Posted on behalf of Gordon Cooper, Lambda House Secratary:
We had a decent turnout of alumni and actives Saturday morning, for a very informative presentation by the Lambda House President Dayne Haight, after being fueled by an incredible breakfast by the house cook that so many of us call mom. It was good to see the following alumni in attendance: Jim Bullard, Bill Stockberger, Bill Bybee, Brad Bartholomew, Rodney Nichols, Karl Block, Scott Jones, Dan Glore, Bob Rice, Josh Pattison, and Blair Donat. Also Keith Gillion thanks for coming down, you made my day.
We had a majority vote (36 yes, 9 no) to proceed forward with the proposal to build a new fraternity house. I think the management agreement with Tri-State was what prevented the proposal from being an unanimous vote, yes. Now it is up to the alumni to explore other avenues to finance this proposal. The Sigma Phi Epsilon National Organization manages about 12 houses, and would take a look at our situation. They charge the same rate of 5% as the University would. There are basically 2 funds they work from. The CIF fund is ours to use at our discretion for housing improvements, and there is roughly $21,000 available to us. They also have a collective housing loan fund which can be borrowed against at 8.5%. Which ever way we decide to go it may be a good idea to go through the Nationals approval process. They have seen a lot of scenarios, and are in a position to give us valuable insight even if we do not borrow from them.
National likes the fact that Tri-State is working with us, and pointed out that the biggest advantage they have is the ability to with-hold grades, classes and diplomas if someone does not pay. Also National would have to look at what percentage of the house would qualify as a learning center if we were to use their section 501 (C)(3) IRS filing status. Other benefits with the University's management agreement is that dorm grants would apply. Another option is not to enter into an agreement with anyone, and rely on our own alumni board to oversee the project, but this is going to take far more alumni support than we have now.
Regardless of our decision our next step is alumni involvement. We need you to get involved. Call and talk to your pledge brothers, connect with brothers that are geographically close to you. This is a great excuse to reach out to your big and little brother. Also make it a point if at all possible to make it back to the house this year. We will have a work session June 30, the SigEp and friends golf outting is July 27,28, 29, and Homecoming is October 5, and 6.
