Chi Delta Chi, which has prided itself on being Northwestern’s only independent fraternity since its inception in 1992, has voted to to join a national organization, Delta Kappa Epsilon.

Chi Delt President Dave Penake isn’t worried that the fraternity will lose its independent reputation.

“Affiliating nationally gives us a lot of opportunities to improve the fraternity,” said Penake, a McCormick junior. “We can go to national leadership conferences and exchange ideas to help us make a better rush and improve things throughout the house.”

Penake said the fraternity chose to join DKE because it was a strong national organization with a lot of chapters close to NU, and because DKE waived its colonization requirements.

“When a national fraternity decides to open a new chapter on campus, they usually make the frat meet membership requirements, GPA requirements and other standards before they’ll officially take on the name of the frat,” Penake said. “Chi Delt is already a strong house, so they didn’t need to colonize.”

The change will occur this summer, with Chi Delt being renamed Delta Kappa Epsilon in time for next year’s freshman pledge class.