Beta Theta Pi will commemorate its rechartering Saturday with a banquet in Hardin Hall, said Bassel Korkor, the fraternity’s president.

Beta’s 48 members will officially rejoin the Interfraternity Council under the auspices of their Men of Principle program, a national Beta initiative to re-align fraternities with values and steer them away from hazing and drinking, said Korkor, a Weinberg sophomore.

“I think people realize it’s time for a change in the Greek system,” Korkor said.

Beta received its new charter last August at the national Beta convention in Chicago, after being on probation for two years, said Doug Oldham, a Weinberg senior and former Beta president. The new chapter then held a barbecue at Northwestern for the attendees of the convention.

Saturday’s ceremony will commemorate the rechartering with dinner and speeches. U.S. Sen. Richard Luger (R-Ind.) will speak about the Men of Principle program at the ceremony, which will be attended by Beta’s national president, Beta alumni, NU faculty and students.

Beta was banned from campus in 1994 for risk management violations after a series of fires at the fraternity’s house. The house, at 2349 Sheridan Road, became a dormitory for the next three years.

In 1997, 10 NU students recolonized Beta as a dry house, and the fraternity regained its house the next year.

As part of the Men of Principle program, parents, fraternity members and faculty met during recolonization to decide what values should be most important to the fraternity, Oldham said. Long ago, he said, fraternities were based on scholarship, brotherhood, service and being gentlemen.

Rejoining IFC will help Beta to get more involved with NU and the Greek community and will also help increase membership, Korkor said.