UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler Expands Student Engagement Opportunities

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May 6, 2019

Media Contact: Beverley Golden
Senior Director of Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.566.7303

The University of Texas at Tyler recently announced Greek Life on campus will be expanding with the addition of two fraternities.

Alpha Tau Omega and FarmHouse Fraternity will be joining UT Tyler's Greek Life in Fall 2019 and Fall 2020, respectively.

"A pillar of our strategic plan is to grow and enrich student engagement, Greek Life is an essential component to that growth. We are very excited to see this community expand," said Ona Tolliver, vice president for student success. "After a very extensive vetting process we believe these two fraternities will complement our campus community and enhance the student experience. We look forward to welcoming them to UT Tyler and seeing how they will contribute to our community."

Alpha Tau Omega, commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United States and has initiated more than 250,000 members.

FarmHouse was founded in April 1905 by a group of students at the University of Missouri, and became a national organization in 1921. With 48 chapters chartered across North America, from coast to coast, and 30,000 men becoming lifelong members through these chapters.

The process to invite another fraternity to campus began in October 2018 when UT Tyler's Interfraternity Council (IFC) met with current organizations to determine which fraternities they would like to see on campus. From those meetings, four organizations were invited to campus to meet with staff, administrators, sections of the Greek life community, students and chapter advisors to get acquainted with the campus and the Tyler community. Each organization was also asked to give a presentation that was open to all students, faculty and staff.

UT Tyler is home to six national fraternities and sororities, with the first chapters starting in fall 2006/spring 2007 semesters.

For more information about Greek Life on campus, contact Robert Smith at robertsmith@uttyleredu.

A member of the prestigious UT System, The University of Texas at Tyler focuses on student success and innovative research in the more than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs offered. With more than 10,000 students, UT Tyler has facilities in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.