The idea of creating a Jewish fraternity at the University of British Columbia officially began at the 1998 Schusterman Leadership Assembly in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Jeff Waldman, the first Beta Chi Lieutenant Master (Vice-President) met a brother from the University of Toronto, Ilan Barda. Ilan spoke with Jeff about AEPi and how the UofT AEPi chapter evolved and flourished in such a short period of time. After hours of the two talking, Andy Borans, the AEPi International Chapter Consultant intervened in the conversation and also added his insights and comments regarding AEPi. The conversation ended between the three gentlemen with Andy saying, “Jeff, get a group you think would be interested in AEPi and give me a call and I will make a special trip out to Vancouver to speak with you guys”. Throughout the week at the conference, both Andy and Ilan reminded Jeff of the benefits of AEPi and what it meant to be a brother of the AEPi fraternity. In addition, they continuously offered words of advice and re-assurement that this idea was an excellent one, and one that would definitely work at the University of British Columbia.

Upon Jeff’s return to Vancouver, he contacted a few guys asking them if they were interested in starting a Jewish fraternity. The majority of the guys liked the idea but were skeptical about a Jewish fraternity succeeding in Vancouver. Approximately ten years ago, a small group of Jewish guys and UBC tried to start AEPi but quickly took a major downturn without any return and eventually gave up on the idea. In Jeff’s mind, he knew that this idea was going to succeed, with time, effort and dedication.

Jeff remained in contact with Andy Borans and Ilan Barda and expressed his concerns and asked questions of both gentlemen regarding the commencement of AEPi. After months of Andy and Jeff playing phone tag, Andy made a trip out to Vancouver to speak with a small group of Jewish guys that Jeff had formed with the help of Adam Propp. The initial group members were Adam Propp, Nuri Fisher, Dari Fisher, Greg Louis, Adam Gelmon, Jeremy Waldman and Jeff Waldman.

Adam Propp and Jeff Waldman spoke many times about the mission and reason for starting a Jewish fraternity at UBC. Both men had very similar ideas regarding AEPi at UBC that were to kick-start a fairly inactive young Jewish population in Vancouver. Jeff and Adam wanted AEPi to bring excitement to campus life and to develop interest among Jewish students at UBC, Langara College, Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen College/University. For Jeff, the phrase used by Richard Joel at Leaders Assembly in 1998 of, “doing Jewish with other Jews” remained in his mind throughout the entire process of starting AEPi. Both Adam and Jeff shared that initiative and that was the driving force behind the commitment and dedication displayed by the initial group mentioned above.

After the initial meeting with Andy Borans, the group began to educate themselves about AEPi asking questions of Andy and other AEPi members and actively participated in recruiting new members to this group. The process of trying to understand AEPi and recruiting new members took a few months and finally, on April 4, 1999, that small group of eight men founded the Beta Chi Colony of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity at the University of British Columbia. At that point, the guys knew that AEPi was going to grow and prosper into a thriving and healthy fraternity. The rest is all history and currently, there are eighteen brothers of Beta Chi including Alumni.

The beginning of AEPi at UBC would not have been possible without the input of a select group of people that made huge impacts. Firstly, Andy Borans began the journey at Leaders Assembly doing something he does regularly, which is selling AEPi to people that are interested in the idea. Andy knew from the first meeting with Jeff that AEPi was going to be born at UBC eventually and because of that, he never gave up on UBC. Andy has provided support to Beta Chi in more ways than one can imagine, and because of his commitment to us, Beta Chi was formed.

The second major player was Peter Cohen, Beta Chi’s first Chapter Consultant. Peter visited Vancouver numerous times providing support to the Executive Board and its membership on the daily operations of AEPi. He helped us lay down the structure of the fraternity in which to work from. His endless efforts and dedication helped Beta Chi grow.

The third major player is Marty Weinberg, Beta Chi’s second Chapter Consultant for the 1999/2000 school year. Marty allowed Beta Chi to step up to another level. He helped solidify the Beta Chi Executive Board and helped the membership fully understand the operations of the International fraternity and Beta Chi. Marty brought his creativity, intuition and motivation to Beta Chi and helped Beta Chi plan and implement highly successful events with Hillel, the community and the Greek community at UBC. Beta Chi went from the initial eight Founding Fathers at the beginning of the year to eighteen brothers at the end of the year along with a high level of interest exemplified by the Vancouver Jewish community.

The process of starting AEPi at the University of British Columbia has been lengthy and an extremely slow evolution. AEPi preached commitment, dedication and most importantly, brotherhood. Without these three things, the Beta Chi Colony of AEPi would not have been formed, but it was. The brothers of Beta Chi continue to strive to make new history as the new millenium begins.