Acacia FAQ

Q: What does Acacia stand for?

A: Acacia Fraternity is the only founding member of the National Interfraternity Conference to have chosen a Greek word instead of a combination of Greek letters. To members of Acacia, the word has six meanings:

1. Distinctiveness and leadership among mankind
2. The spirit of immortality and the survival of the soul
3. Strength and Ruggedness
4. A truly masculine state having the power to pollinate and perpetuate life.
5. The freedom of the individual to commune with his God and to Him alone be accountable.
6. Our Fraternity.

Another simple definition of Acacia is “noble.”

Q: What is Acacia Fraternity all about?

A: We are a Greek social fraternity which is what most people refer to when they use the word “fraternity.” The whole idea behind the fraternity system is to give college men an opportunity to grow more academically, socially, professionally and philanthropically. We have a great system in place which allows members the opportunity to grow in these areas during your college years than you have to date in your entire life.

Q: What makes you different from other Greek fraternities?

A: Every fraternity at UT is unique even though they have the same basic activities. The difference is seen in how fraternities go about doing these basic events and who is a part of them. A fraternity is only as good as the men in it.

Acacia is neither better nor worse than any other UT fraternity. Joining a fraternity whose ideal member qualities are most similar to your own is essential to enjoying Greek life. Acacia members do their best to be distinct, taking positive qualities of the typical fraternity man and dropping the more negative qualities. However, since positive and negative qualities are objective, the best course of action is to converse with active members and determine how well you fit in Acacia.

In addition, Acacia is the first fraternity to offer a complete Membership Development Program that Acacia encourages every active to finish before they graduate.  Through this program, every Acacian graduates fully prepared to enter the real world and better qualified than the average college graduate for any job title.

Q: How much are dues/costs for Acacia?

A: Acacia prides itself on being one of the most affordable Greek organizations on the UT campus because we believe a fine fraternal opportunity should not be reserved for those who may come from a higher income bracket or land a great college job. Our actives pay $500 per semester if they live in our house and $550 per semester if they live outside of the house. These fees cover all events besides t-shirts and other items that we may opt to purchase during the course of a year. As a new member, our pledges pay just $467 their first semester to cover all initiation fees to our Headquarters, membership shingle and Acacia badge.

As far as rent for our house is concerned, it is one of the finest living arrangements in West Campus. For just an average of $600 per month (bills paid) our actives share the common room, restaurant-sized kitchen, study area and parking lot. The individual rooms are arranged suite-style with each active sharing a bathroom with the connecting room. If residents choose to share a room, the rent is just $350 per person to cover additional utility usage.

Q: What does Acacia do for philanthropy?

A: Philanthropy is a high priority for our fraternity. In fact, “human service” is on our fraternity crest in Greek. In the past we have volunteered at local food banks, painted houses in underprivileged neighborhoods, and held a dodgeball tournament fundraiser benefiting Any Baby Can, an organization that assists and combats children’s diseases in Austin. Our two worldwide philanthropy efforts are Seven Days of Service, a week of philanthropy concluded with a blood drive, and Acacia Claus, a toy drive conducted by all Acacia chapters. Our toys from Acacia Claus go to Orange Santa every year at UT. We also join forces with surrounding Greek fraternities and sororities and give our time and money to assist them in their philanthropy work as well.

Q: What do you say to people who think fraternities are just buying their friends?

A: No matter how much money you put into a fraternity you cannot make people like you. Fraternity dues allow us to compile our resources to maximize the enjoyment of the time we spend with our friends in the fraternity. As a fraternity we provide the opportunity to work and socialize with a group of guys in order to accomplish big things. Over the course of working and having fun together friendships are bound to happen. The chapter also gives its members opportunities to meet people outside of the fraternity and hang out in a relaxed environment where it would be easy to turn acquaintances into friends. At no point, however, are you buying friends. When you truly understand brotherhood, you will also understand that brotherhood, however you define it, is impossible to buy.

Q: Why do people say that you will only get out of a fraternity what you put into it?

A: Most organizations will give output equal to the input, and fraternities are no different. This is more true for some chapters as opposed to others. If all you put into the fraternity is your dues, your returns will be minimal. If you put your time, effort, intellect and vision into the fraternity you will be repaid many times over in management, leadership, teamwork, finance, marketing and perseverance skills. Not to mention, you will meet lifelong friends who will stand by you through thick and thin, and chances are they will do that a few times during your time at UT. There is no better way to collect priceless college memories that will last a lifetime.

This will be the same for any fraternity you join. The difference between Acacia and other fraternities is that other fraternities have much higher minimum financial and time requirements. Therefore, the minimum to be received from them is higher.  In Acacia, we require less for entrance; however, we provide a structured way for each individual to achieve as much as possible gaining every benefit of an active fraternity man. Our organization offers extraordinary potential return when the effort is put forth.

Q: What does the chapter receive in the way of alumni support?

A: The Acacia Expansion Association, Inc., which represents the pooling of talents and resources of many Acacia alumni, provided the initial impetus and funding for the re-founding of the Texas Chapter of Acacia Fraternity. The alumni support now comes from the hundreds of alumni involved in the Acacia Alumni Association. The chapter also benefits substantially from the involvement of our alumni advisors and numerous local alumni who are always willing to support the chapter. The most obvious example of our interaction with our alumni is the tailgates put on by our alumni during football season. Every active is welcomed to attend these events and get to know our alumni.

Q: What about housing?

A: The Acacia Building Association (ABA) owns the highly desirable property at 2614 Rio Grande, which Acacia now occupies. The house sleeps 39 brothers and has one large common room connected to the restaurant-size kitchen. An extensive remodel of the property was funded by Acacia alumni in the summer of 2004 to get the house ready for Acacia's reoccupation of its original location at 2614.

If you have any more questions for us, please feel free to email us here.