TKE at CU
 

It appears that Gamma Iota is dead at CU. When we colonized
we picked up the pledge classes of Phi Delt (kicked off) and of
Kappa Sig (kicked off). Chi Psi was kicked off due to hazing. The
school demanded deferred rush and other insane, unfair, and
unrealistic programs to be instituted. The sororities and the non
IFC groups all caved in. The TKE house was very inadequate and
housing nigh on impossible or affordable. Gone from here--the
Delts, Betas, ATOs, Apes, Fijis, and several others. The recolonization was poor; we got a less than satisfactory start.
The group was somewhat doomed from the outset but it took
a year for them to implode. We had active advisers & board.
Will HQ try to revive this? Dunno, and us locals will likely not be
involved.
This is hardly the party school outside idiots proclaim....

Now mind you I mean no offense whatsoever to Phi Delta Theta, but we absorbed a Phi Delt pledge class? The irony is delicious, considering our national history.

Phi Delt>TKE
 

You mentioned a point that us three old fielders, Frank Moulton,
Wally Ginn and me...conversed and commented as well as some of the Phi Delt former pledges. Them and the Kappa Sig ones were so good looking, so well-mannered, but somewhat spoiled.
The Phis wanted booze and the Kappa Sigs wanted to haze and
the third group wanted to be a good chapter. It just did not work and while attempts to make something out of this mess may
emerge, I find CU a real tough place, poor housing, and what few
houses that remain are akin to the Ole Miss debacle. The Delts
and Betas swear they will NEVER return to CU; the new CU prexy
is a prominent and much-liked Delt, former all everything guy....
CU had a huge Jewish population and several greek groups with
Jewish preference existed, but the Zebes absorbed most of 'em,
others simply folded, and the open arms of the remaining offered
them bids...so the system lost a lot of houses this way, too.
CU is a greek graveyard with about a dozen dead ones and a musical chair game, house-wise. The vacated houses of Phi Delt,
DG, Kappa Sig, et al. are now say, Lambda Chi, boy Pi Phis, Sigma
Pis, et al. and they are fast risers...to their credit. But what will
happen to them when the Phis, Chi Psis, DGs, reclaim their free &
clear houses, and the occupants struggle to find housing? The Pikes started with 120 men, no house, but have toned down a
considerable amount. SAE is far from the powerhouse it used to
be and other groups have moved up, colorless, mediocre housing,
and little attractive to the rushee with big bucks...those who used
to fill the houses...many of which have been bought up by the CU
folks. These kids now live in luxury high-rises...as you've guessed
Opportunity out of defeat...again, but old wine in new bottles.

"Opportunity out of defeat...again, but old wine in new bottles."

I visited UC summer of 2004, and found several very nice manicured-yard fraternity houses locked up tight, and most of the others wide open and trashed. One of the UC chapters is celebrating a 100 yrs. in 2005 or 2006, and one won their national's "Best Chapter" award this summer.

When I was very involved, interfraternity meetings were devoted to the terrible situation at K-State for several natls., but apparently it has turned around. Maybe Boulder will eventually too.

Sometimes having a specific enemy (CU in this case) brings out unity, and the IFC and the alumni will help make everyone stronger.

I realize this is an 8 year old thread, but was sifting though here for the first time and stumbled on to it. CU now has a colony up and running and it is working toward regaining chapter status. I'm a 23 year alumnus from Omicron Alpha Chapter and have voluteered to help out as their "chapter" advisor. Hopefully we'll have good things to report in the future.

G

OA
Scroll#317

Great update!

Sadly, the original poster is deceased.

The OP was one of TKE's finest. Congratulations(?) on the Chapter Adviser role. I don't envy the position you're in. It's a fine line to walk between recruiting other alumni support/money and reeducating the alumni as to not bring back the practices which tanked your chapter in the first place. You could probably do a search and compile a lot of this chapter's history from his old posts.

Thanks Kevin. I'm sure it will be a challenge at times. I'm looking forward to it.

We're wrapping up a solid fall semester here at CU. Gamma-Iota colony initiated 14 new brothers this time around (bringing them to 49) and has made a lot of headway in meeting the requirements for submitting thier petition for re-charter. They are motivated and have an ambitious schedule for the spring with a focus on new member recruitment, fundraising events for philanthropy, and renting a house on "The Hill" amongst the other greek organizations. If we can cobble together a solid BOA soon, they expect to be approved for full chapter status by the end of the spring semester.


G


OA
Scroll #317

Careful not to overextend yourselves financially. Make sure you can turn that house on the Hill into a profitable operation rather than something you're going to need the alumni to subsidize. The only reason ever to rent is if you can figure out a way to make that a profitable arrangement for your House Corp to sock away at least enough money to make a sizable down payment down the road.

Congratulations on a successful semester! I completely agree with Kevin, though housing can be so difficult at CU and can be such a big factor during recruitment with all the other housed chapters. Good job finding a place that is in the center of things though.

Also, stay away from long-term leases. You don't have a major track record and 14-man pledge classes aren't probably going to sustain you in most larger houses. If you're setting up a house corp and are getting things going again, there is a LOT of help to be found here. I was at one point setting up for a transition from a small to mid-sized house and came up with a fool-proof formula--ask an NPC alumna volunteer. They have all of the information. All of it.

Thanks Kevin. Good advice! We're starting from scratch again so it's baby steps for now. NPC? I'm not familiar with that.

G

NPC is the National Panhellenic Conference. So basically talk to sororities such as Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, etc.

Oh how I miss Eric as knew him way back in PSU and was a great friend of his who gave me help in starting my Local in 1965!

Any advice you get from Kevin, pay heed as he is good and a buddy also!

As he said, watch your pennys, do not over extend yourselves and no long term leases in case there is a problem as it will come back on the ones who signed it.

CU is a tough school on Greeks!

All of the best of luck!!:cool:

Any updates on where they are now heading into the fall?

They are in pretty good shape heading into this fall. Number of actives returning should be mid forties so they'll likely meet/exceed the requirement of 50 for charter in the fall. Grades continue to go up and are above the all men's GPA and 3rd or 4th in all greek men's average. They did well with fundraising and St. Judes giving as well as service hours last year. They elected a new and motivated slate of officers at the end of last spring and the e board has met several times over the summer to work this year's plan of action. The BOA is coming together and should be in place in a month or two. We've got a rush retreat coming up in a couple weeks with IHQ support to get them ramped up. And the charter petition is about 85% done, just waiting to put the final touches on it.

All in all, they've come a long way and I think we'll be able to make it official this fall.

G

OA
#317

What's the housing situation?

They currently do not have a house. The priority of the colony has been rush and meeting all the requirements to charter as soon as possible. We've now solidified the initial members of the BOA and housing will be a mid-range project after they've started reconnecting with alumni and supporters.

G

OA
#317

Just an update on Gamma-Iota at CU-Boulder. Their charter petition was approved by the OGC and were chartered on February 15 with 56 actives. They had a great charter banquet following at the St. Julien Resort in Boulder with over 100 in attendance including many parents who flew in from out if state. PGP Mark Johnson was the Chief Installing Officer. They have a house secured for the Fall 2015 semester. The BOA is working towards reactivating the Denver Alumni Association in the near future to support the new chapter and assist with further expansion within the state. Any fraters interested in participating, feel free to message me and I'll get you linked into the distro.

YITB,

G

OA #317

What is the address of the house? There is a house that was historically the Teke house so I'm curious to see where they end up if not there.