Friends and Brothers,

I am happy to share that we have crossed the $100,000 mark for our fundraising campaign! From everyone on the housing corporation, chapter advisory board, and our collegiate brothers, we’d like to thank you for your support. As of today, the donation total stands at $116,956.06 with 44 total donations.

Most of June and July has been spent moving out of the old house at 11136 Magnolia Drive. We may have moved in over spring break, but it took a lot longer for us to move out. We moved books, furniture, decorations, light fixtures, and much more. Thanks to everyone who lent a hand during this time- we needed all the hands we could get. Many brothers spent multiple dozens of hours helping pack, patch, and move boxes. If you see any brothers who helped out, make sure to ask about moving the old cigarette vending machine (or candy machine depending on which pledge class you hail from) and the pop machine- the stories are better told in person. We’ll have some photos from the move as well as an update on work that has been done in the house soon.

Unfortunately, we also got some bad news. The City of Cleveland is requiring that we install a full sprinkler system in the new house before we can get our permits approved. While we are still working to find a contractor to get us an initial quote, we’re estimating that this will add $120,000-150,000 to the cost of the house renovations.

The delay also means that we will not be able to move into the new house in the fall semester. We’ve worked with the CWRU Housing department to secure temporary housing for our collegiate brothers in one of the empty Greek houses in the Carlton Road complex at the top of hill in the South Residential Village. Brothers will be living in 11923 Carlton Road, the former Sigma Psi house, for the fall semester.

The temporary housing is substantially more expensive than what the brothers were paying last semester at the old house or were estimated to be paying at the new house. The cost of living there will be $2,400 more for the semester- over a 50% increase. A large unexpected expense is always difficult, but this news came after many financial aid and loan application deadlines, making it even more difficult.

To put it simply, our brothers need our help. We’re opening a new giving campaign called Support a Brother. We are looking to raise $15,000 to help offset this cost for brothers who have expressed financial need. I’ll be making the first donation of $2,400 to help Support a Brother. Will you join me?

Donations can be made by check or credit card here: https://10819magnolia.betanualumni.org/support-a-brother/

If you have any questions or would like to talk about the new house, please reach out to me via email (john@johncleaver.com) or phone (937-579-1614).

Love and Respect,
John Cleaver (BN 2012)