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[A&FBeta]

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BETA THETA PI

[ZZ-kai-]

Nice pic, I see you got that from one of my chapter brothers....welcome to GC, stick around!

-kai-

[A&FBeta]

Hey ZZ...nah I found it on a graphics page.
Thanks for makin a new GC Beta feel at home.

Take it easy brother.

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BETA THETA PI

[ZZ-kai-]

Hey, is this the site you pulled that pic from?

http://www.thoughtworks.net/~tboscher/images/DRAGON.GIF

If so, he is a chapter brother of mine....

Take care bro, best of luck at Beta Psi.

-kai-

[A&FBeta]

Yeah thats the page I grabbed it from...small world.

'Coramoor' is one of my chapter brothers, I believe you know of him.

Which chapter do/did you hail from?
Are you alum yet?

1904...proud to be a Beta.

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BETA THETA PI

[ZZ-kai-]

Yeah, Coramoor, he comes around from time to time...not a bad kid, for a Beta...ha ha ha

I am an alumn., from Oshkosh - out of school for about 5 years now....

[A&FBeta]

Good deal, we have terrible relations with our alumni.
I'm pretty sure they're not too fond of us, most likely because of our antics that were conducted a while back. We had our charter yanked for a good while, not a proud moment at Beta Psi...but one that will teach future brothers a lesson for years to come (hopefully).
If you have any ideas on how to gain the respect back from our alumni, I'd be glad to hear them.
Alright brother, I'll talk to you later...
Yours in -kai-

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BETA THETA PI

[ZZ-kai-]

I am not sure what group you were with (pre-revocation or post-revocation), but it is important for you active chapter to get the message across to the alumni that your current chapter IS NOT the chapter of old, who lost the charter. Ways of doing this are: Host kick-ass alumni functions (cookouts, pre-games, golf outings), make sure newsletters go out indicating all the great things you do, donate time/money to local charities (post this in your newsletters and website, just so it is communicated to them), get good grades (top 5 in frat. average), RUSH quality AND quantity in regards to pledgeclasses, get undergrads to convention, MOP sessions, Beta Wilderness Challenges, UIFI...etc., and win awards that General offers.

I know, its a ton of work, but if some of that is done, the rest of it will come with time - and not only that, but the alumni will start to realize that you guys aren't all that bad.

Hope that helps, that was just off the top of my head.

-kai-

[A&FBeta]

Hey ZZ.

We as a chapter are doing most of the things you are talking about:
We have very inviting alumni tailgate gatherings (during homecoming this is a pretty big deal, theres always a slew of older brothers to meet which is always a great time...usually ending up at the bars ), we donate lots of time to local charity organizations, take plenty of pictures to prove that we've been doing what we claim, our newsletter is pretty solid, and always goes out to various alums.

Our website on the other hand is a different story, it hasnt been updated in ages...which is definitly something that needs to be done constantly, we always end up with the highest gpa on campus of any fraternity (no other comes close), we've been pretty weak with rush 2 out of the past 3 semesters, but the recent brothers are quality guys which is great...we just need to focus on busting our asses to grab more and more each semester.

We usually have a pretty good showing at convocation and certain conventions; we've won BFOC for the past 3 years, most outstanding greek man the past 3 years as well...we've stacked up awards and trophies, but all of the above that I have just brushed upon does not seem to spark the interests of any of our alumni...which is most disappointing in the eyes of the brothers...it seems like most of our elders have lost hope in us.


"The first mark of a Beta will be his Beta spirit"

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BETA THETA PI

[ZZ-kai-]

One thing my chapter does with us (the alumni) is hold a yearly alumni/active retreat. At this day long retreat, we discuss issues with the chapter, what is going good/not so good, expectations from the alumni on the chapter, AS WELL AS expectations of the active chapter on the alumni. We set goals, and look at them periodically to see if they are being met.

This meeting is great, because you can look eye to eye with each other, and see if they are bullshitting you or not.

Maybe try the personal approach with the alumni, or your House Corp. Board. Get a few of them to meet with you (or the Pres., VP or just anyone) and get to know them (outside of Beta). Go to lunch, hang out, and eventually trust will be built up again.

It sucks that the previous chapter ruined it for you guys, but if you really put forth some effort in getting the Alumni back, it will pay off. It will be tough, you'll probably want to say "fuck it" at times, but don't give up.

Just think, when you become alumni, you will remain active in supporting the chapter. Then, you can influence the other alumni by saying "C'mon fellow alumni, I am doing it, you can too. Remember the three handles on the Loving Cup: Pledge, Active AND Alumni!".

-kai-

PS, congrats on all your accomplishments. Rush hard, you guys will get your numbers....

[A&FBeta]

Thanks for your support ZZ, its too bad that youre not one of our alumni; we could use more guys like you at our back.

We're holdin strong at about 40-45 brothers right now, so hopefully I can keep us solid with this next upcoming rush.

"Take all you want,
take all you need,
here take my last cigar."

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BETA THETA PI

[ZZ-kai-]

No problem bro., keep your head up....good things come to not only those who wait, but those who put forth some effort....

"Beta to Theta linked with Pi"

[A&FBeta]

Did you know that we lost our chapter at Iowa University last spring...I just found out, an incident with hazing I would assume. Also, PIKE just lost their chapter there as well in the fall. IU must really be cracking down on hazing hardcore...its not like a university to just revoke charters like that...surprising to me, but maybe a wake up call is what's needed.

"If youre going to go greek, know who the gods are...RUSH BETA"

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BETA THETA PI

[ZZ-kai-]

Beta at U. Iowa was closed due to a condemned house. Apparently they were given time after time after time to get their house back in living shape, but they didn't, and the University gave them the boot.

I road tripped to their house while in college, and I can attest to it, it was a dump - cool guys, but a total dump house. The house itself was totally cool, but it was treated like a crack house.

Here is an article on it:

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Iowa Press-Citzen
April 30, 2004

City: House warnings not unusual
Fraternity claims poor communication at fault

By Vanessa Miller
Iowa City Press-Citizen

The lasagna dripping down walls, suspected rodent teeth marks on sacks of rotting garbage and destroyed fire alarms that led Iowa City housing inspectors to order one University of Iowa fraternity to vacate are not unique among local Greek houses.

What is unique is the Beta Theta Pi members' alleged refusal to address the mess.

"The reason we closed this one is because it got worse," said Senior Housing Inspector Norm Cate. "Sometimes they trash the house and pick it up, but this just got worse."

Daniel Kurtzman, the fraternity's president, said inspectors are overstating the problem and blamed a breakdown in communication on both sides for the current situation.

Last week, housing inspectors issued an order for the 19 members living in the house at 816 N. Dubuque St. to vacate by May 14. That was necessary because of the building's deteriorating condition, city records show, including blocked hallways, heaping garbage piles and the blood of spoiled meat oozing from a refrigerator.

"Once or twice every year we have one that needs drastic action, but it's usually like getting a kid to clean up their room," Housing Inspector John Bovey said. "This one was exponentially bad, but they are not the only one."

For instance, city records show officials issued Delta Upsilon, 320 Ellis Ave., a violation notice in March regarding accumulated garbage around the outside Dumpster. In 2000, Pi Kappa Alpha, 1032 N. Dubuque St., was ordered to vacate because the house was labeled "unfit and unsafe for human habitation."

According to city documents, most houses receive violation notices for a range of problems including broken windows, obstructed hallways and general disarray. Once those violations are issued, however, they are promptly corrected. That was not the case with the Beta Theta Pi house, according to officials.

"When I finally got ahold of those guys, they kept putting off the inspection," Bovey said. "So I inspected it in February and found violations. I gave them a list of things to do, and they had 30 days to make corrections. But every time I went back it was worse than before."

On the final inspection report, Bovey wrote, "several interior and exterior areas are conducive to the harboring of vermin!"

"When we find vandalism of fire alarms and the increase in property damage, we try to solve the problem, which was, in this case, the tenants and their friends," Bovey said.

Kurtzman said members have never seen rats or mice in the house. As for the apparent runaround, he said inspectors had an old contact name and were trying to reach a fraternity member who is in Spain. When inspectors arrived, they showed up without notice and left without speaking to someone in charge, he said.

"It's like, if you try to get a company to do something, you give it to someone in charge," Kurtzman said, "you don't give it to someone in the mailroom."

As for the notice to vacate, he said no members planned to live in the house this summer anyway; that routine maintenance will fix many of the concerns; and everyone already has leases for the fall because the upstairs is getting its first renovation in 25 years.

While fraternities have frequent violations, sororities are much better.

"That's because sororities have house mothers, and fraternities have no adult supervision," Bovey said.

City officials conduct building inspections on all property every two years, but fraternities and sororities are inspected every year. Those inspections make weekly chores crucial for many local chapters, including the Sigma Nu fraternity at 630 N. Dubuque St.

Member Mark Williams said the 30 guys living in the house have "house duties" they must complete every Monday and Thursday.

"Sometimes on weekends things get messy, but Monday house duties gets it cleaned up," said the 22-year-old UI senior. "We have a fine system where if you don't do your chores, you can't eat in the house until you do them. It works pretty well because people will come down and get really mad because they can't eat."

While some fraternities like Sigma Nu have systems that result in fewer violations, Cate said required supervision could lead to across-the-board improvements.

"It would take care of situations like this," he said, referring to the Beta Theta Pi house.
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[A&FBeta]

Adult supervision in fraternities, similar to sorority house mothers, is something that I am strongly against, and even the contemplation of universities' thinking that fraternities might need one is personally embarassing...Dont get me wrong, my chapter has problems just like any other, we trash the house during 'festivities', we get crazy more times than not...and fuck things up, but sooner or later, things get taken care of.

I do admit that it would seemingly propose as a good idea at first glance...and I do agree that it would keep fraternity houses clean and lead to far less violations, but I think that full-time, mandatory supervision over brothers in fraternity houses would lead to much quicker demise of that chapter than not.

Fraternities were established as a union of closely knitted 'brothers' that were meant to govern themselves accordingly, and with that power given, responsibility to keep stability and balance within the structure. Just as any other self-governed body, things certainly will go wrong, thats no surprise...but more times than not, the problem(s) are corrected in a timely fashion.

Unfortunately for our brothers at UI, whether their justification of why things were allowed to progress into such bad conditions was the truth or just a fabrication on their part, they still have the obligation to take care of their house (Even if they were planning to move out for the summer).

It's a shame that one of the reasons that allows for a fraternity house to be taken is self-implosion, but thats something that we cannot help sometimes.
We're brothers, take fucking care of each other, and of your castle...

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BETA THETA PI