Joining forces with the ISU greek community, Delta Chi fraternity has begun a search to find a new organization to temporarily lease its current chapter house upon the surrender of their charter, effective May 5, 2001.Currently, nine of the chapter’s 13 members live in the house at 405 Hayward Ave., which has a capacity of 44 residents, said Josh Beck, president of Delta Chi.Beck said the members have become increasingly aware of the low numbers despite strong recruitment efforts, but they had no idea how soon a decision on the chapter’s future had to be made.”We didn’t know which way it was going to go,” said Beck, junior in microbiology. “We realized that this was a dire situation when we returned from Christmas break and had to make a final decision regarding the future of the fraternity.”The fraternity’s Board of Regents, a group comprised of Delta Chi alumni nationwide, approved on Jan. 13 the ISU chapter’s motion to surrender their charter due to financial and recruitment difficulties, said Brian Tenclinger, assistant dean of students for Greek Affairs.For some of the members, including last year’s president, Travis Smith, this means losing the only place they have called home while at Iowa State.Smith, senior in computer science, said some of the men are discussing housing options for the fall semester. Although he will have one more semester next year, Smith said he is focusing on finishing the year strong with greek events such as Greek Week.Although the current members will be listed as inactive for the rest of their years at Iowa State, they will be granted alumni status with the fraternity upon graduation, Tenclinger said.As of May 5, the men no longer will be able to participate in campus greek events, Beck said. However, they will be allowed to attend regional and national Delta Chi meetings without affiliation to the ISU chapter, he said.While he is saddened by the loss of involvement in the greek system, Beck said no one feels pushed out of the house because each member played an active role in the decision-making process. As the school year comes to a close, a committee including Tenclinger, current ISU fraternity presidents, Interfraternity Council officers and Delta Chi alumni must now begin recruiting a new fraternity to fill the void left behind by the close of the chapter.The local Delta Chi Housing Corporation, a group of alumni who serve as landlords for the house, are trying to lease the property to the recruited fraternity until Delta Chi’s eventual return to Iowa State in four to six years. At that point, Delta Chi would resume residency in the house and the new chapter would relocate into a house of their own, Tenclinger said.Beck said the revenue generated from leasing the house, combined with money collected from future alumni-donation campaigns, will be added to the existing Delta Chi balance.Fraternity officials at Delta Chi headquarters, 314 Church St., Iowa City, are also contacting alumni to inform them of the upcoming close.Matt Hamill, director of development for the International Delta Chi Fraternity, said the ISU chapter is one of the oldest, in existence since 1923.”We have had an excellent, long-standing relationship with [Iowa State],” he said. “This is a tremendous situation, which will have a short-term negative effect on the national fraternity, but it is more important to consider the impact on the current student members.”Hamill said he predicts a strong return for the ISU chapter of Delta Chi.”Because of the good relationship with the university and its strong, committed alumni base, this will provide time off to reorganize and return to new levels of success,” he said. “We are also working to reorganize alumni to ensure strong alumni support upon return to ISU.”As life-long brothers and members of Delta Chi, many of the men plan to return to help with recolonization.”I am anticipating that May is going to be a month filled with mixed emotions for both the men of Delta Chi and the Iowa State greek community,” Tenclinger said.For the existing members, it will be a time for memories and plans for the future as they begin their transition.”We have to remember that it is just a house and what we experienced in the house will always be with us,” Smith said. “I will remember the friendships and the different types of people that I wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t joined the fraternity.”