The Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity recently put a down payment on their house despite financial setbacks last spring that nearly had the national charter derecognizing their chapter.
“It’s a better opportunity for them than renting,” said Dean of Student Life Joe Austin. “They seem committed and excited. I’m pulling for them.”
Phi Kappa Sigma bought their long-leased building on 27 Preble Street in Gorham last Sept. Since their inception in March 1993 the brothers of Phi Kappa Sigma have called the building home.
The house, which Phi Kappa Sigma has rented since their emergence on the USM campus, has sustained damages from being lived in throughout the years. Last winter the building’s furnace broke down and many other miscellaneous repairs were sorely needed, but the brothers did not want to spend money making renovations to a home that was not theirs.
Together, the 19 active brothers of the fraternity raised the $8,000 needed to make a down payment on the home, allowing them to finance the property through their landlord. They fundraised for the purchase of their house in much the same way they paid their insurance last year.
“Car washes, lots of car washes,” said Phi Kappa Sigma President Jonathan Gagnon. The brothers recognize the importance of the support they received from their community. “The community really helped out with the fundraising,” said Hel. “Some people would give us $20 for a car wash when they learned about what we were raising money for.”
According to Saridel Hel, a former Phi Kappa Sigma brother, the fraternity was in debt last yeardue to past mistakes that had simply piled up.
“We were so backed up in debt from previous brothers’ bad bookkeeping and owing the landlord back rent,” he said. In addition to these problems, Hel said that the national charter had suspended the fraternity’s chapter until they scraped together money for an insurance rate that had just increased. While every fraternity is required by their national charter to carry liability insurance, the brothers were not prepared to pay the increase. Liability insurance is required in order to cover the active brothers as well as their guests, in case of injury. “Fraternities are the second highest [most expensive] thing to insure behind nuclear plants,” said Gagnon. “They view us as a high risk.”
The brothers pulled together and raised the $4,000 dollars they needed to set things right. “It took a month to come up with the money,” said Gagnon. “We had a lot of car washes, brother auctions and bottle drives to raise the money.” Upon paying the insurance, their national charter removed the suspension.