USD’s first LGBTQ+ fraternity

Delta Lambda Phi’s founding members and their aspirations

Allie Longo / Asst. Feature Editor / The USD Vista

Haley Jacob / Feature Editor / The USD Vista

Delta Lambda Phi (DPhi), a fraternity for queer men and LGBTQ+ allies, is in the process of joining the University of San Diego’s campus and will be the first queer fraternity at a religious university. The initiative to establish DPhi began with multiple sophomore men who wanted to create an inclusive social space for queer students on campus.

The idea to found DPhi was shaped by the men’s personal experiences of being gay students at USD. Three best friends: Jacob Aragon, Jake Lucko and Jackson Hinz spearheaded bringing the fraternity to USD. Alongside the men were other core founding members such as Giacomo Battaglia. 

As members of the LGBTQ+ community, the founding men of DPhi were hesitant to attend USD. 

Aragon had initial nerves about attending a Catholic university.

“My fear in going to a Catholic university was that I would have to take a religion class, and they would preach about this or talk about that or I would have to go to church,” Aragon reflected. “But so far everything has been very welcoming. It’s interesting, because USD is a very different Catholic university compared to others; for instance, if I went to a Catholic university in the south or midwest, it would be a very different experience.”

Lucko shared similar concerns with Aragon.

“Over the summer going into my freshman year, I was starting to think a little more about how the religion of the school would play into who I am and the friends I would make, and ultimately how I would express myself,” Lucko said.

Though both Aragon and Lucko had hesitations, USD’s “Queer Housing Initiative” eased their qualms. The LGBTQ+ and Allies Commons created the housing initiative, which allows queer students to connect and choose a potential roommate pairing. This initiative allowed the men to live with fellow queer students during their first year at USD. It was through this initiative that they formed the “J gays.” 

“So us three: Jacob, Jake and Jackson, were at our dorm last year, [and] a lot of people would come over and say they are coming to the ‘J gays,’ and the name stuck,” Aragon explained. “When I talk about my experience [of] being accepted at USD, it’s largely because of that.”

The University does provide resources and spaces for LGBTQ+ students, though Aragon believes there could be more for the community. 

“There are resources for the queer community on campus, but they are really small or mainly around group therapy, which is needed, [but] there need to be spaces where people [can] go to and completely talk about the lives they have to go through,” Aragon expressed. “I think there needs to be a bigger community, social and even philanthropy aspects. We live right next to Hillcrest, which is the epicenter for the LGBTQ+ Community [in San Diego], and it feels like there isn’t much community outreach.”

The two men recall considering joining a fraternity at USD to get to know more people and get what they call a “classic college experience.” However, when thinking about it more, it wasn’t a process they felt comfortable with. 

“I did think about rushing, but — at the end of the day — I would have had to be a different version of myself, a version of myself that I was in high school and middle school,” Lucko said. “After I came out of my shell, it would have been difficult to go back to such a period in my life where I was conforming to the norm.”

Aragon shared similar thoughts to Lucko about rushing, and ultimately worried about the environment of fraternities. 

“A lot of people said, ‘you should just rush; everyone is going to be nice about it!’ That can be true to an extent, but the system of fraternity life is so innately, predominantly masculine and heterosexual,” Aragon explained. “I don’t want to compromise myself for a pledging event; I don’t want to change the way I act, just to appeal to a good fraternity or my ‘brothers.’” 

After deciding that rushing a fraternity wasn’t for them, they came up with the idea of starting DPhi. It all began in conversation in their first-year dorm, though they shared it wasn’t with any serious intention at the start.

“It was actually kind of a joke at first, that we would start our own fraternity,” Aragon said. “But then during the second semester when rushing occurs for freshmen, it set in that rushing wasn’t a space I felt comfortable with, and I felt like I was missing out on an integral experience everyone should have the opportunity to participate in. So Jake and I sat down and we thought, ‘I think we have the capability to start it,’ so that’s how it ended up happening. It was random.”

Soon after, they started taking steps to bring DPhi to USD, though it was no easy process. It began with petitioning to DPhi’s national organization by drafting them a 35-page letter discussing their goals and intentions. From there, each member had to do an individual interview with an alumnus of the organization. They had to do a similar process with USD of defining their objectives and purpose in bringing DPhi to the school. The founders are waiting for the fraternity to become an official student organization and expect the title this semester. 

The campus community can expect the fraternity to begin hosting events, tabling at the Alcalá Bazaar, and recruiting prospective members next semester in the spring. DPhi is on track to become officially recognized by the University as a fraternity chapter by Spring 2024. 

Aragon claims the University has been supportive and encouraging throughout the approval process.

“I have heard a lot of support from faculty, staff and students,” Aragon said. “They are all saying it’s about time we have something like this at a religious institution, especially at USD.”

Though the process of bringing DPhi to USD has been arduous, Lucko elaborated on what keeps them continuing in their efforts. 

“This would be the first gay fraternity at a Catholic institution, for the first time in history, ” Lucko said. “Having that goal in mind and having such gravity and the importance of this fraternity being created reminds us that, even though the process is tedious and monotonous, we need to keep going.” 

Not only has USD been supportive of DPhi, but so have other fraternities and sororities.

“I had to get letters of support from other Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) organizations on campus,” Aragon said. “I asked all sororities and two fraternities and they were all very supportive as well.”

Though Aragon and Lucko acknowledge having DPhi on campus would personally benefit them, they attribute the work they are doing to creating a more inclusive, accepting future for incoming queer students.

“I envision and hope the incoming queer students finally have an opportunity to feel ‘normal,’” Aragon explained. “They are going to go to a school where they know they are going to feel awkward, because it is prominently heterosexual institution and it’s religious, so already off the bat they are going to feel a little different.” But no matter what, they can turn to this social fraternity, if they wish, where they are going to feel completely normal. And, of course, our goal is to create community and let people know they have a home at a Catholic institution, that they are just as valued as any other student.” 

Though Lucko, Aragon and Hinz were lucky enough to find like-minded queer best friends, they know this isn’t always the case for all students. Finding a community within one’s university can be challenging, especially for LGBTQ+ students. Through bringing DPhi to USD, the “J gays” hope to help the USD queer community find a safe space to call home on campus.