Board: Terry Austin '69, Jake Batusich '19; John Bokum '72; Connor Bostedt ’16; Vic Caricato ’78; Zak DeRoo '19; Chuck Hvala ’73; Ed Kelly ’72; Orin Rehorst ‘73; Tom Stern ’72; and Jake Winters ‘15
Alumni Present for Teleconference: all board members, active chapter 2020 president Connor Bowels, and house grad student Sam Shehata
TOPIC
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DISCUSSION
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ACTION/FOLLOW-UP
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⦁ The meeting was called to order by Orin Rehorst at 1:07 pm.
⦁ All 11 board members attended plus Connor Bowles and Sam Shehata.
⦁ Thanks to Jake Winters for providing the Zoom teleconferencing system.
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The next board meeting will be held when issues dictate, likely using Zoom.
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President’s Report by Orin
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⦁ Presented state of the fraternity report. Orin said he is proud of our alumni board for getting "ahead of the game" on our two big issues: very low rushing numbers for the last two semesters, and the pandemic.
⦁ Connor Bostedt will be taking over president this year.
⦁ Connor Bostedt is optimistic that classes will be open in the fall.
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Zak will send out an email to alumni about our new house letters and 2020 Reunion rescheduling
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Reunion
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Concerns about attendance and COVID-19. Connor Bostedt is a director at a hospital. Connor said the situation is very serious and likely will continue for months.
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⦁ Motion to postpone reunion
⦁ A super majority approved the reunion be postponed until further notice
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Scholarship report
by Vic Caricato
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⦁ Vic talked about reducing the scholarship fund to $1,000.
⦁ Talked about maybe taking the other $1,000 to incentivize recruitment for new members.
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⦁ Tom motioned to reduce scholarship fund to $1,000.
⦁ A super majority approved the reduction on the scholarship fund to $1,000 due to circumstances.
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Finance Report
by Jacob Winters
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⦁ Overall financial position is in good shape for now.
⦁ Worked out deal with insurance company to reduce down payment to 25% of total premium.
⦁ Vanguard account is not doing well due to market decline with COVID-19.
⦁ Scholarship check of $2,000 was sent into WIU but hasn’t been posted yet.
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House Report
by Terry Austin
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⦁ Six brothers are currently living in house. Apartments 3 and 7 are vacant.
⦁ Look into appealing the property taxes.
⦁ To reduce expenses, we should turn off internet that is not being used.
⦁ We are in the process of changing our loan to interest only payments for 6 months in order to preserve cash.
⦁ Clothes dryer situation is getting worse. Talking with a new contractor to get driers fixed.
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⦁ Jake Winters and Terry will work on appealing to the state for lower property taxes.
⦁ Sam will talk to actives to maybe free up some internet charges and double up on networks
⦁ We talked of "deep cleaning" the house for the virus.
⦁ Refinancing: John Bokum, Ed Kelly, and Terry Austin will investigate options to refinance the house to save money. |
Recruitment Team – John Bokum
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⦁ Went to Macomb and attended a chapter meeting. Gave a presentation about recruiting. Going to start using move in crew again to help gain freshman interest. Volunteer to do the WIU open house.
⦁ Rush is the last week of August
⦁ Nationals said 1 in 6 have students deciding to not go to school next fall.
⦁ Plans to target school clubs such as ROTC and sports clubs.
⦁ Lake Linda will be available for recruitment events.
⦁ Nationals might send a field rep for help with recruitment.
⦁ John reminded us to keep news and photos flowing to The Rattle.
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⦁ Idea: Set up rewards for brothers that recruit the most pledges.
⦁ Send a picture of the house with new letters to The Rattle
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Active chapter president report by Connor Bowles
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⦁ Connor Bowles says old bylaw states that actives must join at least two clubs. A job counts as a club
⦁ Actives have started giving tours for Discover Western.
⦁ Historian is giving a bigger presence on social media
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Continue to gather names for potential new members.
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Parents of Actives
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Recommendation: send out mail about our concerns and how Theta Chi is dealing with COVID-19 to active parents.
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Connor Bostedt is drafting a letter. This will be a "Letter of Confidence" to actives' parents. We will express our concerns about the virus and explain how Theta Chi is dealing with COVID-19.
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Memorabilia
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Recommended an appeal to the brotherhood. Please forward any composite pictures, trophies, or other fraternity belongings to the house for display.
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Suggest a letter be drafted to retrieve relics and composites.
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For the Good of the Fraternity
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Alumni Dick Ecklof '71 and John Paychek '71 made sizable contributions to our alumni fund.
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End of Minutes
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Meeting adjourned 2:23 PM
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