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Evolving the Delta Chi Experience

Evolving the Delta Chi Experience

Together, we will ensure that every Delta Chi – from day one – has an experience each of us can be proud of. An experience that brings value to your life in college and far beyond, one that is safe and also builds true brotherhood.

In 2025, Delta Chi will evolve the Associate Member program and mentorship experience to be meaningful, safe and foster brotherhood, while retaining more members throughout college.

Key Changes

Throughout 2025, we’ll implement five key changes to deliver on this goal. 

Some changes are immediate and others, we need time to continue to work through together. The big-picture changes – the 35-day Associate Member onboarding and elimination of the Big Brother program – are set in stone because they are tied to a litigation settlement. We have the opportunity to fully shape what the Associate Member experience and future mentorship opportunities look like in Delta Chi. Get involved by providing insight, thoughts, and feedback here

This February 27 will mark four years since Adam’s death at just 19 years old when he was joining Delta Chi at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Together, we will reflect on his passing and forge his legacy in a new commitment. 

Adam Oakes was a sports marketing major at VCU and sports were his passion, from playing football, basketball and baseball while growing up to being the commissioner of several fantasy football leagues. He also loved traveling, weekends at the beach and playing video games. He was the only child of his mom Linda and dad Eric, and the youngest of three grandchildren. 

Adam was close with his family, and at college, he was seeking out a group of friends who would be like brothers. He chose Delta Chi in the spring of his first year at VCU. Like all of us, he was seeking friends and a place to belong. The chapter issued him a bid, and soon after he joined, at what the chapter called a big brother reveal, Adam was hazed and supplied excessive amounts of alcohol. The next morning, he was found unresponsive in the Delta Chi house where the event was held and was pronounced dead at the scene with the cause later announced as an alcohol overdose. 

Learn more by watching Death of  Pledge: The Adam Oakes Story. 

We want you to know and remember Adam’s name and his story. We owe it to Adam’s family and to our brothers – today and tomorrow – to truly deliver on the promise of brotherhood; to care for each other and care about each other. We owe it to each other to do everything we can to prevent hazing and so what happened to Adam never happens again. 

Currently, chapters are able to implement an 8-, 6- or 4-week Associate Member program, with 42% already implementing one of the shorter options. Many of Delta Chi’s peer fraternities have also moved in this direction, shortening their new member programs.

A 35-day program falls right in the middle of our current offerings. Across the fraternal landscape, we’ve seen how a more concentrated period that focuses on education, personal development, purposeful mentorship, and relationship-building can reduce risk and retain members. 

We are not simply reducing the number of activities or lessons and reconfiguring current programming offerings. We ARE taking the time to step back to assess and build the program that associate members need today. We’ll share information throughout the spring and summer about the development of the new program, including opportunities to share insight and feedback. 

Across all fraternities in the last 20 years, Big Brother night has been called one of the “Three Deadly Nights” and one of the most potentially dangerous points in the fraternity experience, because repeatedly, men have made the choice to haze their little brothers with lethal levels of alcohol. 

Yet, we know that when done well, an authentic mentoring, coaching relationship builds connection and is a cornerstone for retention. We seek to retain more Delta Chi brothers through graduation and beyond, so we are looking closely at what a true mentor program or process looks like for our new members  – who it is, how they’re vetted or educated, and what its purpose should be. We are restructuring the mentorship experience to provide a strong connection while reducing risk factors that have caused harm.

You’ll also see more education around prevention and bystander intervention – individual online, chapter-based, and at in-person events like Regional Leadership Academies and Convention – for associate members, officers, advisors, and all members. 

The aim is to prevent harmful situations from escalating by empowering our brothers to take action and intervene if risk arises. 

In transparency, we will also report adjudicated risk management policy violations on the website and provide regular communications around hazing prevention.

Why now?

Since last year, Delta Chi’s Anti-hazing Task Force has been working on how we can truly shape the Associate Member experience to offer one that’s meaningful, powerful and safe – one that does not include hazing and actively prevents it. This task force has engaged participation from across our membership – including undergraduate leaders, alumni chapter advisors, current and former regents, and outside experts.

In late 2024, Delta Chi reached a settlement with the Oakes family after Adam’s passing. Based on that settlement, we have agreed to several key necessary reforms to prevent hazing and its consequences for current and future brothers.

Concerns, incidents, issues and claims have continued to emerge related in some chapters. In the last two years, six chapters have had to be closed related to risk management violations; five had hazing-related concerns and all six had alcohol-related concerns. The fraternity has no tolerance for individuals who treat their brothers with such low respect.

No longer does a Fraternity or chapter bear the breadth of accountability for bad actors who violate the hazing, alcohol and drug law and policies. Everyone is responsible for his actions and in many cases, accountability is sought on multiple fronts: from the University, Delta Chi, and legally (both criminally and civilly). 

44 states have hazing laws ranging from misdemeanors to felonies, and in more and more cases, families are seeking criminal and civil prosecution. In December 2024, after years of advocacy from parents whose sons have died of hazing, the federal Stop Hazing Act was signed into law, requiring colleges to publicly report organizations who violate hazing policies on their websites and through federal Clery reporting for campus violence and crime, as well as to provide required hazing education to all students.

When something like this happens – meaning injury or death related to hazing or a violation of law or policy, it can have vast consequences across the Fraternity, but individual accountability is growing more prevalent in hazing cases.

Justice is our cardinal principle, and this is about doing the right thing for our current and future brothers. Now is the time for leaders and champions to advance justice by building and fostering a member experience that every Delta Chi is proud of.

Frequently Asked Questions

The big-picture changes – the 35-day Associate Member onboarding and the elimination of the Big Brother program – are set in stone because they are tied to a litigation settlement. However, we have the opportunity to shape what the Associate Member experience and future mentorship opportunities look like in Delta Chi. As we evolve and develop new Associate Member experiences in the areas of onboarding/orientation and mentorship, we want and need to hear your thoughts and ideas.

We look forward to incorporating your voices as Delta Chi makes these changes. IHQ Staff and the Board of Regents will continue to facilitate conversations to seek insight for undergraduate members and advisors. You can also provide feedback through this form.

Relationships you have with current members or alumni can remain. Moving forward, we are evolving mentorship in Delta Chi to be meaningful, safe and advance brotherhood, retaining more members throughout college.

While there will no longer be any additional “Big Brother” or “Little Brother” relationships created or “family tree” additions made, we fully expect that members will cherish relationships with new mentors.

All allegations will be investigated and adjudicated in alignment with Delta Chi Law, the Fraternity’s Risk Management Policies, and the recommendations of the Risk Management Commission.

What’s Next

Share your thoughts, ideas, and questions: While the big-picture changes are set in stone because they are tied to a litigation settlement, we are truly able to shape what the AM experience and mentorship look like in Delta Chi. As we evolve and develop Associate Member onboarding and mentorship, we want to hear your thoughts and ideas. Submit insight, thoughts, ideas, and feedback here. 

Additional Resources Coming: As we develop the Associate Member onboarding and mentorship program, we’ll share concrete details about implementation. 

Brotherhood is a two way street. If we accept its advantages we must also live up to its obligations. It's time for Delta Chi to take a stand and chart a course for the next 135 years that includes a powerful fraternity experience. One that is positive, safe and beneficial from day one. Delta Chi needs your support.

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