"We want to make sure they're not here for some sort of superfluous reason," Menkiti says. "They may have the same vision of us that Dean Epps does; then we don't want them."

While fraternity officers insist that they recruit "only by word of mouth," first-years report that they have been approached by Sigma Chi members in their dorms. Justin C. Denham '02 says that he was given a Sigma Chi information card by several members who came by his Greenough room last week.

Membership in Sigma Chi certainly does not come cheap: Dues are $425 per semester. However, the fraternity helpsstudents who cannot afford the dues to geton-campus jobs or to pay over a period of time.Members can also be sponsored by Sigma Chi alumni.

"No one has ever not joined because theycouldn't pay," Menkiti says.

The dues go towards paying for Sigma Chi socialevents, community service projects, and dues tothe international organization. According toMenkiti, the chapter is closely tied to theInternational Sigma Chi Fraternity and to otherchapters in the area, but that relationship is notthe most important part of the fraternity.

"We've tried to downplay our nationalaffiliation," he says. "We think we're unique, Iguess, like everyone else at Harvard.