College Fraternities Go Virtual During Chinese Virus Pandemic

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

College fraternities across the country have decided to hold meetings virtually in response to restrictions on gatherings over the deadly Chinese virus pandemic.

Instead of house parties, college fraternities have turned to virtual hangouts due to the Wuhan coronavirus as schools turn to remote education in order to better practice social distancing, according to a report by TMZ.

The report added that one fraternity with 106 chapters — Delta Sigma Phi — is still holding meetings every Sunday via Zoom, according to the fraternity’s executive director and CEO, Phillip Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said that the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity brothers are turning to virtual game and trivia nights to stay closely linked, since they can no longer hold huge house parties due to precautions taken to prevent the further spread of the Chinese virus.

Delta Sigma Phi is even planning on initiating new frat members through virtual technology, despite the reality that fall return dates for colleges and universities are still pending.

The fraternity says that it has created an online portal — similar to Zoom — that can connect up to 500 frat bros, according to TMZ. The portal is reportedly already up and running, and is being used to host virtual ceremonies for initiating new members.

The report added that the online portal will continue to be used for initiating new members in the fall, even if classes do not resume, and that while the North American Interfraternity Conference (NAIC) has yet to sign off on the process, it said that virtual recruiting is very plausible.

NAIC added that fraternities still plan on collecting membership dues.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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