Brothers,
I wanted to give you a quick update on the Chapter as the 2015-16 school year is officially underway. As some of you may know, our chapter (with the support of National) has temporarily left the school IFC due to some unreasonable actions/sanctions that were placed on the Chapter by the school. National HQ’s official response to the school’s action is as follows:
“It is clear that the Chico State IFC is uninterested in working productively with Eta Omega Chapter of Theta Chi at this time, and that this policy discrepancy remains unresolved. Nonetheless, Theta Chi Fraternity maintains the stance described above, and thus chooses to function beyond IFC participation.”
We are not alone, there are a few other large fraternities that have taken the same action. We are currently exploring the idea of forming an off-campus IFC between Theta Chi, Sigma Chi, and some other fraternities that have already removed themselves from the school. We are not fully off-campus and disaffiliated with the school right now, but we are operating outside of the school at this moment. This is all being weighed along with the recent news that Chico State President Paul Zingg will be retiring next year. This could offer a new opportunity to start a dialogue with the school and go back on campus. National and the Alumni Board will be actively engaging with the school once a new President is selected. A friend of mine who is on the selection committee was Greek so hopefully that may help with the selection.
As far as current Chapter activity, below is a short report we received from the active chapter on what is coming up for them in October.
“October is looking to be a great month for the brothers of Eta Omega. This semester we are not facing any sanctions from the school, and we were finally able to have our first T-shirt dance in over a year and it was a big success. Coming up this month we have our annual retreat, the Monster Mash dance, and a philanthropy prompting the USO. We will be painting and carving pumpkins in America theme which we plan to sell on campus to donate to our troops for the holidays. We will also be hosting an philanthropy open to ev everyone where we will carve pumpkins and deliver them to the local hospitals and community centers to celebrate the holiday spirit. We are excited to be able to be involved with the community again and show the school and community what Theta Chi Eta Omega has to offer everyone. We hope everyone has a great month and we will continue to keep you updated with our accomplishments and our upcoming events.”
I would be remiss if I did not also remind you all that our Alumni Board is still trying to raise money to continue to improve our Chapter house and our legacy at Chico State. Here is a link to our fundraising information (Fundraising Page). Any and all help is much appreciated. Also, if you have not seen pictures of the improvements we have made so far, here is a hyperlink to the photos (Final House Remodel Photos).
If there are any questions or concerns regarding the Chapter, or if any of the links I provided do not work, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or my Board (Alum.Board@etaomega.org)
Fraternally,
John Wenger
President, Eta Omega Alumni Board of Directors
(916) 690-0675
Jwenger15@gmail.com