By: Kali Nicole
knicole@klkntv.com
To this day, no one knows the cause. The fire killed fraternity member, Ryan Stewart, and critically injured three others.
Phi Tau was suspended for four years from Nebraska Weslyan, but back in February, we told you how one group of men was working to bring the chapter back with a new and improved reputation.
At the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house, everything old, broken, tainted with tragedy is new again.
"The exterior is all the same, it's just the interior has all been redone. It has a touch of the past and a touch of the present you know we have the flat screen tvs, we have the red leather couches and the letters are downstairs that have been around since the 1920s," said President of Phi Kappa Tau, Steven Anderson.
The Phi Tau of Nebraska Wesleyan say they don't want the fresh paint covering up their past mistakes, rather, they want the entire house to highlight the accomplishments of the fraternity, including the one good thing to come from the 2006 tragedy.
After the incident, Wesylan responded with making pretty much everything on campus fire proof, with sprinkler systems in all the residential buildings. It's really raised the standard not just at Weslyan but across the nation at all universities.
It's a reputation the men of this house have worked nearly a year to build back up, before officially re-chartering at the school. Something that should come easy with the amenities this state-of-the-art safe house has to offer potential new fraternity members.
"It's the best place to live at Nebraska Wesleyan right now, but that's not what we're going to focus on. Yeah, we'll take guys throughout but we have great personalities and want them to fit with our personalities," said Anderson.
Recruitment begins next Monday when the school also starts class again.
