By Amanda Alfanos, Editor-in-Chief

Offices are in place and founding members were revealed of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Three students ran for the colony’s presidential position, but one students was elected by the body of 23 colony members. Jarred Johnson, mass communications senior, was elected Oct. 6 to the position at the colony’s first retreat.

Johnson said his responsibilities as president include being the face of the fraternity, presiding over meetings and staying in contact with FIJI international officials. “I have to make sure everything is carried out,” he said.

Johnson also is liable for overseeing the operations of 15 other colony chairmen. Johnson said he thinks he was elected because he believes in encouraging people to step up and find their own leader­ship styles. “I wanted to make sure members have a say in the colony’s operations,” he said. “I’m taking the insights to executive lead­ership class and that class focuses a lot on pushing decision making as far down the chain as possible. “My goal was to simply put people in the right places.”

Jared Johnson

Johnson also serves as the director of policies and initiatives for Student Government Association. He said having the position prepared him for his presidency. “I work on different projects involving community service and the results of retention,” he said. “It has taught me how to delegate and helped me to let go. “My day is spent scrambling between SGA meetings, FIJI and school,” he said.

Johnson’s goals for FIJI include chartering in a year. He also hopes FIJI becomes a competitive fraternity on campus. “I really want to branch out and have better relations between all the Greek houses and between non Greeks,” he said. “I’m most excited to have events with the sororities. “They’ve all expressed interest, so we’re excited to host events with them.” Johnson said he and colony brothers hope to host spring recruitment through Interfraternal Council to attract new members.

“Right now since we’re not a part of IFC, we’re doing continuous open bidding,” he said. “From now until Decem­ber we’re hosting small and a few larger recruitment events.” Potential events include laser tag and a victory dance.

Men interested in joining FIJI must have a 3.5 college GPA and uphold the fraternity’s core values, Johnson said.

This article originally appeared on Page 1 of the October 13th, 2010 issue of The Campus.