After a seven-year hiatus, a fraternity is returning to UCSB next month.

The national Phi Sigma Kappa organization and its alumni temporarily suspended the UCSB chapter’s charter in 1996 because the house’s residents caused too much damage to the facilities, the fraternity’s president, second-year political science major Jason Everitt said. But the old members have graduated, and the current house is composed of a new batch of students. The fraternity will reenter the UCSB Greek system May 1 at its charter ceremony.

“In no way did [the national organization] think they would suspend the charter forever,” Everitt said. “They just realized they needed a little time for things to clear out.”

Because the fraternity was shut down by the national organization, not UCSB, Phi Sigma Kappa is free to regroup and would be recognized by the university, said Stephan Franklin, director of Greek Affairs.

“From the Inter-Fraternity Council’s point of view, they have an open invitation to return when they see fit,” he said.

Everitt also serves as the Inter-Fraternity Council’s president, even though Phi Sigma Kappa does not have a charter from the national organization.

“Inter-Fraternity Council treats us as a regular fraternity,” Everitt said. “As long as we pay out fees and we meet the requirements, we’re OK.”

For the past two years new Phi Sigma Kappa members have been a colony at UCSB, a trial period during which the a chapter is required to meet certain requirements set by the national organization. For example, it must hold philanthropic events for the community, conduct community service events, be a member of Inter-Fraternity Council, and form strong and respectable relations with the university administration, Everitt said.

When they’re re-inducted, Phi Sigma Kappa will be located at 6547 Cordoba Road, at the intersection of Embarcadero Del Norte, Everitt said.

“It’s the massive white house right next to Freebirds,” he said. “For the past six years, it served as a transfer residence, which the university has used to take transfer students who don’t know where to live. This next year is going to be the first year that we actually have the house all to ourselves and it’s actually a really exciting time for us.”

There are currently 37 Phi Sigma Kappa members, Everitt said, the majority of the new members are freshmen, with sophomores and juniors rounding up the mix. He said he expect the induction ceremony to be a large event.

“We have 820 alumni from this university alone, and we’re expecting a good portion of those people to be out here too,” he said.

Everett said the organization will be recruiting throughout the year.

“A lot of the Greeks here are traditional,” he said. “We see recruitment as a yearlong thing. We don’t see why people have to rush during a set time in the year. We’re always looking for new members.”