Greetings Chi Phi, Alpha Delta Brothers:
Happy Holidays to all of our brothers and their families. We all have a lot to be grateful for this holiday season and the Chi Phi, Alpha Delta bonds of brotherhood are no exception!
Greetings Chi Phi, Alpha Delta Brothers:
Happy Holidays to all of our brothers and their families. We all have a lot to be grateful for this holiday season and the Chi Phi, Alpha Delta bonds of brotherhood are no exception!
Below is the latest installment of our campaign pledges/collections, renovations and historic re-colonization update.
Here are the highlights, but please read the detailed information that follows:
-As of this date, we have collected $745,756.00 of our total pledges of $1,443,569 or 52% of our total pledge amounts
-24% of our donors have already fully paid their pledge commitments
-57% of our donors have begun to make payment on their pledge commitments
-$314,181, or 46%, of our remaining outstanding pledges of $690,235 is from 43 brothers who have $5,000 or more outstanding under their commitments
-We expect the actual renovation costs to come in at approximately $1.5 million
-We refinanced our existing mortgage with a local bank and increased the amount to fund the remaining renovation costs and other operating costs of maintaining the house
-An anonymous donor also has pledged a $300,000 subordinated credit line to fund any project shortfalls
-We contracted Al Drobka of Drobka Architects to be our on-site project manager
-We contracted Veronisi Building and Remodeling to complete our renovation project
-We received all permits from the Centre Region code office and have begun work on the interior of the home
-An additional 22 young men have recently been installed as our second class of "new members" bringing our total to 31 new members of the recolonized Chi Phi, Alpha Delta no-hazing/non-alchohol fraternity
-CampuSpeak, our consultant that specializes in recruitment of new members, continues to help this core group expand. Chi Phi National has worked with CampuSpeak at other Chi Phi chapters.
Pledges/Collections Update
Payments on many of our 325 pledge commitments continue to come in.
As we highlighted above, we have received 52% of all pledged dollars so far. Although this is great news, 43% of our brothers who made pledge commitments have not begun to pay at all. We are counting on all of you right now!
Forty-six percent of our remaining $690,235 in outstanding pledges is from 43 brothers that have $5,000 or more outstanding on their pledge commitments. Once again, we are counting on all of you at this time. Please begin making payment on your pledge commitments now.
Simply send your check payable to the "Chi Phi Capital Campaign at PSU" to:
Alpha Delta Chapter of Chi Phi Fraternity
The Pennsylvania State University
Capital Campaign Processing Center
P.O. Box 7007
Albert Lea, MN 56007-8007
Not sure how much you owe on your previous pledge commitment? Contact Bob Martin at rpm163@psu.edu.
Most brothers made a campaign pledge commitment over a three-year period. With the preliminary phase of renovation under way, we are beginning to incur major costs. We don't have the funds in hand to fully cover these costs. We are asking brothers that have the capability of accelerating their pledge payments over 18 months instead of three years to do so now. We would be extremely grateful since it would save us interest costs and fully utilizing a bridge loan financing to cover the timing differences between when we collect donations and when we incur costs for the overall renovation project.
We know some brothers just simply are not in the position to accelerate their payments at this time. If that is the case, we certainly understand but we ask you to please begin making payment on your pledge commitment now at the pace you planned to pay.
Make checks payable to the "Chi Phi Capital Campaign at PSU" at:
Alpha Delta Chapter of Chi Phi Fraternity
The Pennsylvania State University
Capital Campaign Processing Center
P.O. Box 7007
Albert Lea, MN 56007-8007
Still sitting on the sidelines? We need YOU to reconnect with your brothers and become a part of our resurgence!
Over the last seven years, the leaders of this campaign and approximately 315 other brothers have invested much of their own fortunes, blood, sweat and time away from their families to move this campaign in the right direction--all in the name of saving what we have all agreed is worth saving--the heritage of our home and a piece of all of our lives.
What else do we need to do to get you involved?
WE NEED YOU!
-When alumni asked us to change the way we were running our campaign and look at the big picture because the system of the way we were fundraising for the 10-year period was broken--we did it.
-When alumni asked us to change the entire way we operated our organization--we did it.
-When alumni asked us to close down the house and excuse the brothers living there in squalor--we did it.
-When alumni asked us to make sure we protected the sanctity of the home by devising a plan to keep major events (parties) out of the house--we did it.
-When alumni asked us to not allow alcohol in the house so that we minimize personal and property abuse, liability, and damage to our beloved home--we did it.
-When alumni asked us to make sure that we provide an environment that is grounded on honesty, respect and integrity for every individual--we did it.
-When alumni asked us to provide a no-hazing environment--we did it.
We listened. We executed to the best of our ability what our members asked us to execute in the most professional means possible. What else do you need? Please tell us.
Perhaps it's time that you decide if this organization is worth being a part of or not? If it is and you don't want to be left out, sign not a pledge form but a commitment that you will truly get involved and become a brother again--right now you are a former member and we don't know your intentions. Print this page, put your initials right here and return it to us _______.
If a signed pledge form happens to come with your signed commitment to become a brother again, that's a bonus but it's not what's most important right now. WE NEED YOU!
This is the time--your time--to finally join us.
Financing Update
There have been many questions from alumni regarding the overall financing of the project. The overall cost of the renovation and recolonization of Chi Phi, Alpha Delta will not be fully funded by your generous pledge donations. In addition to the overall construction renovation costs, we have incurred additional costs to keep the house during the last four years while it remained unoccupied, such as existing mortgage payments, insurance, upkeep of the land and taxes. We were recently successful at refinancing our existing mortgage and increased our loan amount to cover these additional expected total costs. The mortgage was increased to an amount that both the alumni and the lending bank are comfortable with so that we can continue to service the mortgage payments.
In addition, the same lending bank is also providing us an additional extension of credit to fund the timing difference of when we collect our alumni pledge donations and when we incur costs of the overall project. To the extent we can receive your pledge donations sooner, it would result in lower interest costs of the overall project.
Lastly, an alumnus who has been one of the biggest supporters of the campaign has pledged a credit line of up to $300,000 to fund any shortfalls in the project. We are hoping not to use too much of this generous credit line, but ultimately that will depend on the timing and ultimate collections of your pledge donations.
Chi Phi, Alpha Delta Renovation
As we reported in our last update, the leadership of Chi Phi, Alpha Delta's Alumni Association has hired Veronisi Building and Remodeling (VBR) to be the contractor for our renovation project. Permits have been approved through Centre County Code Authority and work on the interior of our home has begun as the first phase of our renovation plans. We are excited about what has already been done. All bathrooms have been taken down to wood studs and all doors and hardware to each room have been removed. Mike Krone, AD, '90, and Ken Jacobsen, '66, have finalized our cost basis for all items in our scope of work to be done. They continue to be actively engaged with VBR with the assistance of our third-party project manager Al Drobka from Drobka Architects, State College. This process is a major undertaking but Mike and Ken have been extremely effective in aligning our desired scope of work within the budget constraints of our campaign.
Historic Recolonization of Chi Phi, Alpha Delta
As we mentioned in last update, the evening of Thursday, September 13, 2012 was a historic one for Chi Phi, Alpha Delta. Nine men were recognized as "new members" (formerly known as pledges) by taking part in the "pinning" ceremony as part of the first phase of our recolonization efforts.
Since that time, an additional 22 "new members" have taken part in the "pinning" ceremony as part of the second phase of our recolonization plans bringing our total to 31 new members.
We could not be more pleased to have been able to find such extremely bright and actively involved men interested in becoming a part of our re-colonized non-hazing/dry fraternity. We have every reason to believe that this group of young men will instill the true ideals of Chi Phi--truth, honor and personal integrity. They are a very culturally diverse group that brings a unique blend of personalities and leadership qualities to the table. We are confident that this group of young men will represent our beloved fraternity well on and off the campus of Penn State.
The plan is to have a total of four new member classes, each being four weeks in length, all before the end of the academic year (May 2013). We are confident that this will provide us the opportunity to have a strong group of young leaders, principled in the core values of Chi Phi, ready to occupy the house come August 2013.
We are very excited about this initial group of young men but we know none of what we are accomplishing would not be possible if it weren't for the 325 brothers who have made a commitment to our capital campaign. Thank you. Thanks to each and every one of you for your support, tireless efforts, and belief in making this memorable and historic event for our chapter come true.
Fraternally,
The Chi Phi Alumni Board/Leadership Members
Kevin Bostick
David Brockway
David Harris
David Hicks
Ken Jacobsen
Rich Konzmann
Michael Krone
Bob Martin
Michael Rowley
Andrew Schultz, Jr.
Andy Schultz, Sr.
