[19792] in APO-L
Bylaw discussion: The "House" Issue.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Richard Edward Vehlow)
Wed Dec 16 17:58:04 1998
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 17:57:51 -0500
Reply-To: Richard Edward Vehlow <vehlor@RPI.EDU>
From: Richard Edward Vehlow <vehlor@RPI.EDU>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Regarding the discussion on why APO can/can't have a house, here's my take:
I personally have grown in the fraternity with the understanding that we're
not an official residential fraternity because we are a service, not a
strictly social fraternity, and not in the Greek system at schools whenever
possible.
However, the argument that we would be better off doing service for others
rather than devoting strength to upkeep of a house is a rather weak point to
argue on. The reason is, everyone has to take time out to clean and upkeep
the place they live, right, regardless of what type of housing arrangement
exists. Even for me, not known for tidiness, I must take time to put whatever
order I can in my apartment.
Therefore, I feel that any time to upkeep a house is not any extra time away
from community service,as residence maintenance will have to happen anywhere
you live anyway.
Furthermore, the use of the term "house" is legally ambiguous. Although in
the Bylaws, and in this amendment, it does specify a house used as a
residence, there is nothing to say that a fraternity cannot own any real
estate. "Houses" can be offices, storage, meeting places, etc. and so long as
no one resides there, it is in perfect conformance with bylaws and our
nonresidential status.
So when people ask simply "Why can't we have a house?" the actual correct
answer is "We can." To be more legally correct, the question should read,
"Why can't the fraternity own and/or operate a residence for its members"?
Lastly, the Alumni Associations are autonomous from the fraternity, right?
Can they own and or operate residences for alumni brothers? Like if a bunch
of rich alumni real estate developers were to make a retirement or other
residential community in Florida for brother-alumni and their families? Where
community service projects are run out of the town, and where multiple houses
and apartment buildings can be erected for borthers and their families? An
APO community not run by the National Fraternity itself. Actually, this I'd
be in favor of, and as you can see, I've given it some thought. (I've even
sketched up a crude site plan of this that I plan to upload to the web in the
next couple of months.) :)
Your views?
-Rich Vehlow "REV"
vehlor@rpi.edu
