Merry Christmas...

I hope this quick note finds you enjoying the Holiday Season and wishing you a Happy New Year.

Last week on Tuesday a "Select" Group of ASU Greek Alums meet with President Crow and members of his staff to discuss the issues and problems with how we feel we are being dealt with by ASU.

When I first started hearing some of the comments about how the meeting was reported to have progressed I was buoyed in my optimism that a peaceful settlement could be found. Once I got the official report of the meeting however the reality of the situation seems to be a bit different than the verbal reports. This of course may be a simple matter of perception but that explanation itself points of the problems with the current climate of defining the word "is".

The initial reports and the follow analysis both establish that this "Select Committee" will be meeting with ASU Staff on a weekly basis starting on Wednesday, January 8th. We, the Sigma Chi House Corp, at first did not have direct representation on this committee although Bob Hobbs, Sr. is serving on the committee as an influential ASU Greek that can get the University to at least begin to take us seriously. We have since that first meeting gotten Bruce Sedlak to be accepted as a member of this group to carry our voice into this council.

The initial reports also indicated that President Crow had directed his staff to "wipe the slate clean" in coming up with a plan for us. This to me still presented a disturbing issue since what "slate" was to be wiped clean was not indicated. Was he talking about Alpha Drive or just the totally unacceptable design that they have come up with for South Campus? This concern was amplified for me once I read the official report of the meeting and it was indicated that it appeared that the ASU Staff did not hear, get or understand the words that Crow said in the same way that the Committee did.

It is reported that Crow undermined his staff by telling the Committee that it appears that his staff has moved faster and farther than what he had authorized in regard to this project. I find this hard to believe.

It appears that Chris Ward (PIKE and nominal head of the Alpha Drive Association) is working at cross purposes in these negotiations which may give ASU a false sense of our resolve in this matter as he is still willing to discuss issues related to the "south campus project". Sigma Chi, Delta Sig and SigEp are firm in the commitment to not move (if we have to move) into a facility that we do not have Fee Title to and which allow us to continue with the same type of amenities that we currently enjoy.

One of the Big Houses has indicated to me that they are not encouraging their member serving on this committee to participate. We are taking a different tack in that we will withhold that judgement until the conclusion of the second meeting since by then we should have a better feel for ASU's intentions and their honesty in dealing with the issues before the group.

Duties performed...