Brothers, over the past several months the Beta-Omicron House Corporation has worked with DU to come to an agreement about what must be done in order to satisfy our debt to the university, and keep Beta-Omicron on the campus.
The Chapter’s problem reached its zenith when the University issued a “Notice of Default” in December 2008, stating that, interalia, if positive steps were not taken the Chapter House would be closed at the end of the 2009-2010 school term (June 2010). The immediate challenge before the fraternity was created when financial shortfalls began to accrue from the previous campaign to build the new Chapter House. Not all pledges from that campaign had been paid in full, a deficiency in undergraduate rents had been allowed to accumulate and interest has been accruing on both items.
A small group of alumni in the Denver area learned of the problem and agreed that an effort had to be organized to alert others of the critical situation facing the Chapter. Members of the House Corporation at that time agreed to step down, which allowed the group to organize as a new House Corporation and gain recognition from the University. This yielded immediate results as the University agreed to work with the new House Corporation to develop timelines to satisfy the indebtedness to the University.
The Chapter’s Grand Master offered a sizable no-interest loan for the purpose of retaining a professional fund raising firm to guide our efforts. Fraternity Management Group (FMG) of Tucson, Arizona was retained due to its familiarity with our Chapter. This was the firm that assisted with the fund raising to build the new Chapter House. The President and Client Manager are both Kappa Sigs from the University of Arizona and the House Corporation is very comfortable with using their services and gaining their insights for a successful campaign.
The next step taken was to issue an ultimatum to members of the Chapter that no additional debt would be allowed to accrue as a result of insufficient occupancy. The Chapter’s minimum occupancy level with DU has not been met since the House was opened in 2005. An assessment was placed upon each member for the winter and spring quarters and sufficient housing contracts have been signed to ensure the House will be fully occupied starting this September. Now, we must turn to the alumni, parents and friends to determine if the House can be saved and Kappa Sigma’s proud 108-year tradition at DU will continue.
We owe the University $624,875. The shortage of pledge receipts totals $266,964. Deficient room rent receipts and deficient payments toward Operations and Maintenance charges total $218,326. Accrued interest totals $139,585. Payments and committed pledges to rectify these shortages must begin by the end of 2010.
Starting with the Board itself, we began to conduct a study to see how much support there would be to proceed with a campaign to generate the funds needed to keep Beta-Omicron housed. After taking the time to submit our own thoughts, members of the board proceeded to request others in their regular contact list to fill one out. As of the mailing of this newsletter some 60 responses have arrived and with a survey in the mail now, we expect many more responses from our 750 alumni who had not yet been contacted.
We'd like to thank all of you who took the time to fill out the online survey, or who received and responded to the mailing. (We're just now starting to receive those at press-time.)
Overall the response is promising. As has been voiced by several of our alumni, this economic climate is certainly not the ideal time to begin fund-raising. Unfortunately, we are at the university's time-table and waiting for the country to experience a full economic recovery before embarking on the project is not an option. Fortunately, as the Brothers of Beta-Omicron responded to our initial project, it seems that once again the members of the chapter will meet the challenge. 48 of the 65 respondents to date indicated they would be willing to support this effort.
If you have not completed your survey to date, we ask you to please respond. Also, some of you might receive a call from one of our campaign volunteers – please take some time to talk with them about the situation, what we're doing about it, and consider your willingness to step up to the plate as well – whether as a donor or additionally as a volunteer willing to contact some brothers you are in touch with. For those of you who have your mail survey sitting at the bottom of your inbox somewhere, please take five minutes to reply and let us know your thoughts.
You an also find the survey online by clicking here.
We want to acknowledge and thank all of those who have taken the time to respond below*
