A fraternity established only one year ago at SIUC is attempting to join the ranks of larger fraternities by seeking national status, fraternity members say.

Phi Rho Eta, a 10-member multicultural social fraternity consisting of blacks, whites and Hispanics, is in the process of starting chapters on other college campuses in the nation, Marvin Vinson, one of three co-founders, said.

Vinson said the reason for the fraternity’s going national was to get others involved in community development.

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We want to spread our ideas across to get more people involved in helping the community, he said.

Vinson said in order to become a national organization, the fraternity must develop a colony. A colony is a group of at least five schools with the same organization. Once the colony is formed, all the local chapters vote on whether they consider the organization to be national chapter status.

Vinson said Phi Rho Eta’s primary purpose is to further community development. He said his fraternity wants to aid in this goal nationwide.

Our primary purpose is to dedicate ourself to community development, Vinson said. We want to work directly with the youth and troubled men.

Lamont Brown, another co-founder of the organization, said the philosophy of the fraternity is based on community development. In keeping with this philosophy, the fraternity has already started working on local projects, he said.

An example of this, Brown said, is the fraternity’s work with the Boys and Girls Club of Sparta to provide beneficial programs for the youth.

We want to implement positive programs such as career awareness and mentorship programs, he said.

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Brown said the fraternity has three prospective chapters to become part of the colony. However, he said he could not release the names of the prospective members.

Phi Rho Eta week is scheduled for Nov. 6-13, with various activities planned. Some of the activities include a basketball tournament with the Boys and Girls Club of Sparta, a spade tournament, a pool tournament and chess and domino tournaments.

Brown said the week will not be geared just to students but to the community as well.

We are a new organization, Brown said. It’s going to take time for the word to get about us and our purpose. Whatever the community says they need, we try to provide as much service as we possibly can.

For information on joining the organization, contact Vinson at 457-6381 or Brown at 549-6082.