FHSU breaks ground for new themed housing complex

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

On Saturday members of the Fort Hays State University community gathered near Lewis Field to celebrate the ground breaking of the new themed housing on the FHSU campus.

Joey Linn, vice president for student affairs, began the celebration by speaking about the project.

“This upcoming new building is just one of many project that are taking place on our beautiful campus,” he said. “Like the others, this project will change the footprint of Fort Hays State University.”

Mirta Martin, Fort Hays State University president also spoke at the celebration.

“Today marks the beginning of a new era at Fort Hays State University,” she said, welcoming Greek organizations back to the campus.

“You symbolize everything that Fort Hays symbolizes,” she said. “The importance of scholarship, the importance of leadership, the importance of service, the importance of sisterhood and brotherhood.”

Also speaking were leaders from the FHSU Greek system, Rebecca Vincent, president of Panhellenic Council and Charlie Murphy, Interfraternity Council president.

Vincent said without the support of FHSU leadership the organizations would not have had the recent successes in recruitment. The recruitment has brought two Greek organizations back to FHSU.

The Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity and Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority will be returning to the campus by next year.

“This has been Panhellenic’s best recruitment yet,” Vincent said. “Each of our chapters excelled much beyond our expectations, which led us to the welcoming of 51 new Panhellenic sisters at the conclusion of fall recruitment.”

Panhellenic membership totals 133 this year, according to Vincent, and 99 in the fraternity community, according to Murphy.

“We are confident that this themed housing development will better cultivate the Greek spirit,” Murphy said.

The building will have four units, with 21 beds per unit, initially housing the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and the Delta Zeta sorority.

The building is expected to be open for the fall 2017 semester.