The once-defunct local chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish-leaning college fraternity, has been reestablished and is reportedly growing.
The new Milwaukee chapter is made up of mostly University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students but it accepts students from other area schools.
A prior incarnation of Alpha Epsilon Pi dissipated in the mid-1970s and an attempt at a re-start never got off the ground in the 2000s, according to Steven Meyerson of Mequon, the group’s alumni advisor.
The current incarnation started out with mere “colony” status in 2012. It was upgraded to “chapter” status in April by the fraternity’s national headquarters. The Milwaukee chapter now has about 18 locally active brothers and a pledge class of 12. Fall pledge classes over the last several years have been getting progressively larger, said chapter President Danny Graybow, 21, a UW-Milwaukee student from the Twin Cities area.
If you’re imagining college fraternity parties and good times, there may be something to that, but that’s not all. The group sponsors or co-sponsors philanthropic and Jewish identity activities, Graybow said. Activities have included a Middle East conflict seminar and Shabbat dinner with a guest speaker.
The national mission statement for the fraternity, with more than 180 chapters in seven countries, is in part to develop “leadership for the future of the American Jewish community,” according to its website.
Graybow said he’s actually good friends with a leader in the controversial Students for Justice in Palestine group, even though they disagree politically. “We’re more about embracing the Jewish culture,” said Graybow, noting that the group avoids getting into dicey political debates on campus and leaves that to other organizations.
In January, chapter Scribe Ben Slowey, 19, a UW-Milwaukee sophomore from Chicago, and several other local “AEPi” brothers are going on a trip to Israel with AISH International, a Jewish outreach organization.
“We don’t all live in the same house. We have an apartment complex that a lot of brothers live in. That’s like our unofficial house right now,” Slowey said. “We colloquially call it the ‘Jewplex’ … There are some non-brothers that also live in the house. We call them step-brothers. They are like close friends that also participate in activities with us.”
The unofficial house is near the corner of Farwell Avenue and Locust Street.
Though AEPi certainly leans Jewish, Slowey and Graybow are quick to insist they don’t discriminate and two members of this year’s pledge class are not Jewish. Brothers are also welcome from schools other than UW-Milwaukee and recent pledge classes have included young men from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee Area Technical College and a shin shin, a young emissary from Israel.
“We’re definitely growing,” Slowey said. “We’ve really made a reputation on campus in the last couple years. We’re growing with each year and that’s great.”
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How to rush
Any local college student can “rush” or apply to join the Alpha Epsilon Pi brotherhood. Interested students can lean more at weareaepi.org/Milwaukee.
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