The House – Theta Chi | Eta Omega Chapter

Chico State, Greek System, and Eta Omega Quick Facts

Below is an excerpt from some “research” the alumni and undergrads did in 2009, regarding the fraternity house, and Greek Life at Chico State. The research was not scientific, and many of the numbers here are just estimates…but it’s still an interesting snapshot of the overall student population, the Greek population, and some key stats about Theta Chi / Eta Omega:

CSU Chico:

How many students are enrolled in the University/College?
- Male: 7,000
- Female: 8,000
How many students of the one’s enrolled our commuters?
- Male: 500
- Female: 500
How many students can be accommodated in University dormitories?
- Male: 950
- Female: 950
How many students are occupying dormitories this year?
- Male: 800
- Female: 850
How many people can be accommodated in private apartments or boarding houses within two miles of campus? 12,000
How many students are occupying these apartments or boarding houses this school year? 11,000

Greek System:

Number of national sororities on campus: 5
- have houses: 5
- average membership: 100
- average capacity of houses: 13
- average occupancy: 13
- List: Alpha Phi, Alpha Delta Pi, Sigma Kappa, Gamma Phi Beta, Alpha Gamma Delta
Number of national fraternities on campus: 11
- have houses: 10
- average membership: 30
- average capacity of houses: 11
- average occupancy: 10
- List: Theta Chi, Sigma Chi, Delta Chi, Phi Kappa Tau, Alpha Gamma Rho, Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, Gamma Zeta Alpha, Sigma Nu, Sigma Pi, Lambda Pi

Theta Chi / Eta Omega Undergraduates:

Undergraduate chapter membership as of April 10 of each year:
- 2009: 53+
  - Senior/Graduate Students 4
  - Senior 4
  - Junior 22
  - Sophomore 23
  - Freshman: 0
- 2008: 50
- 2007: 70
- 2006: 40
- 2005: 30
Pledges/new members in 2009: 23
Pledges/new members anticipated in 2010? 30
Percentage 2008’s pledges/new members initiated: 91%
Most recent chapter GPA: 2.6 (par with CSU Chico Men’s average)

Theta Chi / Eta Omega Alumni:

Year chapter chartered: 1982
Number of alumni: 700+
Number of alumni with good addresses: 350+
Date of incorporation: April 17, 1983
Number of years the current house has been used by the chapter: 25

Eta Omega Chapter House:

Year Built: 1895
Number of buildings: 2
Number of Rooms: 15
Number of Beds: 18
Number of parking spaces: 13′
Total square footage of land: 13,609 square feet
Approximate dimensions of land: 247’ x 55’
How many people does the occupancy permit allow to live in the building? 19 (17 in main house; 2 in back cottage)
Proximity to the University: 4 blocks (.4 mi)
Based on total available bed spaces, how many bed spaces have been filled over the past 5 years (total – as of the end of the first semester each year)?
- 2009: 17
- 2008: 17
- 2007: 16
- 2006: 17
- 2005: 15
Read more about the chapter house…

Eta Omega Hosts the 2010 Mid-Year Leadership Conference

by Dustin Pesch

Brothers,

On the weekend of February 5th and 6th the Eta Omega Chapter hosted the Theta Chi Mid-Year Leadership Conference. After many weeks of preparation and collaboration with the national chapter, we managed to host what Grand Chapter member Joe D’Amore said “was one of the best MYLCs he has attended.” Nine chapters from the Northern California region traveled to Chico to attend the conference. During their stay Eta Omega did a great job of extending a helping hand in the accommodation of our brothers from across the state and the facilitation of the conference.

The conference itself was held on Saturday February 6th from 9 am to 6 pm. During this time various exercises were conducted to access the strengths and weaknesses that each chapter had. At the end of the conference each chapter was required to meet privately with faculty from the National Chapter. During the brief session we were able to identify our own strengths and weaknesses. As of today Eta Omega excels in recruitment, social public relations, relations with campus, and inter-fraternal competition. However there are a few things the chapter can improve on in order to achieve our full potential. The National Chapter would like to see changes made to the pledge program, something they are working on with most chapters. They also expect Eta Omega to update its scholarship program. The chapter exec and officers are now working to implement these changes to the way we do these things. Once these changes have been made the chapter will be closer to an Altar Award.

Another serious issue brought up at the meeting was the condition and preservation of the fraternity house. As many of you know the first floor was remodeled after we received a $400,000 dollar loan. If we expect to finish the rest of the house the chapter must respectfully maintain the condition of the house and excel in operations. As a chapter we have the man power and drive to meet these challenges and continue to strive for excellence. With active collaboration between the alumni and undergraduate chapter, Eta Omega has potential to one of the finest chapters Theta Chi has to offer.

Sincerely,

Dustin Pesch

Undergraduate President

Theta Chi; Eta Omega Chapter

1st Floor Remodel Complete

I haven’t seen the place myself, but these photos make it look like a sorority moved in. In a good way. The remodel was so extensive it’s hard to recognize the place in some of these shots. Again, that is a good thing.

This wasn’t just some superficial interior remodel – the 1st floor was totally gutted, the foundation was jacked up and leveled, a fire sprinkler system was installed – major work. Big thanks to our general contractor, John Bakke of Chico Home Improvement, Reese McClure who did the tiling, architect Greg Peitz, and the brothers at the Norwich Housing Corporation for helping see this project through.

Plenty of work left to do on the rest of the house, but Phase 1 is complete. Phase 2 (2nd floor, attic, exterior, etc.) is doable, but we need donations to help fund it.

Photos from the completed 1st floor remodel:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reither/sets/72157622239677105/show

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.

Eta Omega Fraternity House Architectural Drawings

Check this out – a recently completed AutoCAD drawing of the house at 630 W. 5th Street. Architect Gregory A. Peitz put this together for us, putting us another step closer to submitting a solid application for the loan to re-model the fraternity house.

FYI: The loan application deadline is at the end of February, so we’re busy getting all our ducks in a row.

As Built Floor Plan – 630 W. 5th Street

What a $3.7 Million Theta Chi Fraternity House Looks Like

Our house at 630 w.5th Street in Chico is a great and historic structure on one of the best lots in town. But it has taken a beating since it was built around 1910, and especially since we moved in. It’s up to code, and serves as a safe and healthy home for the in-housers, but the place has looked better. Seeing how other chapters have rebuilt their houses makes us fired up for the potential at the 5th and Ivy lot.

The alumni task force that we formed initially focused on fundraising, but has shifted to evaluating our options regarding how to update/upgrade or even totally re-build the house. One of our best options might be to apply for a housing loan and a life safety loan from National. But to do that we’ve got to get our ducks in a row and submit an application this Spring. Basic items we’re trying to put together for the application include: Continue reading “What a $3.7 Million Theta Chi Fraternity House Looks Like”

First Ever E-mail Newletter Gets Quick Donation Responses

Not even 45 minutes after we blasted a newsletter e-mail to the ~380 alumni e-mail addresses we have on file, we got 4 credit card donations. Quickest to respond with their wallets were (in this order):

Shane Pickett (S’87)
Poul Willerup (F’89)
Tyler Ticen (F’97)
Brian Alt (F’98)

Update (7/25): A couple more guys stepped up recently…

David Scotto (S’87)
Ed Stone (F’89)

Way to go guys – thank you. Every dollar is going to pay off the re-roofing project that was just completed. But we still have a long way to go.

Time for everyone else to chip in. When we receive checks, we’ll give credit on this site, too.

Here’s the e-mail newsletter, by the way (minus all the fancy photos)… Continue reading “First Ever E-mail Newletter Gets Quick Donation Responses”

Photos From the Re-Roofing Project

It’s hard to see what’s really going on up there from the ground…but here’s proof that there is a big crane in the back yard, and laborers carrying around plywood on top of the House. It’s safe to assume that the re-roofing is being done, too.

According to Brother Brian Flournoy (of RSG Roofing Supply – who donated all the supplies for the project), it’s coming along well. There was a good bit of rotted “soffit and molding” that needed to be replaced…and they’re taking care of that as we speak. According to Flournoy, “…as for the top of the roof and the project, looks good and almost done. It will look great once all of the rotted soffit is replaced.”

A few pics for you – courtesy of Flournoy. Click to see bigger images:

$RSG Roofing Supply - Brian Flournoy\'s Company$

Spring '98 Guys Heading to Chico for 10-Year Mark

Congratulations to the Spring 1998 pledge class rallying a trip to Chico this weekend for the 10-year anniversary of their initiation – or of their bid – or whatever. Guys: tear it up at Rileys, of course, but make sure to stop by the House to watch the roof get demo’d. Should be kinda cool to watch all that dry rot come down.