Omega House Grand Opening USC Greek Village

[ladygreek]

Okay, so that I get this straight. The Omegas own the house (or rather the mrtgage) but are leasing it to another GLO, because the Omegas themselves would not be able to pay for the house.

The house sleeps 40, but the Omegas typically have around 10 members at any given time. So unless they do some major recruitment in the next 2-3 years (for the purpose of paying for the house as opposed to finding good prospective Omega men) they will have to keep leasing the house out to another GLO or open it up to other residents.

And this is a good investment how?

[jitterbug13]

Soror LG, we are so >>>>here<<<<.

You have a small, but decent African American population at USC. Factor in those who are too busy to pledge because they play sports. Those who want to pledge may not have the GPA. Then you have those who don't play sports. Some of them may find the other Greeks more tempting. Some don't want to pledge at all. That leaves very little guys who may be qualified and WANT to be Omega men.

The largest line I have ever seen for the fraternities at USC was 16 (and it wasn't the Omegas). The Omegas have to have 25 or more to accomplish the goal they are seeking. The Alphas had to have a line every semester to keep their numbers up for their house.

I also want PV06 to comment, since she's been out a shorter period of time than I have.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by jitterbug13

First, I want to say that I am not dissing the Omegas. I love them dearly and I am still proud of what they have been able to accomplish at USC.

But if they didn't have the numbers (which I did not know this until today), why in the devil did they build a house? When I graduated from USC in 2001, there weren't event 10 Omegas on campus. When it was announced that they were building a house, it made it seem like (to me) that they had grown a whole lot and they would occupy the house once it was done. I also wondered why the Alphas (who have been at McBride, the old Greek housing) and the Kappas (at the time of the announcement, the SGA president was a Kappa) weren't offered a house. The whole time I was there and since then, they were always bigger in numbers than the Omegas. Hell, if USC wanted to diverse Greek Village so bad with an NPHC group, they could have offered the house to the sorors because they have the numbers (but due to their history on campus I can understand why they didn't).

I know a lot of it has to do with our black leaders and a lot of them being Omegas. But if the numbers aren't there, why do it? Wolfman said that it would take about 40 people to sleep in the house. Carolina considers 10 to be a big line and with the long MIP, finding pledges who have the requirements, and competing with other Greeks and athletics (some also play sports), it would take a long time for 40 people to be in that house. They may get some help with the Sigmas being off the yard (sorry blue and white fam) but even with that, I don't see that being possible.

I wish Zeta Square and the National office luck with their goal to occupy the house. But as a person who is a graduate and knows some of the inner workings, it make take A WHOLE LOT to reach that goal.

I'm just laying out the situation without spin. But the issue was not simply about diversity in the Greek Village; it was about who could come up with the "green." Omega was in a position to do it financially. The Omega housing corporation owns the house but leases the land from USC for a nominal fee. In this sense, this venture was like all the other houses. In the final analysis, this is a business investment venture and this project was structured so that the Omega housing corporation makes money off this project, which they want to parlay into other similar ones. The idea from its conception was wider than simply a service to the local (ZZ) chapter at USC.

[ladygreek]

This is not a good economy right now to be making real estate investment ventures. Especially a risky one like this. But I wish the Omega Housing Corporation all the best.

[jitterbug13]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

I'm just laying out the situation without spin. But the issue was not simply about diversity in the Greek Village; it was about who could come up with the "green." Omega was in a position to do it financially. The Omega housing corporation owns the house but leases the land from USC for a nominal fee. In this sense, this venture was like all the other houses. In the final analysis, this is a business investment venture and this project was structured so that the Omega housing corporation makes money off this project, which they want to parlay into other similar ones. The idea from its conception was wider than simply a service to the local (ZZ) chapter at USC.

If if wasn't about diversity, why did President Sorensen personally call Omega headquarters to ask to build a house? He probably looked around and realized that there were no NPHC fraternities and sororities in Greek Village. He had a good relationship with the Omegas when he was at the University of Alabama, so he contacted them.

And about the money thing: If you have some bruhs who are in some major leadership positions: political (Rep. Clyburn), education (Dr. Sellers) and financial/business, they can easily come up with the money. Even though some of the WGLOs do want to look at the money, most of the time they think of fellowship and a gathering place for their members when they build/lease houses, not as a long-term investment.

Originally Posted by ladygreek

This is not a good economy right now to be making real estate investment ventures. Especially a risky one like this. But I wish the Omega Housing Corporation all the best.

Ditto.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by jitterbug13

If if wasn't about diversity, why did President Sorensen personally call Omega headquarters to ask to build a house? He probably looked around and realized that there were no NPHC fraternities and sororities in Greek Village. He had a good relationship with the Omegas when he was at the University of Alabama, so he contacted them.

And about the money thing: If you have some bruhs who are in some major leadership positions: political (Rep. Clyburn), education (Dr. Sellers) and financial/business, they can easily come up with the money. Even though some of the WGLOs do want to look at the money, most of the time they think of fellowship and a gathering place for their members when they build/lease houses, not as a long-term investment.



Ditto.

You misquoted me. I didn't say it was not about diversity--you left out "simply." The point I was making was that it was also about the "green". If the "leadership" is not behind the venture and willing to put up some means these types of things won't happen. And you are correct in that well respected Brothers in the financial sector in SC, esp. Tony Grant, was very influential in making this venture happen.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

You misquoted me. I didn't say it was not about diversity--you left out "simply." The point I was making was that it was also about the "green". If the "leadership" is not behind the venture and willing to put up some means these types of things won't happen. And you are correct in that well respected Brothers in the financial sector in SC, esp. Tony Grant, was very influential in making this venture happen.

I don't want to denigrate the house. But it seems those resources could have been used to build Omega community centers that could be rented out to community groups for community service programs, similar to how the Omega HQ rents out space to small businesses, and nonprofit groups ( at least they did when we visited the HQ during our ATL national convention) i.e. economic development. Now that impressed me.

A frat house on one campus just does not, to me, seem to me to be a logical investment. But then maybe it is my MBA and social service background coming out.

And again I wish the Housing Corporation well in this venture.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

I don't want to denigrate the house. But it seems those resources could have been used to build Omega community centers that could be rented out to community groups for community service programs, similar to how the Omega HQ rents out space to small businesses, and nonprofit groups ( at least they did when we visited the HQ during our ATL national convention) i.e. economic development. Now that impressed me.

A frat house on one campus just does not, to me, seem to me to be a logical investment. But then maybe it is my MBA and social service background coming out.

And again I wish the Housing Corporation well in this venture.

I'm not necessarily an apologist for the project; I'm just laying out the rationale for what was stated. There is a diversity of opinion in the Fraternity about this project (a real understatement!). Per your opinions about what would be more worthy projects, Omega is involved in a project building low income housing in Ensley, Alabama, an economically depressed community.

And the Friendship Foundation, the owner/administrator of the Omega World Center, which includes the Omega IHQ, is trying to get full capacity for the tenant space in this large office bldg. This more aggresive business model represents a different paradigm for the Fraternity in terms of ways and means and has not been fully embraced by all.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

I'm not necessarily an apologist for the project; I'm just laying out the rationale for what was stated. There is a diversity of opinion in the Fraternity about this project (a real understatement!). Per your opinions about what would be more worthy projects, Omega is involved in a project building low income housing in Ensley, Alabama, an economically depressed community.

And the Friendship Foundation, the owner/administrator of the Omega World Center, which includes the Omega IHQ, is trying to get full capacity for the tenant space in this large office bldg. This more aggresive business model represents a different paradigm for the Fraternity in terms of ways and means and has not been fully embraced by all.

Good stuff! I hope the Omega World Center is successful, because that to me it a paradigm we should all follow. Can you imagine if all nine of us employed that business model in one form or another--providing incubators for small businesses? Talking about real economic development.

It's one thing to provide low-income housing (don't get me wrong, that is a symptom that needs to be treated) but it's another thing to provide opportunities for wealth creation to prevent the symptom.

Kudos to the Omegas.

[Alias_01]

Thanks for the clarification.