An OU fraternity believes the repair of repeated infrastructure issues in its house is being deliberately delayed.
The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house has been having problems for a long time, said John Hamlin, journalism junior and Pi Kappa Phi historian. Currently, 25 members live in the house, Hamlin said.
“I mean its always been a problem house, and it’s just kind of rotting from the inside,” Hamlin said. “If you walk in the stairwell, you can smell the rotting from the pipes underneath the laundry room. I would not be surprised if I end up on a mesothelioma commercial in 10 years because it’s just not a quality house.”
Pi Kappa Phi rents its house from the fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha, which owns the house, Hamlin said. Because of this, the members of Pi Kappa Phi must go through Pi Kappa Alpha’s Housing Corporation to get damages fixed.
Geoffrey Long, Pi Kappa Alpha Housing Corporation treasurer, said that they’ve owned the Pi Kappa Phi house for about 12 years, and have had a lease with Pi Kappa Phi for about five years.
The biggest issue the house has experienced was when a pipe burst in November 2018, and the explosion collapsed the ceiling of journalism junior and Pi Kappa Phi President Alex Baron’s room and flooded the entire first floor of the house.
“I was heading into work, and I got a call from one of the members, and he told me that the house was flooding, and he didn't sound that worried about it,” Baron said. “But when I was walking up to the house, people were darting out and panicking. And then when I had finally gotten up to the side of the house, I saw water just rushing out, and the water was a little higher than ankle height, probably like to the lower shin area.”
Hamlin said that the response to the flooding was more immediate than it has been with past issues in the house and that SERVPRO, a company that provides clean up after fire, water, mold or storm damage, came on site immediately.
Pi Kappa Phi’s former chapter adviser, Michael Dean, paid for the members stay in the Embassy Suites for two nights and then they were able to move back in, Hamlin said.
Baron’s personal items and room were destroyed, and he lost almost everything he had, so one of the fraternity members created a GoFundMe for him.
“My entire room was destroyed, like everything in it besides clothes that weren’t torn up and I could wash, but that was pretty much it,” Baron said. “I think when (the GoFundMe) had finally reached me, it was at about $3,000, which was amazing.”
Baron said that Pi Kappa Alpha’s Housing Corporation has not offered him any reimbursements for his rent or items lost, and has not helped him find somewhere to stay.
Garrett Gappa, history sophomore and Pi Kappa Phi social chair, said that the house dad’s room was also destroyed and that Baron and the house dad were not told what they should do until much later.
“Both our president and house dad have been living off of couches, and they were just told within the last month that they must file an independent insurance claim, after being told that it would be handled,” Gappa said.
Gappa said that Pi Kappa Alpha has been extremely slow in making the proper repairs to the house after the flood.
“The drywall and baseboards weren't replaced until a month and a half later over winter break,” Gappa said. “The living rooms were left without carpet, and segments of the carpet glue were left streaking the concrete underneath. Three months later, and flooring is just now being redone.”
Long said that the repairs for the flooding are a huge job and have to be done carefully.
“With water damage, you have to be careful because you don't want mold to be an issue or something like that,” Long said. “We had to make sure that none of the electrical was shorted out, replace any drywall that's been damaged and flooring that's been damaged.”
Long said that they have been doing everything they can to get the house fixed as quickly as possible.
“It takes time, and we can't necessarily force a contractor to move at a certain pace, but we're doing everything we can to get everything repaired,” Long said. “It's a significant job, and I think that it's unfortunate to have to live in a construction zone for a little while, and we wish that didn't happen.”
Hamlin said another one of the issues with the house has been mold in the kitchen and that the response from Pi Kappa Alpha’s Housing Corporation to fix the mold was extremely slow, taking about a month for them to do anything.
“There have also been issues with mold that started back in August because there was leaking from pipes that accumulated and caused mold,” Hamlin said. “And so a lot of the kitchen had to be gutted, especially because that was where food was being served. So, we had this huge mold issue, and it was causing people to be sick. I was throwing up from it, and it was really bad.”
Baron said there have also been issues with the house’s air conditioning and plumbing.
“The A.C. will frequently not work, and then it takes about two or three months at a time for the people that we're under contract with to come and fix it,” Baron said. “There have also been problems with the plumbing. I think it was September of this year, there was an issue with the plumbing, and it literally put all of the sewage water from the house into the yard.”
Baron also said that the house’s parking lot has huge potholes that they have been asking to have fixed for two years, but no one has come to look at them.
However, Long said that the Pi Kappa Alpha Housing Corporation always works to fix issues in the house as quickly as possible, and when an issue comes up, they have to figure out if the repair is Pi Kappa Alpha’s obligation or Pi Kappa Phi’s obligation.
“So if repairs are brought up, the way it's supposed to work is that they would notify their alumni leadership, who is kind of our point of contact, and they would then contact us,” Long said. “And if it's our obligation, then we contact the necessary contractor, and we say that there's an issue and to get out there and fix it and they get up there as quickly as they can.”
Hamlin said that Pi Kappa Alpha’s members are moving into the house in August 2019, so Pi Kappa Phi is in the process of finding a new house.
“We're currently trying to negotiate to get a current house that's not being used, not to move into, but to use for chapter facilities and meetings for chapter and stuff like that,” Hamlin said. “We believe that there are opportunities and we're working with our national organization and the university, and the university wants to see us continue to exist on campus.”
Hamlin said that he believes Pi Kappa Alpha’s Housing Corporation is prolonging repairing the damages because their members are moving in.
“Basically the landlord’s being slow about it, probably somewhat deliberately, but also probably because they're having issues with getting contractors to actually show up,” Hamlin said. ”I think they're just trying to delay everything as long as possible, so we get the least use of the new features as possible.”
Baron said that he’s not accusing Pi Kappa Alpha of intentionally delaying repairs, but he thinks it’s suspicious that they have been so slow to address the issues in the house.
“I think that the people in charge are trying to make it more difficult for us in order to get us out earlier so that they can do renovations so that Pi Kappa Alpha can move in in the fall,” Baron said. “It just seems real suspect to me because, after a circumstance like this, I would assume that it would be priority No. 1a to make sure that things got fixed, and it's been the total opposite.”
However, Long said that these allegations are “absolutely false” and “almost ludicrous.”
“Maybe there are some disgruntled members that don't like the fact that it's taking the time that it is, but part of that is just the reality of construction, contractors and repairs, particularly large-scale repairs,” Long said. “I mean, obviously, we would love to be able to completely repair everything overnight, but that can't happen.”
Long said this is the first time they have heard of these complaints, and was surprised to hear that members were upset.
“After talking to their alumni leadership and having not had anybody complain to us that anything is taking too long, I have the impression that this may be a few members that are maybe a little upset with how things are going and I get that,” Long said. “But our interest and our obligation under the lease is to provide a habitable and safe environment for whoever's in it.”
