Resolution Near On Sigma Chi Clubhouse

Representatives of both the alumni of the Sigma Chi fraternity and the alumni of the now-defunct Pi Eta fraternity say the two parties are close to reaching a settlement over the ownership of the building that Sigma Chi has used as a clubhouse since 1996. However, neither side would provide any details of proposed settlements.

Likewise, Sigma Chi President Michael G. Housman ’01 declined to comment for the fraternity. He said Sigma Chi plans to release a statement when the settlement is finished.

The building in dispute is located at 45 Mt. Auburn St. It served as the clubhouse for Pi Eta until the fraternity was disbanded around 1990.

The dispute over the building’s ownersip led the alumni board of Sigma Chi to file a lawsuit in Middlesex County Superior Court against the alumni board of Pi Eta this spring. Pi Eta’s alumni board followed up in May by filing a countersuit against Sigma Chi’s alumni board.

The ownership dispute arises out of the argeement made between the two alumni boards in 1996 over Sigma Chi’s use of the house and its responsibilty of making capital improvements to the building.

Both parties agree that under the agreement, the board that oversees the building would be composed of a majority of Pi Eta alumni for the first ten years. However, the parties disagree on many other details of the argeement.

According to Pi Eta’s understanding of the agreement as stated in its court filings, Pi Eta was given the option to dissolve the agreement at any point in the first decade. Sigma Chi disagrees and says that it was given “ownership interests” in the building because of its place on the board.

However, Pi Eta says that the two groups were never able to develop “synergy” and the Pi Eta board members moved to end their relationship with Sigma Chi last fall.

Part of the dispute arose from capital improvements that Sigma Chi promised to make—while Pi Eta says that the improvements never rose to the promised level, Sigma Chi says it surpassed the expected level of work and investment.

When the Pi Eta board members announced last August that they wished to end the relationship, they promised to reimburse Sigma Chi for any out-of-pocket expenses it derived from the improvements.

Sigma Chi board members also refused to resign from the board when Pi Eta voted to end the relationship—and Sigma Chi challenged the vote as a breach of contract before walking out of the meeting.

And while a representative of Sigma Chi and Pi Eta alumni approved the February listing of the house with a real estate broker, Sigma Chi argues that the listing was not consensual but only a move to remain cooperative while it worked to halt the board’s move. Sigma Chi argues that its “ownership interests” in the house would preclude a sale or at the very least force a sharing of the profits.

The Pi Eta board eventually moved to enter into a purchase agreement for $3.3 million with the Cambridge-based Carr Foundation, a non-profit founded by Internet millionaire Gregory C. Carr, a Kennedy School of Government (KSG) alum.

Earlier this year, the Carr Foundation gained national attention for buying the old headquarters of the Aryan Nations in Idaho to convert it into a human rights museum.

Carr, the former chair of Prodigy, also donated $18 million to the fund the Carr Center for Human Rights at KSG—the largest donation ever by a KSG alumnus.

Neither Carr nor anyone from the Carr Foundation could be reached for comment last night.

—Staff Writer Garrett M. Graff can be reached at ggraff@fas.harvard.edu.