Alpha Epsilon Pi moves into Fraternity Court

When students begin rushing fraternities this week, they will find a new option on Fraternity Court.

Alpha Epsilon Pi, UNC’s only Jewish fraternity, has moved into the house once occupied by Sigma Alpha Epsilon as an apartment annex.

Former Alpha Epsilon Pi member Scott Bissinger, who helped secure a seven-year lease with Lawler Development Group in August 2012, said having a house could help the fraternity recruit pledges.

“When you have a house, people walk in your door,” he said.

Bissinger said the the fraternity members have lived in a few different houses since the chapter was founded in 2002 but none was permanent.

He said the deal was able to happen chiefly because it made financial sense.

“The main reason the landlord needed a tenant is so they could make money,” Bissinger said.

President Jacob Massey, a computer science and applied sciences major, said no one currently in the fraternity has had the experience of living in a house with their brothers.

“It’s going to make a more central place for our brotherhood to live together, be together, have new opportunities to do things together,” he said.

The building can house 26 people, which is about half of the fraternity’s membership.

“Just living with 26 of your best friends, there’s really nothing like that,” Massey said.

The brothers began moving in just two weeks ago and senior Jason Cooper, an applied sciences major, was one of the first to do so.

“It was really amazing just to walk through what was all empty rooms essentially and look at the space that we’ve never had before in any of our off-campus houses,” he said.

Cooper, who is also co-president of UNC Hillel, said Alpha Epsilon Pi previously resided in the Northside neighborhood and faced stiff competition with other fraternities during the recruitment period.

Cooper said he thinks that having a central meeting space is key to recruitment and brotherhood, but said he hopes it does not lead to complacency.

“We don’t want to use this as a crutch and say, ‘Oh, now that we have a house we don’t have to put in so much effort,’” he said. “It’s actually the complete opposite. We need to put in twice the effort now because we have the house.”

The house’s proximity to campus, Franklin Street and four neighboring fraternities gives Alpha Epsilon Pi a much stronger public presence — something that member Justin Reyes, a junior philosophy major, said is key.

“We’re going to make our house very visible,” he said. “We want the public to understand our house. We want people to be very familiar with us.

“I want people to get to know the brothers.”

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