Syracuse University students are coming up with a new way to promote diversity on campus by bringing the world’s largest Asian-American interest fraternity to campus.

Working to enhance the voices of Asian-American students on campus, Lambda Phi Epsilon hopes to establish its inaugural chapter class at SU by the end of this academic year.

Alvin Phun, a member of the Lambda Phi Epsilon Northeast Expansion team, said that the creation of an SU chapter would benefit both the national organization and the SU campus.

“We hope that the men attending the university will not only experience our benefits, but will also elevate our organization as well,” Phun said in an email. “We are confident that the values at Syracuse University are a great fit with our own, and hope to contribute to the community as much as possible.”

This past weekend the fraternity hosted its first general interest meeting for potential founding fathers.

John Huang, a junior mechanical engineering major, said he is interested in joining Lambda Phi Epsilon because of the professional network and career opportunities the fraternity will provide to its members.

“What appeals to me the most is the focus on empowering Asian students to become leaders within our community,” Huang said.

According to the organization’s website, the main goals of the fraternity are to offer members training in leadership, encourage academic excellence and instill values such as positivity and professionalism.

In the spring of this past year, Bryan Dosono, a graduate student in the School of Information Studies, pitched the idea to the Multicultural Greek Council, since he was a member of Lambda Phi Epsilon during his undergraduate years at University of Washington in Seattle. The council gave its approval for the group to establish itself on campus.

The fraternity is currently in the process of forming a student interest group. After forming a solid group of dedicated students, the fraternity will be able to start organizing, collaborating and contributing within the Greek community at SU.

Dosono is now an alumni adviser and driving force in the fraternity’s establishment on campus. He said Lambda Phi Epsilon will provide a safe community for Asian-American men to grow as accomplished, well-rounded individuals on SU’s campus.

“One of the great things about being a founding father is having the opportunity to shape the culture of your organization and really making an impact on campus,” Dosono said. “I would love to see more advocacy occur in the multicultural community here and I think Lambda Phi Epsilon can really enhance and augment that experience and be that voice for Asian-Americans of all ethnicities.”

Prior to the approval of Lambda Phi Epsilon, the only Asian-American fraternity on campus was Nu Alpha Phi, an organization that currently has eight chapters in the eastern United States and also promotes personal growth amongst members.

But Dosono believes that as the Asian-American and Greek communities continue to grow at SU, there has been a growing interest to start another Asian-American interest fraternity on campus.

“Because the Asian-American community is growing with admissions, there has just been more of a need to see more diversity within the Asian-American Greek community,” Dosono said.

Hugh Yang, a junior systems and information science major and a interested member of the chapter, said a main goal of the fraternity is to work closely with fellow multicultural and Asian-interest organizations on campus. The organizations also want to shed light on issues that are important to Asian-American students and generate a conversation to address them.

“As students of Syracuse, it is great that we stick to our culture and those who share the same background, but we all have a common denominator as students of SU,” Yang said. “No matter which organization you are in, we should be able to come together and work as one to establish a better campus.”

In the Sept. 30 article, “Asian-American interest fraternity Lambda Phi Epsilon to form new chapter at Syracuse” the titles of Bryan Dosono and Hugh Yang were misstated. Dosono is an alumni adviser to the fraternity and Yang is an interested member. The Daily Orange regrets these errors. 

Published on September 30, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Alexa: adiaz02@syr.edu | @alexalucina