A fraternity with roots in World War I is the latest to expand with a WSU chapter.

Sigma Tau Gamma, founded in 1920, is working with the university to establish a provisional chapter by the end of the month. The fraternity is recruiting members according to its stated values, which stemmed from the wartime experiences of its 17 founders.

Those values include brotherhood, the pursuit of knowledge and the American dream.

“These men would run out onto the battlefield and risk their lives to save other men,” said Brian Lewallen, an on-campus representative who has been involved with the fraternity for years.

Several of the fraternity’s founders served in an American ambulance company from 1917 to 1918. Having bonded in the trenches, they sought to establish a community in which they could share their values with other men.

“A fraternity was the best way to do it,” Lewallen said.

Sigma Tau Gamma has opted not to take up a Pullman residence right away, instead leaving future members – not the founding “fathers” – with the responsibility of finding a house. This leaves time for a brotherhood to form beforehand, said Derek Kaimann, the fraternity’s director of expansion.

“Our founding fathers will still be coming together as a group and developing an identity,” Kaimann said. “Not having a housing facility allows us to make the fraternity experience accessible to even more deserving students.”

Interfraternity Council President Adam Crouch said Sigma Tau Gamma is one of only two WSU fraternities without chapter houses.

“I personally never thought a fraternity was something for me,” said Lewallen, who reconsidered when he was invited to help start a chapter at the University of Southern Indiana.

“I not only got to leave with a degree, but I got to establish a legacy,” he said. “Not a lot of people get to say they founded something when they leave, and I think that’s pretty cool.”

Sigma Tau Gamma encourages men to take responsibility for their community, Kaimann said.

“We view citizenship as a responsibility,” he said, noting good students make good members. “Not everyone gets the opportunity to go to college. It is our responsibility to make things better for the people around us.”

Sigma Tau Gamma sees a shortage of community leaders and strives to influence matters within its reach. Because of this, Lewallen and Kaimann said, the fraternity takes its expectations seriously when recruiting new members.

“We are looking for guys who are well rounded, more or less,” Lewallen said. “Guys who will support their school with pride and respect.”

Doing so might involve national efforts, like raising awareness for the Special Olympics, or local ones, like cleaning up the streets of Pullman, he said.

As recruitment continues through Oct. 4, Kaimann has high hopes for the fraternity.

“The way we select campuses is how we select students,” he said. “We’re looking for a lot of things—existing community, the size of the university, what the quality of students is and such.”

WSU is one of 10 universities on the West Coast where Sigma Tau Gamma has begun working toward new chapters. The fraternity anticipates keeping chapters close to each other and available for mutual support. One was established last year at the University of Washington.

“We don’t want to keep our chapters far from each other,” Kaimann said. “They need to share a bond.”

Kaimann will be in Pullman this week with Lewallen and Rick Day, another counselor, to recruit members and train founding fathers. Men interested in joining the fraternity can contact Lewallen at [email protected] or Day at [email protected].

Initiation will take place on Oct. 11. More information can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/SigTauWashingtonState, on Twitter at @WSUSigTau, or on the fraternity’s website, sigmataugamma.org.