I don’t imagine you’ll find many toga parties at this fraternity — but you may find something else:

Phi Kappa Theta, a Catholic fraternity that opened a chapter at the University of Nebraska in 2005, is working to become a “beacon of light” to those within the Greek system and, with its focus on the faith, is helping young men to follow their vocational call.

The fraternity, Phi Kappa Theta (PKT), was originally established at the University of Nebraska (UNL) in 1924, but was shut down due to the Great Depression. It was re-founded in 2005 through the efforts of the Nebraska Newman Center chaplain Father Robert Matya who “saw a need for a good fraternity to be a beacon to other fraternities on UNL’s campus,” explained founding member Jake Mach to CNA.

Fr. Matya began his search for a social Greek fraternity “that was founded on Catholic ideas” and ran across Phi Kappa Theta. It was then that he decided to bring a chapter to the Nebraska campus and contacted Mach and two others to spearhead the effort.

The three students began working on recruitment, the by-laws, constitution and incorporating themselves into the Greek system at the university. Though there were a few kinks, Mach noted that the experiences helped them “to grow as a fraternity and as a brotherhood, developing deep friendships based not only on our common experiences but also in our faith background.”

The Nebraska chapter of PKT, called Nebraska Pi, has adopted St. Thomas Aquinas as its patron, since he is the patron saint of students. Its motto is to be a “beacon, not a bunker.” Mach emphasized that the motto helps them to remember that the fraternity was not simply founded “to bring in guys and just improve ourselves. We are there to serve and give a good example to the Greek system as a whole through our philanthropy and ideals.”

The fraternity centers its events and activities around four main areas: intellectual, fraternal, social and spiritual.

Intellectually, said Mach, the fraternity stresses the importance of being a student first with mandatory study hours and requiring its members to hold at least a 2.8 GPA.

On the fraternal side, Mach noted that the fraternity holds an annual retreat called Quo Vadis, Latin for “Where are you going?” During the retreat the brothers spend time together, set goals for the year and “reinforce the reason they are part of the fraternity.” The members also play sports and spend leisure time together to build brotherhood.

You can read more about it at the CNA link.