Work Weekend

Thanks to the hard work and generosity of Phi Kappa Tau Xi Chapter Brothers, renovation of the house at 605 College Avenue has begun. Our contractor has been at the house daily performaing repairs and upgrades necessary to get the house back on the college's list of approved housing. The total cost for this phase of work is estimated at approximately $75,000 and is being funded by donations from Xi Chapther brothers. Please visit http://www.xiphitau.org to follow fundraising progress and to make a contribution. In an effort to defray these costs we have scheduled a Work Weekend for next weekend August 8th and 9th. We are looking for as many current and alumni brothers as possible to contribute to this effort and help reduce the out of pocket costs that are associated with the renovation. If you are available to help out with any part of the weekend, please contact Rolf Hill '95 at drolfhill@gmail.com.

Thank You

It is important for us to note that while the idea for this blog, as an extension of our fundraising efforts, would not have been possible without the idea first coming from the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity of F&M. It appears that we are in the same boat in terms of our struggle to get our houses.

Thank you again to Ian Group and the rest of Delta for allowing us to copy their idea. I know both of our houses will strive to be open the Fall of 2009

Donations

Don't forget to visit the donation page to contribute financially to the revival of our home at 605 College Avenue.

Undergraduate News

Undergraduate News

Chapter president Eric Rosenberg ’10 and VP of Alumni Relations Andrew Staffaroni ‘10 were inducted into the Black Pyramid Senior Honor Society. Black Pyramid is the senior honor society at Franklin & Marshall, composed of and limited to eighteen members of the senior class. New members are selected in the spring of their junior year by the graduating senior members on the basis of leadership, scholarship and extra-curricular activities. Congratulations Eric & Andrew!

Eric was also inducted into the Order of Omega. Order of Omega is a national Greek honor society with a chapter at F&M which recognizes outstanding leadership in fraternity and sorority systems on college and university campuses.

Treasurer Jake Gantz ‘10 received a research grant from the National Science Foundation to partake in REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) at the Grice Marine Lab at the College of Charleston. The ten week program combines classroom work with independent research and is designed to provide undergraduate students with a research experience employing physiological, cellular and molecular techniques. Congratulations Jake!

Social Chairman Arvin Grover ’10 has been interning with Morgan Stanley for the past year and hopes to continue this summer and next year. He is currently assisting in implementing a new contact management system at the firm, so that financial advisors can keep their clients in the loop more frequently. He also helps prepare stock and mutual fund research reports. Arvin notes that “It has been a tremendous learning experience for me as I watched the market crash and recover. I learned about various different investing styles that financial advisors used through the bear markets, and I am now witnessing the much more lucrative strategies that are being used during this recovery.”

The brothers have been active in community service this semester conducting and Easter egg hunt for the Lancaster Boys and Girls Club. We also partook in the annual TeamWork project. TeamWork is a collaboration of F&M, the James Street Improvement District (JSID) and Keep Lancaster Beautiful organized to cleanup and improve areas in the community. In early April we also raised approximately $500 participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

Brothers studying abroad this semester include Seth Shuldiner ‘10 in Shanghai, Sam Binder ‘10 in Israel, Phil Hammack ‘10 in the United Kingdom, and Ryan Colburn ‘10 in Italy.

Congratulations and welcome to the new brothers of the Spring ’09 sophomore pledge class:

• Ross Edenbaum, Washington DC
• Tim Haas, Radnor, PA
• Sean Brandon, Mechanicsburg, PA

July 19th Update

Renovation Update

Our contractor is currently obtaining the necessary permits to begin renovations. We will post details and a timeline for the first phase of renovations next week!

Interior Renovation, Remodeling & Repair

• Repair and refinish all common area floors including stairways
• Renovate bathrooms on 1st, 2nd & 3rd floors
• Install a new door to the 1st floor bathroom
• Install a new floor, ceiling and faucet in the kitchen
• Install new kitchen doors
• Renovate each bedroom
• Remove unused closet door near sleeping room #204, drywall & paint the area
• Install new windows throughout the residence
• Replace drywall and plaster where needed and paint all common areas
• Repair stairs leading to the basement

Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection Work

• Install GFI outlets where needed in the kitchen, bathrooms and in the basement
• Repair fire stops in the basement and basement utility room
• Replace smoke detectors with combination smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
• Install sprinklers throughout the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors
• Inspect all wiring and upgrade as needed in order to bring to code
• Install a wireless router eliminating the need for cable and phone lines

Exterior Repairs

• Redesign deck over the pool room
• Installation of new steel bulkhead doors to the basement
• Landscaping

Room Sponsorship Opportunities

We have many opportunities for individuals, classes or groups of individuals to fund the renovation of our house. Plaques listing donors will mark sponsored rooms.

Living Room	$10,000.00
Dining Room	$ 3,000.00
Bedrooms (11 available)	$ 3,500.00
Bathroom Renovation (3 available)	$ 5,000.00
2nd Floor Shower Room Renovation	$ 5,000.00
1st Floor Powder Room Renovation	$ 2,500.00
Kitchen Renovation	$ 6,000.00
Deck Renovation (Tar Beach)	$ 3,500.00

Fellow Brothers

Dear Brothers,

I am a concerned alum from the Xi chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity. For those that do not know, the Xi chapter is located at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster PA, and has been

a part of F&M's campus in various incarnations for over 90 years

Recently, Franklin & Marshall College created a mandatory on-campus

living requirement for all students.Unfortunately for us, the College deemed our house

in its current state unfit for College-approved Housing , which means
no brothers can live in it or use it for social functions. Due to this failure to meet code, the City
condemned our property until we renovat our home at 605 College Avenue.

The main goal of the College's living requirement is safety. Our chapter

house is old. There are a lot of problems with plumbing, wiring, and fire safety that have accrued over the years.

Now, we need your help...

A paypal account has been established and we ask that each brother around the
nation donate any amount they deem appropriate.

As brothers of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, I ask you to help support the Xi chapter. We must raise $100,000 in order to make necessary improvements to our house. In the following post, there is a breakdown of the necessary improvements and the expected costs attached.

When we pledged, we all promised to give back to Phi Kappa Tau. We
need to to ensure that our fraternity not only survives but is sustainable for another 90 years.

In Phi,

Andrew Stein
Franklin & Marshall '07
Former Treasurer, Xi Chapter, Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity, '06-'07
Former Vice-President of Alumni Relations, '05-'06