Members of Sigma Chi are determined to earn back their chapter house with the support of alumni throughout the country.
“We recently had a vote that the house is not going to be sold right now,” said Sigma Chi president Jeff Maxwell. “Before, the housing corporation - group of alumni - was going to sell it, but now there are new active alumni involved in getting loans from other alumni and pumping new equity into the house.”
But not everyone thinks the fraternity will get its house back.
“I don’t see our chapter going back in there,” said James Denison, president of Gamma Psi Alumni of Sigma Chi. “They simply can’t afford it.”
The fraternity’s rental license for the house was suspended in June after numerous noise violations and damages to the house.
No one is allowed to occupy the house until Dec. 26.
Denison said he doesn’t trust chapter members to take care of the house.
“These guys got kicked out by the city last year,” he said. “What’s to say they won’t get kicked out by the city again and be in the same boat without a paddle?”
But Denis Wills, vice president of Detroit Area Alumni Association of Sigma Chi, believes the chapter will regain its house with the support of various alumni members.
“We’re working with a group of alumni to try to get things back on track and we really believe we have the potential to do great things,” he said. “We really believe that’s going to happen. We don’t see a lot of reasons why that won’t happen.”
Wills said because chapter members will not have enough money to move into the house this December, they will “float” the house with help from alumni. By doing this, bills and repairs will be paid until members can move back in.
John Fisher, an active alumnus who now lives in Boston, said he has been collecting loans and donations from Sigma Chi alumni interested in trying to regain the house.
He said $150,000 has been committed by alumni to help regain the house.
Fisher said during Homecoming weekend, the Sigma Chi housing corporation will change direction, with the departure of Denison and the addition of Fisher to the group.
“The housing corporation is going to have some very different perspectives on leadership,” Fisher said. “From a national and local standpoint, the people who graduated are supportive to keep the chapter open and running. In the future, we are confident Sigma Chi will be back at the house on Grand River.”
Saturday, several Sigma Chi pledges, members and alumni worked on repairs for the house in preparation for Homecoming activities.
“It was a fabulous turnout,” said Sigma Chi vice president Chad Whistler. “We did complete detail on the house, and the house is essentially clean and in good-looking condition. The exterior was cleaned up, and we removed a lot of the weeds and a lot of the trash in the area.”
Whistler said the combination of dedicated chapter members and new housing corporation members will make Sigma Chi successful.
“We’ve gotten rid of the dead weight,” he said. “We’ve got a new a core group of guys in full support of the house. Fortunately for the house, there is a lot of new blood coming in for the housing corporation positions.”
