Phi Sigma Kappa’s legacy at WSU ended in 2005 due to low membership and financial difficulties. That is expected to change this year as Nate Griggs and other leadership-minded students work to revive the fraternity chapter.

“I moved here a year ago and started studying at the school,” said Griggs, a senior who transferred from Northern Arizona University. He is currently the interim president of the returning WSU chapter.

Griggs’ involvement with the NAU chapter gained the attention of a group of students living in WSU residence halls, who approached him shortly after he arrived on campus.

“I got contacted by them, and they said they were interested in starting something like that again,” he said. “We contacted Nationals. They came out last spring, and we were recognized.”

The initiative was spearheaded by senior Adam Desai, one of the students who reached out to Griggs, said Scott Pegram, Phi Sigma Kappa’s director of expansion and recruitment.

Pegram said he was initially under the impression Phi Sigma Kappa would not begin recruiting at WSU until 2016. That changed when Desai became involved and spent the summer learning about the fraternity alongside Griggs at a national leadership school.

“These guys are very driven,” Pegram said. “When we recruit, we are looking for campus leaders. Guys that want to make their mark in a positive way.”

The group has been recognized not as an official fraternity but as a student organization, Desai said. In order to gain recognition as a fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa filed a formal request through the Interfraternity Council.

IFC President Adam Crouch said Phi Sigma Kappa is one of two new fraternities active at WSU, neither of which has a chapter house.

Desai, however, said Phi Sigma Kappa anticipates having a house by the end of the school year.

“We have to meet criteria set by Nationals and the school,” he said. This includes a minimum number of members, some academic requirements, access to financial support and being chartered.

Finances are not a concern, though, as funds left over from the chapter’s prior establishment are still available, Griggs said.

Phi Sigma Kappa’s previous chapter house on College Hill was sold to Theta Xi, another fraternity, several years ago. Since then, more than 200 active alumni have become involved in returning the fraternity to Pullman.

The IFC requires that a chapter have an average of 50 to 55 members in order to occupy a house.

Pegram said 43 members were accounted for yesterday. Desai and Griggs are working alongside national representatives this week to keep that number increasing.

“Eleven people were pretty involved from the beginning,” Desai said. “We are hoping to be at 60 or 80 by the end of the month.”

Griggs said initiations will take place sometime this month. Those initiated will become associated with the student organization and will become members once the fraternity officiates the WSU chapter.

Those interested in joining Phi Sigma Kappa can contact Griggs at [email protected] or national representative Greg Dalsanto at [email protected].