Double Secret Probation: Chapter 11

The credit crunch is being felt in every corner of American life, even fraternity row.

The Beta Theta Pi chapter at DePauw University in Indiana has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, burdened by a $1 million mortgage.

The holder of the mortgage? Only the Wall Street firm that is currently in the eye of the credit storm, Lehman Brothers.

Lehman obtained the mortgage when it acquired Capital Crossing Bank of Boston last year for $210 million.

Beta house corporation president Dave Krebs told The DePauw college newspaper that the chapter was in talks with Lehman over a reorganization plan for the fraternity.

Beta Theta Pi was the first fraternity on the campus, arriving in 1845, and is said to be among the most popular of the 11 residential fraternities at the school.

The mortgage was taken out to pay for a $2 million renovation that rewired the 1957 house and added a new smoke alarm and sprinkler systems and more bathrooms. The work was completed in August 1999.

Like a new Wall Street C.E.O. bemoaning decisions made by previous management, the chapter's president, Greg Giometti, told the college paper that the chapter's situation was a result of that decision to renovate.

"It was a different group of students, a different alumni board and a different housing corporation that did the initial renovations," he said. "We're dealing with the fallout of that, and this is how we've decided to do it"

The chapter has 51 students. In bankruptcy court documents, the house lists monthly expenses of $400 for "social."

That should be enough for a few kegs of beer to get through bankruptcy. Toga!

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