Will You Be One of the 85 for 85?
Brothers -
Four years ago, just after our first ever work weekend, I traveled to a client’s oil refinery in the small town of Anacortes, Washington, about 80 miles north of downtown Seattle on Puget Sound, for the go-live of a new computer system I had helped to design and test. We had a team dinner at the start of this project, and I found myself chatting with the project manager, Brooks, who told me he had been in a fraternity in college. When I asked him which one, and he answered, “Phi Kappa Theta,” I couldn’t contain my surprise. We did the handshake right there in the middle of dinner.
Brooks told me he was an alumnus of the now-defunct chapter of Phi Kappa Theta at the University of Pittsburgh. He had a group text with several of his brothers that was very active. He told me that at some point the PKT chapter house had been lost or sold, and all efforts to re-establish a PKT colony at Pitt had failed thus far.
This conversation with Brooks crystallized two things for me. One: Our chapter house is effectively irreplaceable. If by some tragedy we lost it, or had to sell it due to poor financial conditions, it would be nearly impossible for us to purchase a new one. Two: The physical house is absolutely essential to the success of the active chapter that lives in it. As a gathering place, as a place to live, as part of the chapter’s identity, removing the chapter house would probably spell the end of Phi Kappa Theta at Case.
As the president of the board of directors that stewards this irreplaceable asset, I felt then, and continue to feel, an obligation to do everything I can to keep it going. Thankfully, I have not had to do this alone. Thanks to a dedicated group of brothers who stepped up to join the board of directors, we have been able to conduct over a dozen alumni work weekends at this point, tackling a backlog of decades of deferred maintenance with a sort of mini reunion to help build our alumni brotherhood.
Having fixed most of what we could by ourselves, we then faced the task of hiring expensive contractors to tackle the most complex or risky repairs. That’s why we launched the Ernie Schmidt Club in 2024, and why we set the audacious goal of having 85 brothers signed up to make monthly recurring donations by the chapter’s 85th anniversary on May 31.
This Founders’ Day, I invite you to join me and the 27 other brothers who have already joined the Ernie Schmidt Club. Their collective financial commitment has set us up to make substantial dents in our backlog of deferred maintenance not just this year, but repeatedly on into the future. When you choose to join the ranks of the Ernie Schmidt Club, you are making a tangible investment in the future of the Ohio Alpha Beta chapter of Phi Kappa Theta, so that future undergraduates can have the same life-changing experiences that you had as a Case undergrad.
By tackling these challenges ourselves, we can maintain our status as the only fraternity at Case that owns both its chapter house and the land underneath it. I firmly believe that this independent stance enables us to better support our brothers whenever required.
I thank all who have already joined the Ernie Schmidt Club, made a one-time donation, volunteered with the board, or joined us at an event. With your continued support, the chapter will be well positioned to enter our second century at Case in 2041.
Yours in the bonds -
Nicholas DeCenzo
President, Ohio Alpha Beta Alumni Association
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We are sending this to all of our brothers, even if you are already in the Ernie Schmidt Club, to share another brother's message of support. If you are already a member, thank you for your continued support!
