Sigma Alpha Epsilon - Purdue University

Spring 2021 Newsletter

Indiana Beta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Purdue University

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Spring 2021 W hile our capital campaign has drawn to a close, our fundraising efforts have not. Our "to-do" list totals more than $500,000 for projects necessary to keep the Lodge competitive with Purdue housing options. Our competition is two-fold: (1) the explosion of attractive apartments offering a student a private room/ bath combined with easy access to campus, and (2) more and better dorm options than Cary Hall offered us back in the day. And, we still have "gotta-do" projects to complete the renovation and to ensure the Lodge offers our chapter a quality learning and living environment. For all you homeowners out there, you know there's always one more project needed to protect or enhance your home's value. Breaking news: fraternity houses get used a little bit harder than our homes, so there's always stuff to do! We always welcome gifts from generous alumni who want to strengthen ΣAE Purdue. We're going to finalize the donor plaque that will be prominently featured at our main entrance, so here's final call to reserve your spot on it. Phi Alpha, Wayne McIntyre '64 Campaign Chairman (408) 930-1438 wayne.mcintyre@yahoo.com ENSURING THE LONGEVITY OF THE LODGE Last Call for Donations Before Donor Plaque Finalized Navigating Fraternity, College Life at Purdue Amid Pandemic Indiana Beta Succeeds Despite Many Challenges in Last Year I t's no surprise that COVID-19 has challenged us at Indiana Beta. As classes were beginning in late August, COVID-19 raced through the live-in members such that everyone ended up testing positive. Happily, no one was seriously ill, and some brothers were asymptomatic. Purdue authorities quarantined approximately half of the live-in brothers in the house for a two-week period, while the other half enjoyed Purdue isolation facilities–which was okay, but the food was subpar. Initially, Purdue had planned to charge those in isolation up to $75/day, but some creative pushback eliminated the charges. Purdue also shortened the calendar to eliminate fall break and spring break to curb student travel and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 also caused membership attrition, because some live- out members said, "Why bother if we're locked down?" Such members declined to pay their live-out house bills, so they had the option of retroactively paying those or resigning. Unfortunately, most resigned and are no longer ΣAEs. This attrition was not unique to ΣAE, and we're hoping for a more normal fall semester. We also had some members who elected to stay at home and attend Purdue virtually. Because ΣAE is so much more than a place to study, sleep, and eat, most our members acknowledged the many benefits ΣAE offers and hung in there with us. The pandemic has also made us experts in virtual communications. (Who bought Zoom stock in January 2020?). It was easy to communicate via Zoom or FaceTime to discuss chapter matters.

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