1993 Volume 116 No 1–4 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

On Campus
Kansas Delta builds a new house
Fiind-raising continues on the Wichita State alumni's $1.4 million housing campaign
by Clark Jackson
With the ftnandal
support and
organization of the
Kansas Delta alumid, a new
15,000-square-foot house
has just recently been
completed for the Wichita
State Phis. The amazing
dedication and perseverance
of these alumni shows
what it takes to complete a
project like this.
In 1984, the alumni of
the Kansas Delta Chapter
evaluated the chapter
house's remodeling needs
and concluded that the
chapter could no longer
afford to maintain the
deteriorating faciHty. The
chapter house had been
lived in by hundreds of
men and the wear-and-tear
showed. An alumni-driven
Housing Committee was
established to solve the
problem.
The committee asked
architect, Maury
Breidenthal, Kansm '72, for
advice. He suggested that
contrador. Bill Veatch,
Wichita State '77, and his
father, survey the house
and offer another opinion.
They came to the same
conclusion as Breidenthal:
'Tear it down."
Building a new house
obviously takes money, and
the committee knew that it
would have to come from
the alumni. Using the North
Dakota Alpha housing
projed's method of setting
up a tax-exempt Education
Foundation, the alunmi
soUdted tax-deductible
donations from the more
than 900 alumni of Kansas
Delta and the former local
Phi Upsilon Sigma chapter
that preceded Phi Delta ^^
Theta at Wichita State. But
creating the Education
Foimdation and getting IRS
approval became difficult.
In the meantime, Kansas
Alpha concluded a building
program using the Educa-
Finartce Committee
reworked the eight-year-old
.^ budget for a 40-man house,
f and the campaign goal
became $1.4 million dollars.
Through the university,
the alumni leftrited of a
piece of property adjacent
to sorority row and on the
uiuversity's northern edge.
It was the perfed location
The new 40-man house will be complete this December.
tion Foundation approach.
Their $2.6 million campaign
was headed by Monte
Johnson. Johnson was a
former Wichitaian and close
friend to many Kansas
Delta alumni. He and BiU
Hess, Kansas '69, a Kansas
City attorney, helped the
Housing Committee
develop the Education
Fotmdation.
The Housing Committee
was then reorganized with
the help of Bob Geist,
Wichita State '63. Subcommittees
were established to
do spedfic tasks. The
with an old 1900s farmhouse
built on two acres of
land. Located in a middleincome
single-family
neighborhood that had
since been developed, the
property was re-zonable for
fratemity use.
Maury Breidenthal was
hired to design and build a
traditional fratemity house
that required minimal
maintenance. Specifications
for educational space were
also required by the use of
the Education Foimdation
funds being raised.
• The new chapter house
pays tribute to Kansas
Delta's Phi Sig heritage. A
Phi Sig room, plaques, and
marker will remind the
chapter of the local fraternity
that preceded it. This
dedication won the support
of the Phi Sig alumni.
PhiSigsJoeKorst,Bob
McGrath, Elbie McNeU,
Buck Alley, Thornton
Anderson, Dick George,
Dean Hargrove, Gino
Paluzzi, and Garner Skriver
helped the effort. More than
half of the funds raised
came from Phi Sig alunmi.
Other Wichita-area Phis
such as Jordan Haines,
Kansas '49; Scott Ritchie,
Kansas '54; Williard
Walpole, Southern Methodist
'41; Wes Sowers, Purdue
'26, and Phil May, Lawrence
'57, have helped in the
project. Frank Priest, Kansas
'53, is working with Maury
Breidenthal as the interior
decorator.
The house is nearly
complete, but fundraising
continues for the project.
The Education Foundation
will provide scholarships to
Wichita State students in
the name of the fraternity,
and the fund will be
adminisfrated through the
University's Endowment
Assodation. The Foundation
will provide a maintenance
fund to assist in
maintaining the facility.
Not only will the alumni
provide the chapter with a
fratemity house, but they
will provide a way to insure
its maintenance for the next
centiuy.
Winter 1993 • TheScroU 17