We've technically been under construction since March 21st, two days after Honors Scholars Weekend ended.  That day a giant backhoe and a bulldozer landed in the front yard.  For the next month and a half everybody complained about the Regnier Hall windows being boarded up or not being able to throw a frisbee in the front yard ad nauseam.  But the outward frustration only masked inner relief and anticipation.  Most of the current undergraduates have been rushed knowing full well that Phi Psi would renovate, but it sometimes seemed like a pipe dream.  Throughout April I myself was still in dreamland, not actually realizing what was happening in my front yard.  We treated the 7 am jackhammer wake-up calls and lost parking spots due to Brandt's trailer as just another adjustment. We make them all the time.  Things change.  It wasn't until the days after finals week ended up through the days following commencement that I comprehended the power of this situation.  Terry Hamilton '89 always told me that there's nothing like a full house of Phi Psi's to get through any problem (forgive me Terry, for butchering your quotation).  And that was never more true than from March 21-May 5.  We treated a $2.8 million renovation as just another minor adjustment because close to 60 guys wouldn't let each other be defeated by its inconveniences.  But when classes ended, the house emptied.  For me, that is when this renovation project began.

Any and everything was out of the house by May 16th.  President John Meara '07 and Treasurer Ben Bly '08 worked 12 hour days moving the house's belongings into a storage trailer, while cleaning at the same time.  It was empty.  It was being renovated.  Just two days ago, Jay Leatherman '07 and I stopped inside to see the progress: all the doors, walls, and ceilings have been stripped and the remains lie in the center of each room.  There is no power and no water.  The chapter room looks like a ghost town.  Not even the closets in the back remain.  "Its actually happening," Jay said with a smile on his face as we walked out of the kitchen, empty of pots and pans and even the smell of Sherry's breakfast. But she'll be back with us at the old FIJI house next semester.  On the whole, the undergraduates don't say much about living at 213 W. Jefferson. We've gotten really good at seeing the big picture.  We've taken the opportunity of living away from 602 for a semester as a challenge: one and done, then our new home.  It's been said that a fraternity is not made of walls, but men.  We believe that, and we'll endure and prosper on the other side of campus.

On May 14th, Andrew Sargent graduated from Wabash College.  I got to meet his parents, who had never been to Wabash before.  It was their first trip from Hamden, CT.  In his parents' tour of Phi Psi, he kept saying "But you have to imagine what it would be like without the construction."  For Andrew and many of us, our memories must suffice.  When this project is completed we won't have the same walls or doors, the chapter room will have been moved, and the cold dorm miniaturized.  But we'll surely make memories.  That's one thing that never changes. -Kyle Long '07