ZetaSkulls.com

2020 Fundraising

We’re reaching out to ask all our alumni to join the annual donation drive to support your Fraternity. This year, like every year, we are counting on the help of our alumni brothers to keep the Zeta Chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma and its Chapter House alive and well. But this year is unlike any other year in so many ways.

Until recently we were uncertain if the College would be holding in-person classes for the fall, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You may have heard that F&M will be conducting classes this fall under a “hybrid” in-person/remote arrangement. (Essentially, students will be on campus, if they choose to take classes in person, until Nov. 20, when they will return home to complete the semester remotely.) Therefore, we currently expect the house to be filled with renters nearly to capacity, but this is still not certain.

On top of our usual challenges of keeping an old house operational, dealing with increasing regular costs, and funding major repairs and improvements, we must now be concerned more than ever with the health and safety of our undergrad brothers.

All of this is occurring in an environment that has seen the College greatly restrict Greek social events and suspend the operations of Delta Sigma Phi, Chi Phi, and (now) Phi Kappa Tau in recent years. It is only through the support of our alumni that Zeta Chapter has been able to avoid this fate and continue through these challenging conditions.

Despite the challenges of COVID-19, there is an opportunity for growth for Zeta Chapter with fewer chapters permitted to conduct recruitment this fall. Will the College allow any kind of rush events to be held at Greek facilities or on campus in the fall? That’s unknown at this point, but any kind of opportunity for growth lies in our ability to fund capital improvements for the Chapter House, which remains the chapter’s greatest asset for attracting new members and fostering brotherhood.

The short-term objectives for this year’s fundraising campaign are to:

  • limit the amount of lost rental revenue,
  • fund a partial replacement of the roof, which has outlived its intended service life and has required a series of repairs over the last few years, and
  • increase the donation rate to 20 percent of our alumni base.

In addition to these objectives, the Alumni Corp. also depends on alumni donations to pay property taxes, city licenses, utilities, and other operating costs, while ensuring there is cash in the bank to account for the unexpected.

Please help us meet this year’s goal of $20,000. Send your contribution payable to Zeta Alumni Corp. to:

Zeta Alumni Corp.

c/o Brad Rosenkrantz

73 Christopher St.

Montclair, NJ 07042-4231

Alternatively, you can make your contribution online via PayPal through www.zetaskulls.com, or via my Venmo account (@BRKrantz). (We’re happy to accept your contribution in the most convenient method for you, but please note that PayPal takes a cut of each contribution.)

As always, we ask only for whatever you’re able to give, and simply that you contribute something. If you’ve never given before, or it’s been a few years since you’ve given, I’m asking you now to help us meet the ambitious objectives listed above. Particularly this year, every contribution is important!

Without overdramatizing things, you, as a Zeta Chapter alumnus, hold the future of our Fraternity in your hands. The coming months will determine whether we’re able to keep the Chapter House running, and to make the Fraternity experience available for another generation of Phi Kaps.

On behalf of the active chapter and the rest of the Alumni Corp. Exec Board, I’d again like to thank you for your support. It’s clear that the involvement of Zeta alumni truly epitomizes the ideal of “Once a Phi Kap… Always a Phi Kap.”

Thanks for reading. As always, I remain …

Fraternally,

Brad Rosenkrantz

Secretary, Zeta Alumni Corp.

P.S. Hopefully you received the hard copy version of this message via US mail. If not, please email me your current home address so that I can keep our records up to date.

P.P.S. The College recently announced that Homecoming events will not be held on campus this year. The Alumni Corp. is planning to hold its annual in-person board meeting virtually (more details to follow). We’ll also consider holding regional alumni events later in the year if that makes sense. In the meantime, I encourage all alumni to keep connected via the Alumni Corp. Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

Exec. Board:

Sam Ruchlewicz ’11, President

Jonathan Garza ’17, Vice President

Steven Sklar ’15, Treasurer

Brad Rosenkrantz ’95, Secretary

Dan Cafritz ’18, House Maintenance Officer

Peter Lewis ’16, Chapter Adviser

Chaz Isaacs ’08, Social Chair

Nate George ’08, Alumni Communications Coordinator