Beta Thata Pi closes at Texas

[srmom]

EE-BO, I'm well, thanks for asking - kind of smarting from the empty nest syndrome - just sent my baby to UT so now I have a sr KA and a new pledge!

Yes, the house is empty, and looking mighty forlorn - broken windows and untended. It will need some work if somebody is planning on re-renting. Both properties are surrounded by chain link, but it doesn't look like there is any development going on.

G41965, was the 2510 Leon house the one that the KA's bought before they did the major renovation to "the manor"? If so, that condo complex is another edition of the "Block" and I'm just hoping they don't build another behind the KA house. It's huge!

[g41965]

Sr. Mom the house at 2510 Leon was the DU house from 1958-1997 when it was sold to KA as an annex.

[EE-BO]

I remember the old DU house well. Never was inside- nor did I know any of the guys, they pretty much kept to themselves as I recall- but there was this massive floating staircase in the entry hall that you could see from the street because of the giant windows around the front. One of those random things you remember, I guess.

Did not know they tried to recolonize. g41965- were they in one of the houses on 21st street that rents out to Greeks? I know Lambda Chi was making a go of it there (they were a huge chapter with houses to match until the early 90s), plus other GLOs rent out those properties which were built specifically for student groups.

Coming back to UT is very difficult for any fraternity and has been for some years.

There are two main obstacles,

1. Getting the IFC to vote yes. With fraternity membership down so badly, it is understandable that existing chapters do not want competition. Quite frankly, until general interest is up again and real estate back at normal levels- I see great reluctance. Even with the fall in prices, property tax appraisals are still rising since they never did catch up with the highs of the market. This, incidentally, is one reason I thought it so critical Beta leave campus in good standing with the charter fully intact. It is unclear what that will mean when we return as compared to the situation most chapters are in when coming back, but it can only make the process easier- and hopefully we will not have to be voted back in at all.

2. After watching my chapter slowly decline for over a decade since losing the largest fraternity house at UT and watching 2 other chapters with very strong Texas history fail to make a strong comeback, I have come to realize that at Texas you have to go big or go home. Even with a tiny house, carrying a mortgage and property taxes are so high that dues would have be over $1,000 a semester and rent for the few bedrooms would have to be higher than a nice West Campus apartment.

What all this means is that a chapter hoping to re-enter, or enter for the first time, at Texas and get both sizeable and financially solvent within 5 years is going to need to pull a LOT of strings to gain IFC approval, and then have a huge amount of alumni money at the ready to buy or build a large house and sustain it until the membership gets large enough to cover the costs plus have a proper social and rush budget.

The finger in the wind test for this to happen (and I have done the math) is about $5 million dollars. That is what you need to buy/build a proper house that will attract solid guys and then help keep it up for 3-5 years in the HOPES that you can get the chapter to 100+ with enough of a social calendar to regularly gain 30-40 man pledge classes (which is what is needed to keep a 100+ man chapter- attrition is stronger at fraternities than sororities generally speaking.)

In the current economic climate, and with the Greek Life model at UT essentially broken except for the very few largest and strongest chapters- this is not going to happen.

My hopes are pinned on a much better economy in 3-5 years plus a student body having gone through a terrible financial crisis and much more balanced in their views of partying versus studying compared to how it was in my day.

[LadyLonghorn]

EE-BO it's nice to see you back here, but I am so sorry about the circumstances. I think you sum up the Texas housing and real estate issues well. When someone says that panhellenic should consider expansion, I always want to know where exactly people think we could put another sorority house that would be nice enough and convenient enough to compete with the others.

[kchaptergphib]

Uh, the situation at UT just sounds so tough, but at least you're not alone.

I can speak a little for the "other big campuses" like Minnesota and Wisconsin, and have a few thoughts there.

I would venture to guess Wisconsin is rather like UT with respect to the property tax levels. The fraternity and sorority houses (and the other lovely, historic, grand houses that USED to be fraternity and sorority houses) are located along one street which is also one block from the lake. So, either your chapter house is located on Langdon Street (desirable "row") or it is on the lakefront (equally if not more desirable) OR BOTH (jackpot). However, the tax portion is nowhere near the $1800/member/year you quoted for UT. It's quite high (old, historic homes, in downtown Madison, possibly on the lake) but not that high! There is no way a base dues of $1800/month to HCB would fly at Wisconsin. I think the chapters would just have to fold. I would agree that to re-establish a chapter at UW, and hope to become "popular" ( = viable within a decade) millions (3ish?) of dollars would be required as well. A house on Langdon/the lake would have to be acquired, rented or bought, then refurbished, enthusiastic social events & calendar, good collegiate leadership, and make sure no RM issues. None of this would come cheap. Yes, groups in Madison have had RM issues in the past, but I would guess that most of the dwindling chapters have had greater problems with membership due to lack of leadership and/or funding.

At Minnesota, the fraternities and sororities are actually located in different areas of campus. The fraternity houses (all but 2) are along University Avenue, directly across the street from the oldest part of campus. Here, I imagine part of the issue is the University wanting to acquire that property itself (as it has successfully done on a few lots). Here too, it was my impression that collegiate leadership inside the chapters was sometimes an issue. For both campuses, I really feel that the lack (although it is getting better) of very organized fraternity recruitment is another big issue. Chapters with declining membership don't seem to catch up, but chapters really working to recruit year after year stick around and can improve, even if they don't have the "best" physical house. The one attempt at recolonization that I saw while an active at Minnesota was that of TKE. I thought they were doing quite well, but were only around for maybe 2 years. There is no way that is long enough for a group to reestablish itself and become viable. I don't know why they chose not to continue with their colony. Their housing location (rented) was ideal, and their quality of members seemed great.

Best of luck to you and the Betas at UT. Although hard, your decision to close while still in good standing seems a good one, in light of the circumstances.

[USM2012]

It breaks my heart to hear that a chapter closes down - any sorority, anywhere.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by USM2012

It breaks my heart to hear that a chapter closes down - any sorority, anywhere.

Beta Theta Pi is not a sorority

[IrishLake]

It's a perp.
Even if you aren't familiar with Beta Theta Pi (like myself), the entire first part of the thread was all about fraternities.