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If you would like the real scoop on LCAP, I invite you to ask any other brother of Gamma Zeta. LCAP was sued by several members of Gamma Zeta in housing court because the conditions were so bad and lcap was forced to settle out of court because the violations of Massachusetts General Law were so very clear. I believe each brother received something like $700 or $750 each for the violations against them. Also the house had continuously failed inspection after inspection for many months by the city of Amherst if I recall. The door lock I was talking about was for one of my best's friends room. LCAP never fixed the lock before he moved in, and for 3 months he was forced to use one of those kind where you have to use a hinge that swings open, I don't really know how to describe it. Only problem was, after house inspection the building inspector made him remove it, and he lived without a lock for some time. LCAP also tried to keep everyones security deposit, even though it was a VERY CLEAR violation of Massachusetts General Law. The contract they made the brothers sign was mostly voided because it contradicted M.G.L. It was not properly managed and anyone could have easily picked up a brochure for landlords in Massachusetts and could have know about how they were supposed to conduct themselves as landlords. Funny thing is they HAVE other houses in Massachusetts but the violations by them were so clear, and it bothers me that they either had no respect for the law OR they just chose to ignore it.
This weekend coming up I will try to actually take pictures of the house in question, at least the outside to show you what I am talking about. The roof has almost literally fallen off. That was probably the most major improvement needed right now. Can you post pictures in this forum?
And yes, as a chapter of 30 guys we did raise I think around $6-7,000, it is something we are proud of and we had beautiful hard wood floors in our common rooms to show for it. Only problem is, how do you expect people to continue when they just found out they owed some $50,000 in taxes? That would take the wind out of the sails of ANY chapter. The night we found out we owed that much was pretty much the last night before the end started. The Gamma Zeta house was pretty much run for 80 years by 19 and 20 year olds in college with minimal alumni support. That's a pretty big accomplishment if you ask me. But being that far in debt at a university where fraternity's were closing left and right pretty much means the end.
I'm glad everyone has had a positive experience with LCAP. With that knowledge I really think that they were only after the Gamma Zeta house, wanted to get rid of the chapter there, and simply start new. I know that the 30-45 alumni that I still have contact with feel the same way. I gave LCAP the benefit of the doubt, but they have had the house for I think almost 3 years and there STILL have been no noticeable improvements on the outside! I cannot understand that.
As Tom said, LCAP was very "loose" during it's first years and I hope that is why we were treated so badly. I again will give them the benefit of the doubt and will look forward to working with them in the future. When the new Gamma Zeta begins though, I can assure you that I will stick up for my chapter if things are left unfixed or promises broken. It happend once and I will not let it happen to my chapter again. I really hope LCAP has straightened out.
But I stress I still don't care what LCAP did. I only care that it is a Lambda Chi house with a Gamma Zeta chapter in it. I hope the future Gamma Zeta has a GREAT experience with LCAP, and since I still live somewhat locally nearby, you bet your A$$ I'm going to give as much support as possible to those guys.
Again I don't care about the LCAP stuff. I do care however is that the reputation of me, my brothers and friends is being lied about.
If you want me to gain "respect", how would you like it if people were posting lies about you and your chapter on the internet. I ask you, give me details, give me names, give me some facts and I will personally go to each brother that did that and have a very special conversation with them. What you considered "torment" happens to EVERY fraternity every weekend at Umass. It is nothing new. You jumped to a conclusion with no evidence. The OD's automatically assumed it was Gamma Zeta. None of you have ever even been to Umass before. It is not your typical fraternity university. Greeks at umass make up less than 2%, probably less by now. Because bad stuff happened in the house you automatically accused the GZ. That stuff that happened to them happened to us on a daily basis.
I love lca, and I love my chapter, and Im actually a pretty nice guy believe it or not. And I have some good ideas to share with you guys. When it comes to Gamma Zeta, please don't jump to conclusions. Just ask a question on this board and I'll answer it to the best of my ability.
Gamma Zeta has always been a small chapter. The last years we never really had more than 25-30 guys at a time. The last three years we probably averaged 14-18 guys in the house. It was simply too much for too little people with too much baggage and responsibility to take on. Our president failed out of school because he devoted too much time to the chapter for christ's sake!
We have been around about 85 years with 1500 alumni, that comes to an average of 17.65 brothers a year. It is a very close group, and many times we are lifelong friends. That rate is even smaller than the exclusive "Skull and Bones" that everyone hears about.
Now for a little Gamma Zeta trivia to maybe lighten the mood:
1. Gamma Zeta has been shut down before for 4 years, can anyone name the years that they were not living in the house???
2. What object is considered "cursed" by the fraternity but still resides in the chapter house today?
3. Why is the office of Gamma Zeta have a room number of 1462?
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