An expansion of the Oak Lane community, along with changes to Virginia Tech’s weapons and interim suspension policies, are on the agenda as the university’s Board of Visitors meets this weekend.
The Finance and Audit Committee and the Buildings and Grounds Committee are considering approval of a new Phase IV space to the Oak Lane community.
The cost of the houses would be split between the Greek chapters and university. Greek chapters will pay about a third of the cost of the project to the Virginia Tech Foundation, while the university would take on the rest of the cost. The proposed houses would range in cost from about $2 million-$4 million each.
“We won’t actually know that until the designs are completed, and we know what the corporations want to build,” said Sherwood Wilson, vice president of administrative services.
Ed Spencer, vice president for student affairs, said that the expansion could be seen as a discount for the university.
“It is the same thing as building a new residence hall,” Spencer said. “Instead of having the whole cost of project, we’ll save a third of the costs of each house.”
Funding for the project will come from auxiliary revenue from Tech’s residential programs. The university hopes to get the Board’s approval for $23.5 million in support for the project.
Tech would own the new houses, and the Greek chapters would be the primary residents of the houses. While a chapter losing its charter would lose its house, it would have the ability to regain it own house upon it reapproval.
Currently, the three Greek chapters that have signed onto the space are Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi, and Beta Theta Pi.
Robert Sowell, a junior economics major and president of Tech’s chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said the proposed move to an on-campus residency has sparked much debate between fraternity brothers.
“There’s a lot of push back,” Sowell said. “We’ve been in our house for 40 years.”
Sowell said the house’s age has impacted its value.
“Being so old, it’s hard to justify continually putting money into the house,” Sowell said. “It’s like putting money into a black hole. We’re just not getting as much return out of it.”
While only three chapters have formally expressed interest in the first space, the new Phase IV area at full capacity could hold 17 chapter houses. The proposed expansion of the Phase IV housing area may threaten the existence of the Virginia Tech Golf Course. While the newly proposed space can sustain five houses, any additional houses would stretch over to land used by the golf course, effectively ending the course’s use.
“We’re trying to avoid doing that until we have to,” Spencer said.
A member of Sigma Chi, Spencer said the proposed addition would bring a short-term increase in quality of life for Greek students, along with a long-term increase in alumni loyalty and contributions.
“Greeks are the biggest donors of all,” Spencer said.
The Student Affairs and Athletics Committee will consider two changes to university policy for students, one regarding the storage of ammunition in on-campus residence halls and the other based on the administration of interim suspensions.
The proposed change to Tech’s weapons policy would bar students from storing ammunition in on-campus residence halls. Currently, students are not allowed to store firearms. The proposed change for ammunition would leave exceptions for the storage of BBs and paint balls.
The resolution would also prohibit the storage of stun weapons, defined as “any device that emits a momentary or pulsed output... designed to temporarily incapacitate a person.”
Rohsaan Settle, associate director for the Office of Student Conduct, will make the proposal to the board and said it could be considered a matter of consistency.
“The main point we’re focusing on is having ammunition stored with guns,” Settle said.
Settle noted plans had been made to allow for students to store ammunition with Virginia Tech Police Department. The department currently offers storage for on-campus students’ firearms.
“Now we have created a mechanism for ammo to be stored at VTPD, it allows us to move forward to this resolution,” Settle said.
The proposed change has brought disapproval from student groups. Anderson Wise, a senior history major and president of the Pistol and Rifle club at Virginia Tech, opposed the resolution.
“It feels like it completely inconveniences sportsmen who live on campus,” Wise said.
Wise noted that many freshman members of his organization, along with many officers of the organization, live on-campus.
Spencer said the issue of firearms and ammunition on campus was similar to the idea of pets in residence halls.
“You can have a pet in an off-campus living situation, but you have to give that up to live on-campus,” Spencer said.
Ken Stanton, a graduate student studying engineering education and founder of the Virginia Tech chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, said the rule chaange “has no reason behind it,” and that it was based on speculation on the danger of firearms. Stanton also worried a lack of storage space within VTPD would effectively ration student ammunition capacity.
Changes to Tech’s interim suspension policy are also being considered. The plan would allow for university administrators to immediately remove students labeled a risk to themselves or others.
In the past, students who had not been available for a hearing could not be processed through the system. Some examples of this include students who were incarcerated or were not able to be found.
“This gives us the opportunity to continue the process while still allowing students the opportunity to schedule a hearing,” Settle said.
Not on the agenda for the meeting is a discussion of Tech’s non-discrimination policy.
The policy received attention following a letter from Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, which advised state schools to remove protections for gays from non-discrimination policies to comply with Virginia law, adding that only Virginia’s General Assembly could authorize their inclusion in such policies.
The letter led to the issuing of Executive Directive 1 from Governor Bob McDonnell, which emphasized a “standard of conduct” prohibiting any discrimination, including those based on sexual orientation.
The Board of Visitors is the only university body that could change this policy.
The board will also consider some building construction projects, the creation of a new research corporation, and compensation plans for graduate assistants. The Board of Visitor’s meetings will take place Mar. 21-22.