FIJI leads the way
FIU's first fraternity house opens

In yet another landmark reflecting FIU's maturation, the University's first fraternity house was dedicated on September 4 at an open house. Phi Gamma Delta, also known as FIJI, is leading the way for what will eventually become "Fraternity Row" at FIU.

"The students, whether they are FIJIs or not, are excited and justifiably so," said Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin. "This house symbolizes a coming of age for student life at FIU."

Enhanced student life, in this case, means gathering responsibly in a healthy environment: the FIJI house will be alcohol-free. A few years ago FIJIs who live in South Florida helped establish the FIU chapter, FIJI's first in the area. It was around that time that the fraternity's international governing board began considering a move to make its houses alcohol-free. The policy went into effect last year.

"We're in a new era now," said Ashley O'Kurley, a FIJI who graduated from the University of Alberta in Canada and will serve as director of the new house. Although many fraternities had strict rules regarding alcohol before the 1960s, O'Kurley explained, the openness and experimentation of that decade kicked off what would become an increasingly serious problem in later years.

 

Like residence halls, fraternity buildings provide housing alternatives for students who would otherwise live off campus. FIU houses 1,500 students in residence halls on University Park and 300 more on the Biscayne Bay Campus. Now under construction, the second phase of Panther Hall at University Park will add another 400 beds by 2002.

"The construction of housing is an important part of our continuing bid to bolster the University's increasingly rich campus life," FIU President Modesto A. Maidique said. "Fraternity houses go hand-in-hand with the construction of more residence halls, the addition of a football program and our expansion of the existing football stadium. This campus is no longer simply a place for classroom learning but a place to live, learn and play in a communal, social setting."

Located near the 107th Ave. and 16th Street entrance to University Park, the two-story, concrete block-and stucco house features 13,500 square feet of space, including bedrooms to accommodate 34 students and a suite for the house director. The attractive cream-colored, red tile-roofed building represents the first of five fraternity houses currently planned for the campus. As many as three others are expected to break ground during the coming academic year.

The house's $2 million price tag, which includes the costs of landscaping and furniture in addition to construction, was funded exclusively with private money and received its initial boost with a lead gift from R. Kirk Landon, retired chairman of the former American Bankers Insurance Group. Landon is a FIJI fraternity brother (Georgia Tech, class of 1950). FIJI has 50 current undergraduate members at FIU; another 20 have graduated from FIU in the past three years.