Re:     The Road to Recolonization  (R² = t + GI + P)

Dear Brothers,

It has been just about one month since my last letter informing you of the suspension of the Alpha Omega Chapter Charter.  During that time, your Board has been actively pursuing the rental of the Chapter House at 20 South College Street.  In that time, we have had a dialogue with five (5) campus fraternities; two (2) entered into serious negotiations, and I am pleased to announce that we have now signed a Lease Agreement with Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, Ohio Nu Chapter, effective August 1, 2009.

Under the terms of the negotiated lease, Phi Kappa Psi is renting the premises for a two (2) year period (8/1/09 – 7/31/11), with an option to renew the lease for two (2) consecutive one year periods.  There is a rent escalation each year and these rent payments will enable us to meet our monthly mortgage payments, real estate taxes and insurance payments for the duration of the lease.  Earlier this spring, we were able to negotiate an interest rate reduction on our mortgage with Peoples Bank for the remaining life of the mortgage (4 years).  The rate reduction will save the house corporation roughly $10,000 in interest.

Phi Kappa Psi has been on the Ohio U Campus for 18 months and has quickly grown to its present size of 52 members. The Phi Kappa Psi House Corporation President, Jim Blazer, is the immediate past President of Phi Kappa Psi International and their House Corporation General Counsel, Jim Miller, presently serves as my counterpart as Treasurer of Phi Kappa Psi International.  Both individuals are currently, and will continue to be, intimately involved with the Phi Psi Ohio Nu Chapter at OhioUniversity.  I am grateful for this opportunity to work in tandem with Phi Kappa Psi to serve the interim mutual needs of our respectful organizations!

Getting to this point in only four (4) weeks’ time has required an extraordinary effort on the part of the members of the AOGA Board as well as several Columbus area Graduate Brothers. I am proud to be serving with, and wish to extend my sincere thanks to, all of them for their dedication and high level of engagement in this process!

All esoteric equipment and house possessions not needed for the ongoing rental operation of the house have been removed and stored for the future under the control of the house corporation.

With this urgent task now complete, we will begin to turn our attention to other equally important initiatives, including graduate relations and graduate communications.

First, please mark your calendars for the weekend of November 6 – 8, 2009.  Our 2009 Norris Pig Dinner will be held in Columbus, Ohio and we will be posting the specifics of the weekend on the website over the next few days.  The OhioState football team will play away that weekend and we have negotiated favorable room and banquet rates for the event in the downtown Columbus Area.  We have strived to make the weekend cost comparable to that of recent Pig Dinner weekend events in Athens.  I hope you will plan to attend, participate in the weekend events and catch up with your Alpha Omega Brothers!

Second, we have been working to obtain valid email addresses for the approximate 1/3^rd of our graduate membership that are presently “digitally disconnected” from AOGA.  Graduate Brothers from various class eras have been contacted and asked to assist in obtaining these addresses so that we can reconnect and engage with these Brothers.

Third, we have begun a redesign of our website, www.oufiji.com.  If you have photos of recent gatherings with Alpha Omega FIJI Brothers, or recent professional or personal news, I hope you will share them with us and send them to admin@oufiji.com for posting.  Your Brothers want to hear from you!

Many Brothers have sent email messages or telephoned since the release of our June 28^th letter, and I want to publicly acknowledge your support, kind comments and advice. Please continue to share whatever is on your mind with us.

Last, but certainly not least, if you are interested in helping us manage the effort to keep 800+ Alpha Omega Graduate Brothers connected and engaged, please drop me an email and let me know specifically where your interests lie.  I look forward to hearing from you!

(R² = t + GI + P) – Are you on Board?

Most fraternally,

Ron Sages ‘73

Perge!

Re:     The Road to Recolonization  (R² = t + GI + P)

Dear Brothers,

It has been just about one month since my last letter informing you of the suspension of the Alpha Omega Chapter Charter.  During that time, your Board has been actively pursuing the rental of the Chapter House at 20 South College Street.  In that time, we have had a dialogue with five (5) campus fraternities; two (2) entered into serious negotiations, and I am pleased to announce that we have now signed a Lease Agreement with Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, Ohio Nu Chapter, effective August 1, 2009.

Under the terms of the negotiated lease, Phi Kappa Psi is renting the premises for a two (2) year period (8/1/09 – 7/31/11), with an option to renew the lease for two (2) consecutive one year periods.  There is a rent escalation each year and these rent payments will enable us to meet our monthly mortgage payments, real estate taxes and insurance payments for the duration of the lease.  Earlier this spring, we were able to negotiate an interest rate reduction on our mortgage with Peoples Bank for the remaining life of the mortgage (4 years).  The rate reduction will save the house corporation roughly $10,000 in interest.

Phi Kappa Psi has been on the Ohio U Campus for 18 months and has quickly grown to its present size of 52 members. The Phi Kappa Psi House Corporation President, Jim Blazer, is the immediate past President of Phi Kappa Psi International and their House Corporation General Counsel, Jim Miller, presently serves as my counterpart as Treasurer of Phi Kappa Psi International.  Both individuals are currently, and will continue to be, intimately involved with the Phi Psi Ohio Nu Chapter at OhioUniversity.  I am grateful for this opportunity to work in tandem with Phi Kappa Psi to serve the interim mutual needs of our respectful organizations!

Getting to this point in only four (4) weeks’ time has required an extraordinary effort on the part of the members of the AOGA Board as well as several Columbus area Graduate Brothers. I am proud to be serving with, and wish to extend my sincere thanks to, all of them for their dedication and high level of engagement in this process!

All esoteric equipment and house possessions not needed for the ongoing rental operation of the house have been removed and stored for the future under the control of the house corporation.

With this urgent task now complete, we will begin to turn our attention to other equally important initiatives, including graduate relations and graduate communications.

First, please mark your calendars for the weekend of November 6 – 8, 2009.  Our 2009 Norris Pig Dinner will be held in Columbus, Ohio and we will be posting the specifics of the weekend on the website over the next few days.  The OhioState football team will play away that weekend and we have negotiated favorable room and banquet rates for the event in the downtown Columbus Area.  We have strived to make the weekend cost comparable to that of recent Pig Dinner weekend events in Athens.  I hope you will plan to attend, participate in the weekend events and catch up with your Alpha Omega Brothers!

Second, we have been working to obtain valid email addresses for the approximate 1/3^rd of our graduate membership that are presently “digitally disconnected” from AOGA.  Graduate Brothers from various class eras have been contacted and asked to assist in obtaining these addresses so that we can reconnect and engage with these Brothers.

Third, we have begun a redesign of our website, www.oufiji.com.  If you have photos of recent gatherings with Alpha Omega FIJI Brothers, or recent professional or personal news, I hope you will share them with us and send them to admin@oufiji.com for posting.  Your Brothers want to hear from you!

Many Brothers have sent email messages or telephoned since the release of our June 28^th letter, and I want to publicly acknowledge your support, kind comments and advice. Please continue to share whatever is on your mind with us.

Last, but certainly not least, if you are interested in helping us manage the effort to keep 800+ Alpha Omega Graduate Brothers connected and engaged, please drop me an email and let me know specifically where your interests lie.  I look forward to hearing from you!

(R² = t + GI + P) – Are you on Board?

Most fraternally,

Ron Sages ‘73

Perge!