Minutes of Mississippi Fijis Inc. 24 March 2001
Mississippi Fijis Inc. (The House Corporation) held its 2nd quarterly meeting on the 24th
of March 2001. Brair Jones, President,
called the meeting to order followed by a prayer by House Corporation member
Stephen Palmer. Roll
Members present were Todd Campbell, Robert Cook, Briar
Jones, F.C. Lee, Stephen Palmer, and Paul Welborn. Members excused were James Brooks, Mike Dietrich, John Parks,
Jay Richardson, and Sean Sullivan. The
undergraduate Sigma Mu chapter of Phi Gamma Delta was represented by Jonathan
Aguilar, Blake Macon, Greg Whitehead, Brad Paczak, Bill Shearer, and Charlie
Stewart. Undergraduate
Reports President:
Jonathan Aguilar reported that the field secretary would
begin his visit on the 26th of March 2001. He also reported that the fraternity house was recently vandalized
during a burglary. The big screen
television was destroyed, a member's amplifiers were stolen, the game table
was damaged, and other chapter property was vandalized. Treasurer:
Blake Macon reported that one of the goals for the coming
year is filling as many rooms as possible in the Fraternity House. New housing contracts are to be signed
on the April 2, 2001. Blake also
reported that he is working on collecting past dues from several older undergraduates.
One member was asked to leave Fiji Island for failure to pay dues. Blake also reported that 12 to 15 brothers are planning to
live in the Fraternity House this summer.
All rent proceeds are to be retained by the undergraduate chapter. In return, improvements to the chapter
house and lawn are to be implemented by the undergraduates. Corresponding
Secretary: Bill Shearer reported
that the undergraduate chapter recently mailed a Bulldog Fiji. 15 to
20 of the newsletters have been returned to date because of incorrect addresses.
He also reported that two electronic mailings have been made. Rush
Chairman: Bill Shearer reported
that the undergraduate chapter has made contact with around twenty rushees. Three or four rushees called to say they
could not attend Fiji Island. Four
rushees were in attendance at Fiji Island. Pig Dinner
Chairman: Greg Whitehead reported
that the date for the 2002 Norris Pig Dinner was announced in the Bulldog
Fiji. The date for that event is February 16, 2002. The keynote speaker has not
been set. Mississippi
Fijis Inc. Reports Officers
Reports President:
Briar Jones reported that a new
contract with Mrs. Baldwyn needs to be signed for the coming year. It was recommended that she receive a
10% raise. Committee
Reports Fence
/ Fund Raising: F.C. Lee presented
a plan that would enable construction to begin on the fence May 1, 2001 (See
attachment A-1). The highlights
of this plan include the undergraduate chapter raising $7,500.00 and Mississippi
Fijis Inc. borrowing an additional $25,000.00.
F.C. Lee stated he contacted
Thomas Mize, a Sigma Mu graduate, with BancorpSouth about financing. Mr. Mize in turn suggested F. C. Lee contact
Grady Mitchener with BancorpSouth in Starkville. Mr. Mitchner needs a balance sheet and
income statement for the previous two years before he can develop specific
refinancing options for Mississippi Fijis Inc. Jonathan Aguilar, undergraduate
chapter president, felt that the undergraduates could raise the additional
$7,500.00 by August 1, 2001. The
idea will be presented to the entire undergraduate chapter for a vote. Todd Campbell stated that
he felt the undergraduates need to transfer the $7,500.00 to Mississippi Fijis,
Inc. before they leave for the summer if they vote to raise the additional
money. Briar Jones stated that he
felt that Mississippi Fijis Inc. should not pursue any additional funding
unless the undergraduates are willing to contribute $7,500.00. F.C. Lee stated that we will
start a major fundraising campaign as soon as ground is broken for the fence
project. Mike Dietrich suggested
to F.C. Lee in a previous phone conversation that Mississippi Fijis Inc. continue
to fundraise independently. F.C.
Lee stated that the other option is to contract with an outside fundraising
company to raise money for Mississippi Fijis Inc. Mike Richardson, Purple Legionnaire
and university fund-raiser, stated that the professional fundraising organizations
typically charge between 25% and 33% of what they raise.
Some of the top firms charge as much as 40%.
He also stated that he taught it was very important for people to be
able to receive a tax deduction for donations.
This is currently not possible unless the donation is made specifically
for a fraternity education fund. Stephen Palmer stated that
he thought the tax situation would be hard to change. A motion was made by F.C.
Lee and seconded by Todd Campbell to proceed
with MS Fijis Inc. Fence Project / Fundraising Committee Plan of Action 2001
with financing option D-2 (See Attached A-2). The motion passed. Graduate
Relations: Robert Cook stated that
ms.fiji.com is up and running again. He stated that the site should
be used as a rally point for graduate relations. Robert is working to build a library of
photos for the web site. Robert
stated that he met with Clay Bolton, Asst. Director of Student Life, to get
a university perspective on the status of the chapter and obtain any chapter
grade point averages they had on file.
Robert was able to obtain G.P.A.s for the last five years. Robert stated that he needs current financial
information for Mississippi Fijis Inc. from John Parks. F.C. Lee stated that John
has been very busy at work and made the suggestion that we consider hiring
an outside accounting firm to help make the Mississippi Fiji Inc. Treasures
position more manageable and to give more continuity to the organization A motion was made by F.C.
Lee and seconded by Robert Cook to hire an outside accountant as soon as the
budget will allow for the additional expense. The motion passed. Robert Cook recommended that
international headquarters be contacted to see if they have a historic record
of the chapter grades. A speaker still needs to be
booked for Pig Dinner. Briar
Jones suggest Mac Wall and gave Cook a letter containing his address and phone
number. Robert Cook stated that some
form of call campaign needs to be initiated. Cook's suggestion was that each undergraduate call one graduate
per year. Cook stated that we need the
date for rush and rush workshop in order to effectively recruit graduates
to help out. F.C. Lee stated
how important graduate support is to a successful rush. Stephen Palmer agreed to be the liaison between Mississippi
Fijis Inc. (The House Corporation) and the B.C.A. (The Board of Chapter Advisors). Correspondence:
It was determined that the next
mailing from Mississippi Fijis Inc. to all graduates needs to be made the
day ground is broken for the fence project. House
Committee: Paul Welborn stated it
was imperative to develop a long range plan for house maintenance. In the short term it is important to remedy
safety issues including service of fire extinguishers and exit lights. (Jones
and Welborn are to meet April 3, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. to review this.) F.C. Lee suggested that we get an estimate
on an air conditioning system service contract. Welborn stated that routine
inspections of the fraternity house need to be made by the House Corporation. The Meeting was Adjourned. |
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