The University of Minnesota lost its Phi Delta Theta chapter 20 years ago, partly because a chunk of its members left to fight in the Gulf War.
Now the fraternity is taking another try at the University. It was re-founded in 2008 and was colonized in 2009, meaning it was established as an interest group with hopes of being an official fraternity in the future, fraternity spokesman Lehoan Pham  said.
Pham, a political science major, said Phi Delta Theta had a fraternity house on fraternity row before they shut down in the early 1990s. Initiation for the fraternity will be Dec. 10 and 11, but the group does a year-long process of recruiting with weekly events, he said.
The three major values of the fraternity are friendship, moral integrity and self-learning, President Brock Meyer said.
The Twin Cities has many Phi Delta Theta alumni in the area, with whom theyâÄôve worked, he said.
The fraternity is dry and its house will be as well, Vice President Matt Terry said.
 âÄúI knew right away I was going to join greek life because I really liked what it was all about,âÄù said Terry, 21, who enlisted in the Navy while in high school. âÄúThese guys were a lot closer than any other fraternity that I had seen.âÄù
The fraternity currently has 34 members and is hoping to get 50 members by next year, Pham said.
Meyer, a English, philosophy and psychology junior, said Phi Delta Theta is striving to do well like every other fraternity, âÄúbut what separates us from other fraternities is our growing entrepreneurial spirit.âÄù
Phi Delta Theta is looking for members who âÄúput scholarship achievement above a lot of other things,âÄù Pham said. âÄúWe like guys who are well-spoken and who are more relaxed.
âÄúThe first time I met them they didnâÄôt treat me like a fly on the wall,âÄù he said. âÄúThey incorporated me into pretty much everything that they discussed.âÄù