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Division III Phi Kappa Sigma The Heritage Glass Museum Thomas Whitney Whitney-Capie HouseThe town of Glassboro has long been known for its rich history, dating back to the Civil War and beyond. However, a piece of that history may soon vanish.
Known as the “Whitney-Capie House,” the familiar white structure along route 322 is currently being assessed to determine whether or not it can be repaired. If not, the structure will undoubtedly be demolished.
“The problem with the house right now is that it’s in horrific condition,” said Rowan Director of Media and Public Relations Joe Cardona. “It was in private hands until about three or four years ago. A fraternity had lived in it last, and they totally trashed it on their way out.”
Now in Rowan’s possession and with the beginnings of the Rowan Boulevard project taking shape around it, the house’s fate is up in the air.
“We are assessing the condition of the building, and we’ve determined that it’s not on any historic register. It has an interesting history with Glassboro, but it’s not historically registered or significant,” Cardona said. “But we’re really looking at it from the perspective of what the structural condition is, and what’s the ability to rehab it, if at all.”
The once beautiful brown-stone house was built in 1847 by Thomas Whitney, who, along with his brother Samuel, would take control of the Olive and Harmony Glassworks – later to be known as Whitney Brothers Glassworks – in 1834. The Whitney family also built the Hollybush building on Rowan’s campius, made famous by the 1967 summit between President Lyndon Johnson and Russian Premier Alexi Kosygin.
Much later, the house was named “The Walnuts,” and was listed as the home of Mr. and Mrs. A Richard Capie.
“Mr. Capie had married a daughter, probably an ancestor of the Whitney’s and that’s how he came to be in that house,” said Ellen Jones, of the Glassboro Heritage Glass Museum. “He’s the only one of the family that I ever knew there.”
In 1952, the Whitney house was noted as the residence of Dr. Edgar Bunce, resident of the Glassboro State Teacher’s College. Bunce’s stay was enjoyable enough that when a committee of students recommended the publication of a campus newspaper, it was named “The Whit” after the house.
Eventually the house fell into private ownership. An absentee landlord rented the property out to students, including a fraternity, Phi Kappa Sigma. By the time it was purchased by the college, it had fallen into disrepair.
“You take Haddonfield, and even right next door in Pitman, they’ve always maintained the importance of their heritage and their history,” said Esther DeEugenio, founder and former head of the Glassboro Historical Preservation Commission. “Glassboro didn’t do that. And once you’ve lost that mindset, it’s very hard to get back.”
The state of the Whitney House is in the hands of Rowan, but its current disrepair may be the deciding factor.
“It’s very sad to see it in the state that it’s in, because it was a beautiful home,” DeEugenio said. “And I really think that the university would have tried to turn it into something, which would have been great, but I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.”
To find out more about the history of Glassboro, visit the Heritage Glass Museum at the corner of High and Center Streets in Glassboro, N.J.
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8:07 am
That house should be made into a museum of some sorts. Since Rowan has done a good job of making sure most Greek alumni have nothing to come back for, maybe a Greek Life museum would be fitting! Haha oh well at least we can dream.
1:25 pm
Well surprise, surprise. The powers that be left it open to the elements for the past three years, and then expect it to be in salvageable condition. I’m sure that PKS left some holes in the wall on the way out, but they are being scapegoated here.
2:24 pm
Two good points listed above. That house was never destined to be saved by Rowan. Everyone knew it. Tons of great memories on that property and it’ll be ashame to finally see it topple. If it’s going to be torn down, you’ll see me there that day with a slEdge hammer in one hand and a bottle of everclear in another. Between no funds and no landlord pks did the best they could to contain that house. Rowan has let it sit dormat for four years now and has been broken into, demolished, and grafiteed up by locals and current students. The condition it is presently in is due to zero maintance and constant devisation over the past four years. Rowan hates their Greeks unless you belong to a certain organization or two Whig I will not mention. And there is nothing there for us to come back to, any alumni, so thank you Rowan. my tuition blood sweat and tears continues to remain useless.
2:50 pm
Hello, I am one of the former presidents of PKS, and would like to let the Whit online readers know the real motives of Rowan. The school tried to get our landlord to kick us out so that they could take over this almost 3 acre parcel of property for YEARS. The school had been trying to get us evicted, declare eminent domain over the properties of 25-29 West Street, tear down the dwellings and then begin its Rowan Boulevard project. In the schools over exuberance to portray our Fraternity as a bunch of hoodlums and delinquents (with the intention of building public support of their eminent domain claim) to local media outlets, they ended up attracting some unwanted attention in the form of the historical society of Gloucester County. Here we are, 5 years later and the Rowan Boulevard project is in full swing, but why is 29 West still standing? Well to answer that I must go back to the historical society. The school attracted opposition to its Whitney Mansion destruction plan (mostly from the historical society, and readers of some op/ed’s that our alumnae had written disclosing the whole true story), and therefore their eminent domain, bulldoze the houses plan wouldn’t work any longer. After we were removed by the health and fire departments June 30, 2005 due to a non-valid certificate of occupancy (the house was not inspected for years, and the landlord had been renting outside the guidelines of Tenant/Landlord law), the school could not tear down the house as it planned. At this point, Rowan decided to let the house languish. It was used for non-lethal projectile SWAT training, Fire Department training, and finally inhabited by the homeless for the better part of the past three years. After that, how could this house possibly be in a position to be saved? It has been the intention of Rowan University to demolish the structures on this property for close to 10 years. I stand in constant amazement that this fact has not been questioned by the public, publicized, or addressed by any Rowan University Administration. Almost immediately after we were removed from the house, the answers we were getting from the school started to change. For two months Rowan threatened us with false legal actions, had Rowan staff come onto our private property during the summer, called the Glassboro Health Dept for an inspection, were party to the inspections, and trespassed into our house to take pictures before we were asked to leave. Throughout all of these instances, Rowan maintained that they were doing this to save a historical house. As soon as we were gone, the school began its destruction talk. I enjoy the Whit very much, but have an awful disgust for the Rowan administration who, to create their Dream campus, elected to scapegoat an organized group of students, and threaten legal action the whole way. I fear that now the Whit is simply a tool of the administration, not researching its stories, used to drum support for its actions via propaganda. Anyone student who reads this article would immediately be behind the plan for the school to destroy the house, and proceed with the master plan.
***Whit Staff—you have access to view my email address. If you find it prudent to air the other side of this twisted tale, feel free to contact me and I can set up an on the record interview with residents of this house from its last 10 inhabited years.
2:58 pm
I almost forgot one question. To the author, do you know what the paper you write for is named after??
3:05 pm
That house has been dormant for YEARS now with mulitple homeless people living in it, it was broken in to multiple times and it has been DEMOLISHED from sitting abandoned, not from a bunch of drunk frat kids. The place was in shambles before Phi Kap even moved in there. The landlord was never available and put NO money in the place to fix it up.
Bottom line, It’s very easy for the school to point fingers and say it was PKS fault because it’s much easier to blame a now non-existent organization. Ultimately, they never had any intentions of fixing that house. It was in shambles prior to Phi Kap even living there and Rowan NEVER had intentions of fixing that house.
SHAME ON YOU, JOE CARDONA!! And shame on Rowan University for DESTROYING greek life and then using this organization who is unable to speak for itself as your scapegoat.
3:20 pm
Way to go Rowan. Use the fact its a historical house to kick out a fraternity and turn around say its not so u can destroy it just like the rest of eben st. I know this house well and its structure is fine if that floor could support all the people who past though its doors over the last 15 years it can hold a few tour guides. The green wall in that building is soild enough to support 3 houses that size. The floor planks run the lenght of the house the radior heat still works and the horse hair plaster walls are in great shape compared to other house of its time.
3:59 pm
I went to many a party at that house during my 4ish years at Rowan, and I was friends with many a brother. Sure the house was dirty from too many people living there, and not enough cleaning, but there wasn’t the amount of damage I’ve seen driving by recently.
4:00 pm
I’m glad to see that 4 years after losing our house 2 years after losing out charter we can still be used as the scapegoats.
Back in 2005, it was announced, by a Rowan staff member, at an IGC meeting that Rowan’s plan was demolish this house to make way for a temporary parking lot. I know this cause i was the President of Phi Kap at the time. It was sad and upsetting to hear, as everybody in the room turned the head to look at us weather to smile and laugh or frown with us. Then to find out that the house maybe of historic value so they may not be able to just demolish it, but knew that Rowan will get what it wants as it usually does.
So to what Mr Cardona said,”But we’re really looking at it from the perspective of what the structural condition is, and what’s the ability to rehab it, if at all.” to me is the PR way of saying the bulldozer as warming back up to finish the destruction of the Greek part of campus.
It was old, decrepit, but it was home. BttHtD
4:04 pm
I’m glad to read in the comments that I’m not the only one here who sees Mr. Cardona’s sad attempt at a public relations spin maneuver. Rowan’s administration has thrown its Greek Life under the bus for any problem they could possibly pin on it for years, this is nothing new. It’s funny that no one in any type of administrative/power position from either the historical society or Rowan seemed to care one bit about the place being a “historical landmark” while that fraternity lived in the house (for over a DECADE, mind you). Then all of a sudden as soon as enough donation money came in for their big plans (Rowan Boulevard), everyone’s in an uproar? Give me a break. Answer me this, Mr. Cardona: Where was the University’s concern over the well-being of this oh-so-sacred piece of Glassboro history when they were allowing parties to happen in it every weekend with hundreds upon hundreds of people on a list REGISTERED AND SIGNED OFF ON BY THE UNIVERSITY?
5:01 pm
When I began attending Rowan in 2000, the house was already in less-than-desirable conditions. The fact is that the majority of the general public could walk into any fraternity house in Glassboro during that time, and deem any one of them as having ‘unlivable conditions’. The Phi Kap house was no different, better than some, worse than others.
As a resident of the 29 West House for a period of time, I can honestly say that I would not have recognized the landlord if I passed him on the street. The real reason for the condemnation of this house was the ‘absentee owner’ who never made any repairs, only collected dollars. I can remember tenants in the house making periodical repairs when needed, never the landlord. On occasion, he would come and rake leaves. While a nice gesture, it didn’t do much to preserve this ‘historical structure’.
We’d be kidding ourselves if we said that we as Phi Kaps didn’t contribute to the deterioration of the house. But the blame doesn’t solely land at our feet. It is shared by the previous tenants, the fact that the house was built two centuries earlier and had a crumbling foundation, and the fact that Rowan purchased it and let it rot without any supervision. Putting a sign on the door for 5 years that says ‘do not trespass’ doesn’t let Rowan wash its hands from any responsibility for the current status of the house, or keep people from freely entering through a broken window. Trust me, I did just that on my last trip to the campus with which my connections seem to be dwindling by the year.
I hope that something can be done to restore or preserve at least some part of this house, which is historic to different people in their own way. If all else fails, I challenge Rowan to give Ty Pennington a call, and I will gladly make the trip back to the ‘Boro to scream ‘MOVE THAT BUS!’
-Gary Baker, ’04
Phi Kappa Sigma and Whit Staff Alumnus
6:00 pm
This is absolutely stunning to all those who learned, laughed and lived at Rowan during the latter portion of the 20th century. What effort is being made to bring these chapters back into the fold?
http://www.rowan.edu/clubs/greeklife/councilsAndChapters/unrecognized.html
6:22 pm
I, for one, stand proud at seeing my organization appear within that blacklist.
PKSDG
7:56 pm
I think that the Rowan administration is trying to make itself feel better about demolishing the house. Having lived there for more than 3 years, and partied there for even longer, the house was admittedly in disrepair. The only time we ever saw our landlord was if we were late on our rent. He installed a new section of carpet every other year, and other than that, was never there. We did our best to keep the house in good condition – but lets face it – the house was almost 150 years old. There was only so much we could do. Rowan needs to get over the fact that they had a hidden agenda,and have, over teh last 5 years, destroyed a greek community which they used to pride themselves on as being one of it’s best assets. I wonder if they’ve noticed that alumni don’t come to visit anymore because we have nothing to come back to. I used to go back to see my brothers, and relive the experiences that I had in that house – not relive the classes that I sat through in Bunce.
8:02 pm
I find it ridiculous that Phi Kap is being scapegoated in this article as the only cause that has led this house to possbily being demolished. While there were a few minor incidents of vandalism, it was no more or less a crime that any other sort of destructive behavior that is displayed by 20 year old males, whether they are part of a Greek organizaiton not. The fact of the matter is there are a number of variables that Mr. Cardona forgot to consider when making his comments, along with what has already been mentioned. First of all, as has already been stated, the house was barely liveable for any resident. Being a resident of that house myself for one year, I can clearly remember the heating system in the house being so poor that house residents spent many a winter day bundled up in a sweat shirt and knit cap, just because the heat broke. Along with not having ideal heating and air conditioning, the plumbing of the house was so suspect that the toilet to our downstairs bathroom would occasionally back up and leave behind a mess that would turn the stomach of just about anybody. Third of all, the structure of the house was so bad that for several years, brothers that lived in the house, myself included, would have the fear of falling through the bathroom floor, due to the fact that it was slowly caving in under our feet. It must be stated that this same floor collapsed shortly before we left the house, and it had nothing to do with our supposedly destructive behavior. Contrary to what was stated in the article, Phi Kap actually conducted two brother retreats each year, where fraternity business was discussed and a significant amount of time was devoted to a large cleaning project, that included basic house maintenance. The bottom line is, 29 West is a house that is over 150 years old, and it was seriously neglected by a landlord, who only collected rent checks and performed minimal maintenance. The statements in this article were made by an individual that spoke out of nothing more than pure ignorance. Readers of The Whit, please read this article with a critical eye and realize that the statements made against our organization are very narrow minded in focus. All brothers that resided in or visited 29 West loved that house and would have never purposely turned it into a condemnded building.
9:57 pm
Well it says “Speak Your Mind” at the bottom, and so I will ramble appropriately. Bear with me as I struggle for coherent thoughts. As a college graduate it has been years since I have had to write any sort of formal essay!
Years from now when I return and visit my Alma Matter, I will always remember the building of the Rowan Boulevard. Rowan has taken a major leap towards redeveloping the local area to increase economical growth and draw in new business and expanded the full-to-capacity on-campus housing situation by leaps and bounds. I’ve seen the pictures of the proposed Downtown Glassboro and truly it’s a beautiful thing. And yet…for none of these above reasons will I remember Rowan Boulevard. Instead it will stand engraved in my memory as the day that Rowan destroyed Greek Life (To all my brothers out there…let’s call it “the day the music died”)
When I say that they destroyed Greek Life, I don’t mean that in an entirely literal sense. Obviously they didn’t disband everyone and kick out all of the organizations (well, maybe some of them…?). Instead they destroyed the foundation and beginnings of Greek Life. With one full Karate Kid-esque sweep-the-leg they destroyed all of the original houses for the majority of these organizations along with all of the history that goes with them. I remember the empty feeling in my stomach when I first saw the destruction of Eben St. “It’s all gone.” That was all that I could say. And yet somehow, there was still hope, a shiny beacon of light that remained in the form of a lone house that defied all odds and remained standing. 29 West Street.
I used to joke and say that it was ironic that 29 West was the only house that remained standing, because it was the only one that probably should have already fallen down on its own. For years I was a brother of the fraternity that resided there, Phi Kappa Sigma. Sure we had our fair share of shenanigans and ruckus that no doubt placed some undue stress on that house; but we aren’t the ones entirely to blame for sending it to an early grave. Blame that on the years upon years without any major structural or code updates from the landlord. Blame that on the years upon years that the house remained dormant after our organization was displaced (forcefully removed is more like it, but I’ll be polite
) Saying that PKS is entirely responsible for this house in its current shamble of a condition is just passing the buck on to the party with the least active representation at Rowan and no seat at the table.
To come full circle and wrap this up, my vote goes to Rowan to do an honorable thing here. Bestow some grace upon the last remaining dinosaur from the golden age of fraternities and sororities. Why not make the house a Greek Life museum as several have suggested here? A tribute to the fallen neighborhood of Eben St., may it be lost but never forgotten. Do that and I’ll bet the Greek Life alumni come out to support in droves. I know I would come back and visit more often. Heck, I might even make an alumni donation
10:49 pm
I will keep this short and simple so keep up. Not sure about the rest of those guys, but I left my room to chicken man. He said he would take care of it. Also about the structure and foundation of the house. It is old, it is worn, it has endured smesters of “swimmer Joe” dancing in TWO (2) of the second floor rooms and of course the trap door living room floor. I’ll bet Calzona’s house would crumble if a manitee danced the Macarena in his bedroom for a few years… Also, to the genius writing a pulitzer a few comments back… I don’t remember “smiley faces” in formal essays. Anyway The PhiKaps are an easy out only because they are gone and they can’t defend themselves. Doesn’t bother me none… I think they owe me money. Since I have a sec – WHAT UP MINER! WHAT UP LIZ, SKULL, PP, BAKER, TO! GOTTA GET SOME TIME TOGETHER AND TRASH SOMEONES ANTIQUE HOUSE!
Thanks for readin –
Dego1
11:01 pm
As a Rowan Alum (class of ’04), a member of Phi Kappa Sigma, and a former resident of this house I am not surprised by the comments made by Mr. Cardona. As it stands now, this house is a black mark on the Rowan Blvd. project. Ignore the Slumlord that owned the house while Phi Kap was living in it and his lack of proper up keep. Ignore the town of Glassboro, which consistently gave our slumlord a CO for the property. Ignore the fact that the University has owned the property for over three years and has done NOTHING to keep the house in tact. These factors, along with the fact that the fraternity did it’s own damage to the house, are what brings us to the current state of things.
I am however, confused by the remarks that this house is not historically significant. Take a walk on the property and you will find slag glass from the old Whitney glass factory. Look closely and you will see a Japanese weeping maple tree that looks to have been planted sometime shortly after the Civil War. Notice the remains of the original horse stable that has been overgrown by brush. Listen to the stories of past residents and the South Jersey ghost research group, who say there is paranormal activity in the house and on the property (a link to their investigation: http://bit.ly/9m1sSl). These facts might not be enough to save the house but I feel they make the property significant.
From an emotional stand point, I can find hundreds of people that have fond college memories of Thursday nights at Phi Kap. Can the same be said for Rowan football games? Can the same be said for other campus life events? I doubt that as many people would choose their fond Rowan football game memories over their memories of a Phi Kap Halloween Party. What time were football games even held?
Personally, if this house gets demolished a huge part of my life will be gone with it. Call me lame, but one of the greatest memories of my life is the night I first met Danielle (Smith) Behrens (class of ’04) on the sun porch of 29 West St. Along with all the rowdiness and brotherhood, the thing that I will miss most is that I will no longer be able to see the place where we first met.
I can not speak for my wife, but Rowan will never see an Alumni donation from me if this house ceases to exist. Demonize the Rowan Phi Kaps all you want Mr. Cardona, some of us know the truth and that house will always live on.
Sincerely,
Dr. Danielle and Mr. Jeremy Behrens
3:41 am
Someone pointed out that the only repair work done on the house was done by the fraternity itself. I would like to point out the one of the biggest repairs was on the loving room floor when it started to fall into the basement. This was done years before the fraternity lost the house and that repair was done by the gather of one of the brothers! His father actually brought a crew in to put extra support under the floor. This held and is still holding almost ten years later, so you will never convince me that that house cannot be repaired. Yes it will take a lot of money and a lot of remodeling, but it can be done. Mr. Cardona, why don’t you kist tell the truth and tell everyone that Rowan doesn’t want to or won’t put up that kind of money. It’s cheaper to tear it down and it’s what they wanted all along, even when I lived there in 2000-2002. Good luck, I was hoping it would make it’s way to a historical listing. And shame on you Rowan for destroying a way of life for young adults who could have built lifelong friendships.
9:58 am
Gary, that comment regarding Ty Pennington was pure genius.
11:02 am
The fact of the matter is, Greek Life didn’t fit the design of what the almighty Rowan Administration wanted the vaunted new vision of the campus to be. So once that was decided, from roughly 2003 to the present they systematically targeted every chapter house (with only two or three exceptions) where it was even rumored that a rule was being broken, no matter how minor or inconsequential. I know this because I was a member of an organization that wasn’t exactly on Rowan’s Christmas card list, and witnessed what the sycophants in the Greek Life office did to other chapters as well. I won’t claim that we were always saints, but collectively, Greek Life contributed much good to the Rowan campus and the community of Glassboro in general – rarely was there a week when I didn’t see a benefit or fundraiser of some kind being hosted. However, even that wasn’t enough to save our chapter houses when they were bulldozed forever in the wake of Rowan’s redevelopment plan.
I agree with previous posters when I say there is much less to return to as an alumnus (if anything at all) now that this chain of events has taken place. But if there are any alums out there who feel the same way, hit our Alma Mater in the one place it will be sure to get some attention…the donation plate.
-Nick Malfitano ’06
Theta Chi and Whit Staff Alumnus
11:04 am
Joe D, is that really you? I miss visiting the great pyramids
11:21 am
If this house was so important to Glassboro and Rowan maybe they should of bought it decades ago. Greek Life is the scapegoat for all the ineffective leaders at Rowan.
1:34 pm
Dego, get on Facebook and look us up! We need to get back to Vegas… or hell i’d settle for a game of tiger woods haha!
3:04 pm
I find it hard to believe that a school that was given $120 million for their engineering department from Henry Rowan( The man the school is named after) would dare say that there is not a structure that can be saved. After all this building was built in a time when people knew how to build things to last. I am willing to bet that if Rowan offered and planed it right that they could organize with Greek Life organizations past and present to get people to come help restore it. I am also willing to be that there would be more alumni at that event then any event Rowan could ever hold. That house holds many fond memories for so many people not just Greeks. Anyone who ever walked through those doors has fond memories of that house. It will be a shame if they tear it down. I personally challenge Rowan University and their Engineering school to fix it.
5:36 pm
it is hard to hear of the landlord phrased as an “absentee landlord.” He was never absent, unless a repair request was made. He was also there on inspection day, pages of violations in one hand, cash in the other. After the inspector left, I’d see him return to throw the violations report in the garbage, but the money was no longer in his hand, nor were the repairs made. Let’s not forget that he had owned several of the fraternity houses, not just this one. My favorite “repair” that he and his brilliant son created was 4 nails, a tarp, and a bucket. For those of you that don’t know, this is an appropriate repair for a water damaged, collapsed roof. The fraternity that did live here, however, did regularly clean, paint, and repair within reason.
Was it always like that? No, it wasn’t. The landlord used to make considerate repair to the property. Once it came to their attention that Rowan was planning a parking lot where the home stood, the landlord seemed to lose interest. Once he lost interest, and without housing inspectors, the residents quickly realized that the fight was futile. Thus, the degradation of the house in the last few years. There is not much reason to scrub the floors as a hospitality gesture for the bulldozers, they’re not very finicky machines. The residents were frustrated, on borrowed time with demolition crew waiting outside. Where was their incentive for maintenance?
So, then Rowan began to press and destroy the greek community. It was the next step within their control. They closed the sororities and fraternities on the other side of the home, knowing that ownership of both sides strengthed their case of eminent domain. Once they had this case wrapped up, it was only a matter of time before Meihoffer(the landlord) sold. The value of his home only dropped as eminent domain was proven, he would not get full value in court.
So now Rowan had the house. Time to take out their original parking lot plan and dust it off. However, there’s only one catch, it’s protected. Easy solution when you’re the owner. Open it up to the elements and let nature demolish it for you. You have scapegoats lined up. The scapegoats have no voice because you removed their representatives. It’s the perfect plan.
So, enjoy your victory Rowan. You’ve successfully sold your soul in the name of politics and greed, and you only had to tear down the home that put the “glass” in “glassboro” to do it. I’d imagine most students such as myself would prefer a school with character and pride over just another brick faced conglomerate. But I must actually be the minority, as I’m sure your bureaucrats have already ran those numbers and deemed maximum profitibility came from destroying your history, betraying the alumni, and paving over their memories with a parking lot.
The town’s beauty took decades to build with the blood sweat and tears of steel and glass workers, and yet only days to be destroyed by the pencil of a greedy politician behind a desk. The only shame here, is that he cannot feel shame.
6:01 pm
I really think that Rowan should represent their Greek Life better rather than running it through the dirt. It’s condemned and was in horrible condition before any Rowan student went through it. Stop dragging down greeks, including the Phi Kapp over your shortcomings. Greek life is a huge part of this school in its community service so I suggest that Rowan really needs to stop labeling Greek life as a horrible part of the campus community.
8:10 pm
I am just wondering, how does Phi Kappa Sigma National feel about this article being published? Maybe they should be informed because it sends out a negative image of their National by blaming one of their chapters. I don’t believe it is fair to blame Phi Kap. If Rowan was truly interested in this building, it wouldn’t have ever fallen into the hands of the public to be rented out for residential use.
8:58 pm
The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests… we did. But you can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few sick, perverted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn’t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you: isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do what you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you bad-mouth the United States of America!
In other words: You f****ed up… you trusted us!
12:05 am
I find it astonishing that there are so many out there who have their hearts bleed for the history of the 29 West Street house and the fraternity that resided there for over 10 years.
The fact of the matter is the condemnation of 29 West Street lays at the feet of a few members of the fraternity and some others from different organizations who were there on the night of June 30, 2005. The history of a property that had stood for over 150 years was able to be destroyed in one evening. Every family that resided there before, every connection with the town of Glassboro, every memory that was ever formed in that house by the hundreds who have walked through its doors was destroyed in one evening. I have to ask where the sense of responsibility to preserving history was for those individuals that night. The answer is there was no responsibility. Those people didn’t care if you had something to come back to years later. Those people didn’t care about the damage they were doing to someone’s private property, regardless of the condition. And now 29 West sits in decay, waiting for the wrecking ball to put it out of its misery once and for all.
Rowan got its property that it wanted for so long and will now do with it as they please. The landlord got rich and took advantage of a bunch of college students for ten years and then got his insurance check for the damages to a property that was privately owned. A fraternity who so many before had built to last and to be something to be proud to come back to had its own members spit in the face of preserving its own history. So many look at the house of 29 West with memories that they will take with them for the rest of their lives. And now its gone and it came at the hands of a few of its own members.
Negative actions unfortunately carry negative consequences.
10:45 am
The plain and simple fact is Rowan destroyed this historical building with years of neglect and is now finishing it off with a bulldozer. While a group of young men’s living conditions may not be 100% sanitary, it can not undermine the structural integrity of a house. However leaving any building interior open and exposed to the weather and holding SWAT and Firefighter training exercises will cripple it every time. Congrats Rowan on the new acreage, the price tag for wiping away history might be a little higher then you think.