 "Photo: Courtesy of Theta Chi fraternity")
 "Photo: Glenn Connelly / Assistant Photo Editor")
Theta Chi fraternity alumni and undergraduates celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday morning in their San Diego State chapter house.
The fraternity unveiled its plans to invest almost $4 million - with the help of the Laurus Group, which is a firm that specializes in fraternity and sorority fundraising projects - in a new chapter house on the same lot where the current Theta Chi house is.
Theta Chi was the first nationally chartered fraternity on the SDSU campus in 1947, and it will be the first to build its own modern and privately owned facility under an overall redevelopment plan of the area set by SDSU, said Theta Chi alumnus Philip Thornton, a mid-level campaign manager for the Laurus Group.
"A new chapter house hasn't been built for at least 50 or 60 years, especially one that's up-to-date," said Thornton, who graduated from SDSU in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in art. "It really raises the bar for the Greek system at the campus.
"It will be a state-of-the-art facility and will set the tone for the fraternities that are going to have to build after us."
Construction is planned to begin in May 2007 and be completed by the Fall 2008 semester. The house is expected to have similar features that on-campus housing offers but in a fraternity setting.
The current Theta Chi house only houses 10 members who pay about $450 in rent per month, but the new house will allow for 38 members to live in, Thornton said.
It will also still be at a below-the-market living rate for the SDSU area, which is currently set at about $750 per month in rent, excluding utility and food costs.
"The great thing about this new chapter house for Theta Chi is that the rent is going to be a below-market rate - between $700 and $725 per member per month - and it's also going to include utilities and 40 meals a month," Thornton said. "This isn't going to be a 'frat house.' This is going to be a clean, well-maintained facility that people will be proud to live in, proud to bring their parents by, and also a place for alumni to have receptions."
The new facility will be very different from chapter houses on Fraternity Row.
The Theta Chi house will be a "traditional" fraternity-house setting because everyone will be living in rooms across the hall from each other, creating a communal type of environment for all the members, Fraternity and Sorority Life Coordinator Doug Case said. There will also be a live-in adviser, Case said.
From the feedback he has received from Fraternity Row residents, Case said that with the apartment-style housing, "they kind of lose the sense of camaraderie you have (when) living in a traditional fraternity house."
Saturday's event was also an opportunity for Theta Chi alumni and SDSU alumni to visit the chapter house for the first time in years - and to socialize with the undergraduate members and pledges.
Theta Chi President Hoon Kang, a psychology and philosophy senior, said this project has created much more unity and a sense of bonding between the generations of Theta Chi members.
"It's good to see so many different alumni from different generations come together and show that we're all brothers in the end," Kang said. "(With) our fraternity having been around for so long, I think it is just a great testament of the legacy that our alumni have left behind."
San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox, an SDSU Theta Chi alumnus who graduated in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in social science, served as honorary chairman and master of ceremony.
Cox, who has served as the mayor of Chula Vista, said most of his college experience revolved around his fraternity, which gave him a chance to develop leadership skills when he was a treasurer.
"It's a fraternity that not only has been in my college days, but now in my career and education," he said. "It's time to give back now, think of what you got out of this fraternity, and you've got to be prepared to put something back into it."
Many Theta Chi alumni and undergraduates are giving back to the fraternity by having fundraised about $480,000 for the new facility, with a goal of $900,000.
"It's a second pledge for graduates to make this facility something we're very proud of," Cox said at the ceremony.
Campaign Chairman Dave DeVol, a 1959 Theta Chi alumnus, donated $50,000, which means the fraternity's library will be named after him, Thornton said.
Undergraduate members of Theta Chi also wanted to give back to the fraternity.
Theta Chi treasurer and media studies senior Jordan Liebling and his grandfather, Zav Liebling, pledged $10,000 to help build the facility.
"I see us building a future for our brothers in Theta Chi," said Liebling, whose name, as well as his grandfather's, will be on the trophy case of the new house.
He said he contributed so future members can see that "here are two people that wanted to make a difference and cared about the new house and the brothers that live in it."
Liebling and the alumni don't have to worry about their investments in Theta Chi because, according to Case, who keeps track of every fraternity's record, Theta Chi has a spotless record - partly because they have an alcohol free policy.
"The fact that they do have respect for the rules provides reassurance that they are making a sound investment in an organization that is not going to get kicked off campus for violating them," Case said.
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