Beta Delta Alpha is the first Arab interest fraternity in the United States and North America. It was founded in 2014 at the University of California - Los Angeles on April 23, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. The fraternity had written its constitution and established its founding fathers on October 11, 2013, which was about six months before the fraternity was approved for induction into UCLA’s Multi-Interest Greek Council, in which founding father Jodutt Basrawi presented the fraternity's principles to the council. The fraternity currently consists of one active chapter at UCLA. Beta Delta Alpha’s sister sorority is Epsilon Alpha Sigma, the first Arab interest sorority in the United States and North America.
History
Upon the induction of Epsilon Alpha Sigma, the United States' first Arab interest sorority, the founding fathers of Beta Delta Alpha accelerated their plans in establishing the United States' first Arab interest fraternity. As products of the Arab Diaspora, Arab-American education, and American-driven aspirations, the founding fathers of Beta Delta Alpha sought to establish a fraternity that would cultivate the brotherhood of all Arab and Arab-oriented gentlemen at UCLA and beyond. Anyone of any kind, be him Arab or non-Arab, is welcome to participate with Beta Delta Alpha. The fraternity's constitution, code of conduct, and social contract were completed by September 1, 2013 and signed off by the fraternity's first secretary, Jodutt Basrawi. The authors of the fundamental paperwork were Jodutt Basrawi, Husam Shadid, Laith Mukdad, and Mukhtar Kaissi. Upon the beginning of UCLA's 2013-2014 school year, Basrawi, Shadid, Mukdad, and Kaissi recruited ten other men to help build the foundations of the fraternity. The founding fathers included:
Deemed as Beta Delta Alpha's most important value, the value of service and philanthropy is practiced by the fraternity through means of various school and city-wide service/philanthropy projects. Beta Delta Alpha has aimed to provide benefits to its community in order to remain consistent with its mission statement. Beta Delta Alpha has had two blood drives, a Diddy Riese cookie fundraiser for Typhoon Haiyan victims, and volunteered with The Network of Arab American Professionals.
There are many facets to Arab culture and customs. Beta Delta Alpha aims to serve its brothers and its immediate community with cultural enrichment experiences. Arab dances, Arab festivities, and Arab cultural education events are some of many ways that the fraternity has diffused cultural enrichment to its surroundings. By endorsing cultural enrichment, all Beta Delta Alpha brothers are expected to make good impressions and contributions to the people they interact with through their intuition and well-versed knowledge on Arab culture and customs. Intuition and knowledge are reflected by talks, dance, song, cuisine, and conventional Arab recreational activities. In addition to cultural enrichment, all brothers of Beta Delta Alpha must demonstrate awareness surrounding their own culture. Brothers become more aware of Arab culture through social events, educational meetings, co-programming with other cultural groups, and by means of cultural enrichment. Beta Delta Alpha participated with UCLA's World In-Sight Fair, a fair that presented the many cultures present at UCLA, and taught fair participants about interesting aspects of Arab culture. With cultural enrichment and awareness comes cultural skills. Beta Delta Alpha brothers are encouraged to learn skills that will enhance their respective cultural statuses. Dances like dabke and hosat, alongside talent in instruments used across the Arab world are present among brothers of Beta Delta Alpha.
Social engagement
Through a variety of socials, dinners, banquets, retreats, inter-fraternity and sorority activities, and participation with the university community, all brothers of Beta Delta Alpha ineluctably engage with diverse people. This aims to satisfy a component of Beta Delta Alpha's mission statement.
Brotherhood
Given the fraternity principles of Beta Delta Alpha, one priority of the fraternity is to cultivate brotherhood among all its brothers, alumni, and nearby appropriate community. As the first Arab fraternity in North America, Beta Delta Alpha is the only fraternity within the United States to seek brotherhood of all involved men under an Arab interest banner.
