A professional fraternity founded at UD has recently expanded to two other schools in the nation, proving that Epsilon Nu Tau holds true to the principles on which it was founded.

Epsilon Nu Tau was established in the spring of 2008 as a group for students interested in entrepreneurship and was the first and only entrepreneurship-based fraternity in the U.S. at the time.

In the two years since then, the fraternity has grown to nearly 40 members, and two new chapters have been founded at Texas State University and California State University, Fullerton.

Unlike many other professional fraternities on campus, members of ENT are not required to have a certain major to join. Although it originally started in the business school, members are studying anything from biology to engineering or political science.

"For us, entrepreneurship is a mindset, not a major, and we're a brotherhood of like-minded individuals," said Rob Starrett, CEO of the fraternity.

The fraternity has three tiers of involvement: professional, service and social, according to Ben Oren, chief financial officer of ENT. Each year, members attend the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization Conference in Chicago, Ill., where they actively encourage other schools to start chapters. They also have hosted many speakers from the entrepreneurial field, such as Ray Wiley, CEO of Hot Head Burritos, who will be visiting later this fall.

In addition, brothers are required to complete a certain amount of service hours, and many of these hours are completed through service projects set up by the fraternity and events such as Spike for Charity and Relay for Life. The fraternity also sponsors many social events, such as trips to Dayton Dragons baseball games, golf outings and formals.

ENT is a very distinctive fraternity in its membership, according to Starrett. Many high-profile members of other organizations on campus are brothers, such as the CEO of Flyer Enterprises, and the president, vice president and chief of staff for SGA. This provides for a matchless social and professional networking opportunity for brothers, Starrett said.

"We're a unique fraternity," Oren said. "Partially because we just started; we're small and still growing. Members can step in, be active and make a difference right away."

ENT's three main officers, the CEO, CFO and chief operating officer, are the leaders of an executive board that adds to the fraternity's exceptionality, according to Oren. In addition to the main officers, 12 chair positions also are on the board, each of which has a sub-chair to help with the tasks. Through this structure, every member of the fraternity has a spot on the executive board and a direct hand in ENT's success.

"Everyone has a more first-hand, managerial role," said Sarah Mlinarcik, COO. "[Brothers] are actually able to experience understanding how a real business works."

E-mail epsilonnutau@gmail.com if interested in rushing or with any questions about the fraternity. Rush week begins Mon., Sept. 13.