Alpha Sigma Phi becomes newest UAA fraternity

Last year during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, shuttering businesses and widening relationships were all too common. However, Alpha Sigma Phi [ASP] defied the odds, taking the necessary steps to officially becoming UAA’s newest fraternity.

First established in fall 2017 as a temporary colony of the national ASP organization while they worked toward registration, the group officially became UAA’s fourth chartered Greek organization in April 2021. ASP joined one other fraternity — Tau Kappa Epsilon — as well as two sororities — Alpha Sigma Alpha and Sigma Sigma Sigma. A third fraternity organization, Delta Chi, is currently registered as a colony at UAA and hopes to follow ASP’s lead by chartering this academic year. 

Typically, the process to become a registered Greek organization involves growing membership and fundraising. Recruitment is accomplished through face-to-face relationship building at rush events, tailgate parties, movie nights or even chance encounters in the Student Union or tutoring hall, which were all but impossible during the height of the pandemic.

Like the rest of the world, ASP had to pivot online during such a vital stage of the fraternity’s establishment. Such an unexpected challenge would be daunting for anyone, but even more so for Aeron Mills, who had just been appointed as ASP’s new president at that time.

“Nobody expected this, so there wasn’t a playbook to draw from,” said Mills. “But the national [ASP] organization had a whole set up for the presidents to talk to each other about what was working. We found that you can still have that brotherhood bond virtually, and in fact I think those bonds might even be stronger because we've been apart for so long.”

Even before the pandemic fortified those bonds, brotherhood was always much more than fraternity jargon. For Mills and the members of ASP, membership in a fraternity or sorority can provide a valuable sense of identity and community during a time that can be an intimidating adjustment period for some.

“Coming to college can be jarring,” said Ryan Phipps, former ASP president and current president of the Interfraternity Council. “Realistically, I don't know if I would have stayed in school because after my first semester I didn’t think college was for me. But having [ASP] keep me involved and hang out and study with made me feel like this is where I'm supposed to be.”

In addition to recruiting and fundraising, philanthropy is a key component on the pathway to establishing a fraternity or sorority. For ASP, those efforts resulted in the group raising more than $800 for Standing Together Against Rape Alaska, a local nonprofit that provides sexual trauma and crisis intervention support to survivors, and over $500 for Active Minds, a national nonprofit that provides mental health and suicide intervention services for young adults.

Looking ahead, philanthropy will continue to be a cornerstone of ASP via annual fundraisers supporting one of five nonprofits associated with the national organization: Rape Abuse Incest National Network, Aware Awake Alive, Humane Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Homes for Our Troops. And closer to home, ASP will keep up their monthly meetings to pitch ideas for local nonprofits and causes to support.

“Our motto is, ‘To better the man,’” said Phipps. “Philanthropy is all about that — bringing everybody around you up. To be someone who wants to help others is an amazing trait to have, and if everybody wanted to help other people, the world would be a much better place.”

With their registration secured and in-person events cautiously returning to campus, ASP is excited to begin the new academic year recruiting in a manner more closely resembling that before the pandemic. 

“If you're looking to join a fraternity or sorority, by all means check out all of them,” said Mills. “Honestly it's nothing like the movies, it’s actually a lot better. For me, this fraternity and the long lasting friendships I made from it is one of the main reasons I’m able to call UAA home.”

Learn more about Alpha Sigma Phi at UAA.