One Interfraternity Council fraternity, which has a chapter at OU, has resigned its membership to the North-American Interfraternity Conference due to differences in philosophies.
The national chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha resigned its membership to the conference in October for several reasons, including holding different philosophies and believing that maintaining a membership is counterproductive, according to a press release.
Lambda Chi national used to be among 73 members of the conference, but since it resigned its membership, it will run things independently, said Tad Lichtenauer, the director of communications and IT for Lambda Chi national.
The fraternity will join Kappa Sigma national and Phi Delta Theta national, both who have not been members of the council for years now, Lichtenauer said.
“We just felt like the direction of the NIC doesn’t support our philosophy of being co-curricular and working with the universities on campuses where we have chapters,” Lichtenauer said.
Lambda Chi may consider returning to the council if it sees changes within it, but until then, the fraternity will continue to work separately, Lichtenauer said.
One of the issues Lambda Chi has with the council involves “some internal squabbling between the members,” Lichtenauer said.
The disagreement between members has lead to factions among the council that have hindered the pursuit of the conference's true mission, according to the press release.
There has also been conflict between the fraternity and the conference when it comes to supporting certain legislation, such as the Safe Campus Act, Lichtenauer said.
Benefits of being part of the council include having access to data and research and being able to collaborate with members from other fraternities, Lichtenauer said. Despite that, he believes that Lambda Chi will be successful on its own.
Lambda Chi wants to pursue the development and strengthen relationships with its host institutions, according to the press release.
“We’re more interested in hearing what universities need and what we can do with the university," Lichtenauer said. "That’s a much bigger priority for us. (It) is to focus on our relationship with the universities and the administration on the campus,” Lichtenauer said.
Lichtenauer does not foresee anything changing with Lambda Chi national's operations due to the resignation, and he can’t imagine anything changing on the university level, either. If there is any issue within any chapter, he hopes the chapter will reach out to the national level to resolve it, he said.
“Our chapters are still held to the same operating standards they’ve previously been held to," Lichtenauer said. "We still expect them to go to IFC meetings, so it doesn’t change anything for the most part.”
The Daily reached out to IFC president Payne Parker and OU's Lambda Chi recruitment chair Kyle Stephens, but they were not available for comment.
