Capital Campaign

Solidifying Our Foundation

Financially & Structurally

Since 1991, the Acacia Fraternity at the University of Illinois has been forced to lease temporary housing. We have had no home to call our own. In 2005, the Acacia Board of Directors obtained a four-year lease and moved into the unoccupied SAE house at 211 East Daniel. While this home has exceeded all anticipated expectations, from the onset of the move, we knew it was only a temporary fix for the Chapter. Sigma Alpha Epsilon remains determined to recolonize their chapter, and we must move out by Fall 2010. Though we are taking the necessary measures to ensure Acacia Illinois is not without a Chapter home in 2010, further planning and action is required to secure permanent housing.

At this point, considerable time and energy is being expended by the Board of Directors pursuing all housing alternatives. Board member Mike Duncan (1974), is leading the real estate search efforts on behalf of the Board and has conducted due diligence on several potential building purchase opportunities. However, to date, none of these opportunities have been deemed to be acceptable for either structural, financial or other reasons. The Board remains optimistic that a solid acquisition opportunity will become available as fraternities and sororities begin to comply with the new local fire sprinkling ordinance, requiring meaningful capital expenditures. Having $500,000 of cash in hand along with $1.5 million+ in committed written pledges gives our Board a strong position in negotiating a favorable real estate acquisition.

We continue to ask for support from those alumni that have not participated in the Capital Campaign. We recognize that for some alumni, seeing an actual rendering of a new house or the Board’s execution of a purchase contract for a specific property is important to their participation in the Capital Campaign. We look forward to sharing this information with you as events unfold during 2009. We are grateful to those 200+ alumni that have given us their vote of confidence thus far giving us a strong hand in negotiating the best opportunity for securing a permanent home for Illinois Chapter of Acacia Fraternity.

If you have not yet made a donation to the Campaign, you may do so by contacting one of the co-chairmen at: Michael Duncan, mduncan@patcap.com, (312) 953-9403 or Dan Bayston, dan.bayston@lcbcapital.com, (312) 560-2124. A complete list of current donors, and available giving levels, may be found on this website to the right of this page.