University of Virginia Library

I have your communication of the 6th inst., informing
me that on June 30, the Corporation will find it
convenient to pay the amount of $100,000 to the University
of Virginia together with the regular quarterly payment of
interest.

I beg to assure you of our very great satisfaction
at this information. We shall immediately take steps to
invest this money in the wisest possible way, and we shall
always retain the liveliest sense of gratitude to the Corporation.

Confirming our conversation of this morning:The
Chi Phi Fraternity would like to lease for the purposes
of building a fraternity house, a plot of land on
Rugby Road between The Gymnasium and the Kappa Sigma house.

It would be our idea to face Kappa Sigma, if
this meets with your approval, and we wish to have an
attractive building which would add to the appearances of the
surrounding grounds and would use plans approved by you
and in keeping with the architecture of the other buildings
of the University.

We would like to have the lease soon, if your
terms are not excessive, so that we can build this summer
and be ready for our returning members when college opens
next September.

Please refer to our letter of May 31st in which
we ask for a lease to a certain piece of land for the use of
the Chi Phi Fraternity:-

As we understand that other fraternities are now
asking the University for a lease on this same piece of land,
we would like to add some information which was not included
in our former letter.

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If this lease is granted us, the Chi Phi's will
build a house costing somewhere about $30,000 to $35,000
and will build it as soon as it is possible under present
conditions, avoiding only necessary waste.

We own outright a building lot on Madison Lane
and two other lots near the new gymnasium. These lots are
unimcumbered and are valued at about $10,000. We will sell
them and use the money towards building on the land leased
of you.

During the past week we have collected $7,500 of our old
men and have promises of $4,000 additional.

Our General Fraternity has also offered to lend us $5,000,
but we expect to build without borrowing so that we can turn
the house over to our local chapter free of debt and believe
that within thirty days we will have all the money we need.

We are also arranging to have the building kept
in repair and looked after generally by a local Trust Company.

And as a claim for preference over any other
fraternity making a lease on this same lot, we want to remind
you that the Chi Phi Fraternity in the spring of 1887
bought of Capt Eugene Davis a part of the grounds now occupied
by the Y. M. C. A.

But before this deed had been made to us, although we had
paid the price, Prof. Noah K. Davis, representing the Y. M.
C. A. requested the Chi Phi's to surrender their lot to the
Y. M. C. A as otherwise it would prevent the erection of
their building, now known as Madison Hall.

Prof. Davis promised us that when we were ready to build our
fraternity house the Y. M. C. A. would deed us a lot 50
by 150 feet at the corner of University Avenue and Madison
Lane.

We tried to get Prof. Davis to put this in writing but were
unable to get more than his oral promise.

But we were students and, trusting in the promise made by
Prof. Davis and also on account of our love for and interest
in the University, we relinquished our lot which has since
become very valuable to the University and would have met
our present needs.

We believe that Prof. W. H. Echols and Dean W.
M. Lile have some knowledge of this transaction.

We offer this, not as a claim to any leagal right
against the University, but, if the University is willing
to lease any lot of its land for fraternity purposes, we
trust that we will have the preference.

Yours respectfully,

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(Signed) Thos. L. Rosser, Jr.
Coleman C. Walker