is open to everyone.

“We seek to judge people based on their merits, not their color or how affluent they are,” he said.

Thompson hopes the fraternity’s efforts in community service will help it become a “big part of the (campus) community, as well as the Reno-Sparks community.” One such project Thompson hopes to see flourish in Reno is Phi Beta Sigma’s national youth auxiliary program, the Sigma Beta Club, which teaches boys ages 8-18 about money management, study skills, how to get into college and more.

Phi Beta Sigma’s motto is “Culture For Service and Service For Humanity.” The fraternity has had such notable members as George Washington Carver, Al Sharpton and Al Roker. The UNR chapter of the fraternity is the Gamma Alpha Lambda chapter.

Ben Miller can be reached at bmiller@nevadasagebrush.com.

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