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Hello,
FYI
I went to the SPE NJ Alpha website and this letter was on the front page:
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January 30, 2003
Fellow alumni,
I'm sorry that you have been left in the dark over the past few days, but things have been happening faster than I can keep up. Below is my personal point of view -- it would be inappropriate for me to speak for the entire board without their consent. I will try to stick to the facts.
March 2002 -- A fight after a party lands two people in the hospital. Assault charges are eventually dropped, but Stevens places the chapter on social probation and threatens to close the chapter.
May 2002 -- A noise compliant from the neighbors at 1-2 am on a Thursday night. It's a brothers-only event, but Stevens considers it a social gathering. They threaten to close the chapter, but the alumni board bargains for banning alcohol at the house. That's why Founder's Day was dry.
January 11, 2003 -- There is a small fire in the stove on Saturday morning that is quickly extinguished. There is a second, larger fire Saturday night that triggers the sprinkler system and alarms. The Hoboken fire department and campus security respond promptly and proceed to do their jobs, which includes checking the rest of the extension to be sure everything is safe. Property damage is minimal. 3 kegs are in the closet.
Within a few days, the Stevens administration decides that they have issued enough warnings over the past two years, and now it's time to revoke recognition of the chapter. The alumni board is informed on January 21. The actives are told as a group on
January 27.
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In the short term, I think Stevens wants to disperse the actives as quickly as possible. The kitchen will be closed on January 31, and the school distributed housing applications at the Jan 27 meeting. Two graduate advisors will be moving into the houses by next week. All the actives must be out of the house by graduation.
Looking forward, Dean Nilsen and VP Weatherall tell us that Stevens will consider National's petition to re-colonize after a two year waiting period, maybe longer if things go badly over the next few months. Over the past week and a half I have focused on what must be done until NJ Alpha can be re-started: budgets, taxes, utilities, insurance, maintenance, city inspections, state sprinkler laws, and so on. There is a very real possibility that the alumni board cannot afford to keep the properties for the next few years.
I value all your comments and suggestions. I want to see SigEp return to Stevens as much as you do. I have every hope that cooperation will allow SigEp to overcome the significant obstacles that lay before us.
Steve Buce
'86, #510, alumni treasurer
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