Kappa Sigma is one of the eight chapters of greek life here on campus, one of four fraternities and home to 11 current members.The fraternity in itself has been around since 1966 and came back to campus back in 2013. Their vision has been clear since they have arrived back to campus and that is to spread positivity and give back to the community that has given them so much. 

President of the fraternity, Matthew Giffen, is a senior this year and is a major PR and Strategic communications and entrepreneurship minor. Giffen talked through what Kappa Sigma was all about and the overall quality of greek life here on campus and one of the big ones was community service. The nationals require 80 hours a year of community service total as a group. 

“It’s just something we love to do, we overall had 70 plus hours for each individual member” Giffen said

On Sept. 11, they went down to the fire department and presented them with donuts in honor of first responders on 9/11.  As for future events, they will have their Bid Day on Sept. 20 where they get to know new people before they are initiated in October. Then, they will be hosting their Alumni event on Oct. 20 and induct two new people into their Theta Nu Hall of Honor that they incorporated this year. They hope to be able to do their 5k once again in November but there are no set dates for that event.

Kappa Sigma not only gives back to the community, but to those who are involved with the group. Current members within the group have all  had different experiences prior to coming to AU, however all them had nothing but positive experiences when joining the fraternity. 

Senior Accounting and Finance major, and Vice President of Kappa Sigma, Justin Stritmatter,. Stritmatter talks about his experience on how he really got into Kappa Sigma and what the brotherhood aspect truly means to him. 

“It was my second day on campus and you could just tell we were completely lost” he  said “two guys were like, ‘can we just show you where to go”.

Stritmatter then  talked about his experience on how he really got into Kappa Sigma and what the brotherhood aspect truly means to him. 

The two people he met were a part of Kappa Sigma. Stritmatter said they would sit down and lunch together and became regular friends with these people who helped when they needed it the most. Since then he has made keeping the brotherhood a strong priority and when they can, they still make sure they eat every meal together to feel connected as a whole. 

Sophomore athletic training major and Kappa Sigma Master of Ceremonies, Justin Conner. He talked about how he was one of the younger guys in the group and how that could be a bit weird or scary. With the way fraternity life is portrayed through the media, many people have wondered about getting pressured into joining. 

“As a freshman at first I just wanted to play club baseball and I walked into convo and shook the guys hand,” Conner said“They said stop by the house later and hang out and not once did they really pressure me into joining. Even just around campus we would say and hi and give each other high fives.”

Kappa sigma has a strict policy on no hazing and they wear a letter that shows their organization and the standard that they hold themselves too. They say everyday that they need to act as if your letter is always on. 

Sophomore sports management major and second generation member, Vincent Urteaga never thought of joining a fraternity. Urteaga actually never thought of joining a fraternity, even with his father’s past experiences when he was a member from 1991-1994. It was an O-teamer that he had befriended who was involved in Kappa Sigma that helped him make a  natural transition into joining the fraternity. He said he had become a much different person from his highschool days, but since coming to college it was a very positive change due to him joining the fraternity. 

“In Highschool I didn’t really talk to people” he said “But here I am able to be myself and made some very close friends as well.” 

Urteaga also said that new college students who were perhaps not as social in high school can have an easier time when they are part of such a great group of people.