By Nicole Schladt

Freshmen Brandon Loschiavo chose not to pledge a fraternity after rushing in the fall — none of the existing fraternities on campus seemed to have exactly what he was looking for. But instead of settling for a non-Greek lifestyle, Loschiavo decided to start up a new chapter of Theta Chi at UK.

“One of my best friends from high school is a freshman at Eastern Kentucky University and is a Theta Chi,” Loschiavo said.

His friend told him about all of his positive experiences with Theta Chi, which sparked an idea in Loschiavo: he could start his own chapter at UK.

“I started looking into (Theta Chi) and what they’re all about,” Loschiavo said. “Community service is a big thing at Theta Chi.”

Loschiavo then contacted Theta Chi national headquarters, and the idea took off from there.

This is one example of the many different ways fraternities and sororities can be started on campus, Susan West, director of fraternity and sorority affairs at UK, said.

“We have had men and women who have talked about starting a group and have looked for a national organization in the past (similar to what Loschiavo did),” West said. “Another way is for a national group to be approved to be invited by one of the governing councils to come and recruit on campus.”

The Zeta Rho interest group of Theta Chi was recently approved by UK’s Interfraternity Council in February, and it will be initiated as soon as it reaches 45 members.

“We have 27 members as of today,” Loschiavo said. “We’re hoping to get to about 32 or 33 by the end of the semester, and then we’re hoping to gain at least 15 to 20 guys through fall rush.”

Although he’s learned a lot about starting a fraternity chapter, his favorite part of the entire process has been interacting with his new fraternity brothers.

“I’ve made 26 new best friends,” Loschiavo said. “That’s really the coolest thing about it. It’s all pretty much worked out in a way that’s been very lucky.”

Theta Chi will be “guest grilling” at BD’s Mongolian Grill Thursday from 7-10 p.m as an opportunity to introduce themselves to the rest of the Greek community and all supporters.