The Fall 2009 Newsletter is Here
Ed Stone did a kick ass job coordinating the newsletter this year. Click below to open it, then print out all 11 pages, and take it with you to read when you have time…
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Fall 2009 Post Rush Report from the Chapter
From new chapter president, Dustin Pesch…
“Brothers,
Last week from September 14th to September 18th Chico State IFC held rush for Fall 2009. After several weeks of planning and preparation the semesters Recruitment Chair, Bret DeAlva managed to put on a very successful rush. With the help of this year’s exec board and new incentive systems both positive and negative, brother turn out was the best it has been in a few semesters.
When the week finally concluded the brothers of Eta Omega chose to extend 15 bids. All but one was accepted. Four more guys were unable to pledge according to Chico State IFC because they were “unregistered” in an online system made to verify GPA requirement. Despite being eligible and registered the system showed the four guys as unregistered with IFC. Last Spring we came across the same problem and IFC let it slide, but for some reason this semester they refused to compromise.
As of right now Eta Omega’s newest pledge class, Beta Lambda, has nine members. One guy dropped last night due to financial reasons, but said he will be out next semester. For the brothers who are not aware after the Matt Carrington hazing incident in 2005, Chico IFC does not allow freshmen to pledge in the fall. This means that fall pledge classes normally number from five to ten guys on average. However we are expecting around twenty to thirty pledges next semester, which would bring the number of new members for the 2009/2010 school year above thirty-five guys, and the total chapter size to about 90 active members. The chapter is very optimistic and excited for our newest pledge class. We are positive that we have obtained the most elite group of men that were looking to join the Greek system.
Dustin Pesch
President
Theta Chi, Eta Omega Chapter”
House Remodel Nearing Completion – More Photos
These photos from last week show how close the remodel work is to completion…really close. And it’s looking pretty good. Check out the custom red and white shower tiles.
Right at this moment the work is actually very close to done…even more than these photos show. Undergrads have moved back to the house to start school…and that will be the real test of the quality of construction.
Photos from “work nearing completion”:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reither/sets/72157622218683362/show/
We’re already talking to National about “phase 2” of the remodel where we plan to re-do the rest of the house (2nd floor, attic, basement, and exterior). The deal is, we have to come up with some of the money ourselves (through donations)…here’s your chance to help: donate now
Much Needed Fraternity House Remodel Underway
If you have been by 5th and Ivy in Chico recently you may have seen the boards on the windows of the house, and maybe you noticed that some interior walls and whatnot were missing. No, the house is not condemned – we’re actually doing a remodel. We submitted a ’successful’ loan application to National this year – and after a bunch of back and forth, dotting i’s and crossing t’s, we wer approved for a ~$470,000 loan (some of which is being used to remodel the 1st floor and make life safety improvements).
Slideshow of photos from “work in progress”:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reither/sets/72157621963800052/show/
Check back for more pics as the work progresses. The house will be ready for move-in by August 15, but finishing work will continue into the fall semester…so it’ll be a little while before it’s all polished.
This is how we’re using the funds:
- Payoff existing 11% mortgage (yes, 11%) from Gary Foster and 5th & Ivy Partners: ~$175,000
- Life safety repairs (including foundation leveling, new doors & locks, sprinklers, fire alarms, rain gutters, etc.): ~$65,000
- Remodel 1st Floor interior and some exterior (including full kitchen, functional living room, real dining room (red and white room), new windows and doors, remodel 1st floor bedrooms and bathrooms and (this is pretty cool) extending the main staircase to the basement: ~$230,000
Here’s the catch: we obviously have to pay this money back…it’s a loan, not a grant. Overall our monthly expenses will go up about 50%…so we raised dues and rent accordingly for the chapter this year so that we (they) can afford the new higher loan payments.
Why remodel only the interior of the 1st floor?
Because (1) tht is the area that needed the most love and (2) this loan wouldn’t afford us much more than that. The plan is to start a fundraising campaign and raise enough from alumni to cover a some of the rest of the work on the 2nd floor, attic, basement, and exterior. It may be a 2- or 3-phase project when it’s all said and done…but the plan is to re-do the whole house within the next 5 years. We are relying heavily on alumni donations to help us fund phase 2 of the remodel – hopefully to start in or around 2012: Donations Appreciated
Props:
There are a lot of guys that deserve credit for getting this loan approved, organizing the contractors, and just generally seeing this project through, but the one guy who stuck it out when the alumni board was losing steam, held things together, assembled a new board, and continues to donate time and effort to the cause is Tom Hyatt. No way would this be happening without him. Big thanks to Jereme Grinslade of Theta Chi’s Norwich Housing Board and the guys at Chico Home Improvement as well.
Spring 2009 Rush Shirt – The Year of the OX
The undergrads play on the Chinese New Year (“Year of the OX”) theme for their rush shirts.
Click the image to view it full size…
The New Home of Eta Omega Alumni Online
Welcome to the new Eta Omega website – the internet home of the Eta Omega chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity at California State University, Chico. Same information as the old site – just a slightly update look. This new site should be a little easier to navigate and easier for administrators to keep current…so that’s good.
Bookmark this site and check back often for updates (find other ways to keep in touch). If you have news to share, and want it published here, just send an e-mail to the alumni technical contact (find the e-mail address here).
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