Pi Kappa Alpha needs you!
On Wednesday, September 19, 2007, between 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST all Fraternities and Sororities are conducting a “Phone March” on Capitol Hill to bolster Congressional support for the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act (H.R. 643/S. 638).
We need you to call your legislators and ask them to co-sponsor the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act. Your call will show lawmakers how important this legislation is to their constituents and to the Greek community nationwide
Pi Kappa Alpha fully supports this legislation because it will help provide for much needed life safety enhancements in Pike houses. Please refer to
www.fraternalcaucus.org for more detailed information on this legislation.
RIGHT NOW, while it’s on your mind, place a reminder in your calendar and in your PDA or phone. As well, spread the word to others, your Greek friends, parents of students currently in school, and university officials.
On September 19th follow these 4 easy steps!
STEP 1: Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected with your U.S. Representative and both of your Senators. If you don’t know who they are, check these links first:
www.house.gov and
www.senate.gov.
STEP 2: When connected with the appropriate office, ask to speak with the staff member who handles tax issues. If that person is not available, ask to speak with the education staffer. If neither staff member is available, leave a voice mail or speak with the person answering the phone.
STEP 3: Below are some sample talking points for your calls:
SAMPLE TALKING POINTS:
• I live in your district/State and I am calling to ask your boss to become a co-sponsor of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act (H.R. 643 in the House or S. 638 in the Senate) and to push for its passage. I am also a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.
• I am concerned that many not-for-profit student housing facilities, including fraternity and sorority housing, are unable to use certain charitable contributions to fund safety upgrades and other necessary infrastructure improvements.
• Rising enrollment is creating severe housing shortages on college campuses nationwide and not-for-profit housing is becoming more and more crucial to ensuring that students have access to safe and affordable housing options.
• Fraternities and sororities provide housing for over 250,000 students each year at no cost to the host institution, but much of this housing is in dire need of costly life safety upgrades and infrastructure improvements.
• Currently, tax-deductible contributions to fraternity and sorority foundations cannot be used for most infrastructure improvements to housing they own and operate, but contributions to colleges and universities can. The result is we lack the funding needed to make fire and life safety improvements or other improvements that would modernize our housing. This bill would eliminate this restriction and help fraternities and sororities, as well as other not-for-profit housing operations, to install modern life safety equipment, such as fire sprinklers, smoke detectors, and alarm systems.
• The bill has been endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), two of the leading associations of higher education institutions.
STEP 4: Visit
www.fraternalcaucus.org and click on “2007 Greek Phone March Contact Form.” Complete the form summarizing your conversations with Congressional offices so that our national Greek leaders can track your involvement and plan appropriate follow-up steps. While on the website, please register as a member under the “Get Involved” tab if you have not already done so.
Thanks for your support of this important legislation!
Fraternally,
Raymond L. Orians
Executive Vice President
Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity
