Almost every day in the Raf, a group of Phi Kappa Tau members will gather at multiple tables beside each other to eat, hang out and watch television.
“We almost always watch The Price is Right,” said senior Hussain Siddiqi. “We get really into it, too.”
The seating is interchangeable as many members will get up and move from table to table. This process of constantly moving groups and making sure to talk to every member reflects the camaraderie of the chapter.
“We really do have a sense of camaraderie that extends outside the classroom and outside of our personal Transy lives,” said Siddiqi. “I really do think that across every single brother that’s in our fraternity, we really do have each other’s backs in every single way.”
For senior Blake Chidester, one trait that unifies the members is character.
“One of the leading things we say we are is men of character. What that really means is how we embody ourselves in every aspect of our lives,” said Chidester. “No matter if people can see what we’re doing or if they can’t see what we’re doing, in the classroom or in the community or on the field, you do something that you would be proud of. You would never be ashamed of the decision you made.”
This sense of character is something that stood out to members when they were initially rushing. When Siddiqi was rushing, his dad was having surgery causing Siddiqi to have to miss a recruitment event.
“In the next two weeks during rush every single upperclassmen in Phi Tau reached out to me whether it was via text, call or coming up to me,” said Siddiqi. “It just blew my mind that people that I might not have even known at the time were so willing to go out of their way to help someone out.”
Chidester had a similar experience to Siddiqi’s during his recruitment process. He explained that he was unsure of even joining a fraternity when he first came to campus. He also had a conflicting engagement at the same time of a Phi Tau event which caused more uncertainty.
After the Phi Tau members told him they understood, Chidester said it “showed me the kind of people that they were and the kind of relationship that I could build with them.”
“Every single member has a very interesting story. We might come off as having a stereotype of an impression of being the athletic guys on campus, but there’s a lot of stories behind each and every one of us,” Siddiqi said. “We have guys from the highest of backgrounds to the lowest of backgrounds.”
Editor’s note: The Rambler was only able to schedule one lunch with members of Phi Kappa Tau, and received input from only two members of the chapter. As such, the piece presented here should be considered a surface description of the group culture and character of the fraternity, rather than an in-depth profile.
