Founders Day 2022
Chapter Advisory Team leader, Mike Billings, shared an update about the re-chartering process
On Saturday, February 26, more than 40 alumni and undergraduates gathered at the Sentinel Hotel in Portland to celebrate Founders Day. It was great to see those who could make the event even as the COVID 19 pandemic continued to put a damper on social gatherings.
For many years, we have held Founders’ Day at Kells Irish Pub in downtown Portland, but Kells is using the space differently now so we went searching for a new home. Brother Craig Stockbridge (‘87, 1196) found us a great room at the Sentinel Hotel which was formerly the Governor Hotel if you are familiar with it. We think this may be our new permanent home for the event in Portland, partly because the bar downstairs is quite the party afterward!
The event opened with the House Corporation meeting where we welcomed two new board members: Ted Mann (‘90, 1259) and Michael Wagemann (‘15, 1688). Thank you, Brothers, for volunteering your time to the fraternity!
Then came the highlight of the evening. A dozen undergraduate members made the trip to Portland to meet most of the alumni for the first time. They were as excited to be there as we were to have them, and we had a great chance to get to know the group. Founders’ Day is never the same without the students there to remind us that Phi Psi continues to create history and brotherhood at the University of Oregon.
This year’s program was chalk full of information. We may have overdone it a bit with the PowerPoint presentations, but a lot has been happening and the brothers in attendance were interested and asked great questions. The highlights of the report include:
Management: Our new structure of having a House Corporation and a Chapter Advisory Team is working well. It has freed the House Corp to focus on financial sustainability and facilities management, while the advisory team works on building the chapter.
Finance: The House Corporation continues to build the reserves we’ll need to do the required improvements and maintenance, and make debt payments on previous projects.
Facilities: The Alpha Sig fraternity lease has been renewed through June 2023 giving us an important source of revenue while we build back our own chapter. Our new resident caretaker (an aspiring law student) is doing a great job keeping an eye on our house.
Expansion Consultant: Brother Mike Billings shared that the House Corporation authorized us to spend $65,000 to hire an expansion consultant for the full year. Fortunately, we had a qualified candidate living in the house already — resident caretake PJ Sarkar! PJ is a Phi Psi alumnus from Arizona Beta (ASU) and helped restart that chapter as an undergraduate.
Scholarship: Two $1,000 scholarships were awarded to Tyler Bird and Daniel Paxton for their academic performance and leadership in the chapter.
Recruitment: The chapter currently has 10 members and is looking to get a few more in Spring Rush. This is about where we thought they would be in the first year.
Mentoring: We are piloting a mentoring program that pairs undergraduates with an alumni mentor. The experience included “Second Tuesday” video calls with alumni who shared information about themselves, their Phi Psi experience, and their careers, plus individual contact during Winter and Spring term.
Communications: Brother Grant Kimball reminded alumni to read the website, social media, and email updates for the latest. We are also building a new website to support the chapter and planning the 100th anniversary event (Fall 2023)
Fundraising: The Chapter Advisory Team is launching a fundraiser to cover the cost of the expansion consultant and recruiting expenses in 2022. The money we raise will go to the House Corporation to replenish the cash they are fronting for the expenses.
As always, the evening ended with a rousing rendition of Amici which most brothers seemed to remember still and the undergraduates had learned. Stay high on Phi Psi!