Incorporation
There are two distinct and separate Nabor House organizations incorporated under Illinois not-for-profit laws. One, the Fraternity, is for all members. The other, Illinois Chapter, is for undergraduate students only. Although the two are quite intertwined and interactive, each has its own purposes and functions.
As early as 1939, the founders could foresee a future need for two organizations and held some preliminary discussions regarding the matter. These talks dealt mostly with one organization for the student members, another for either alumni only or an overall group to include everyone. Only brief superficial attention focused on the need for two organizations for management purposes; that would come later. Nothing concrete was done regarding two organizations in those first few years. There was not yet a need for them, but the seed had been sown.
When WWII ended and it was clear that Nabor House was well on its way back, it was also clear that many Nabors had been thinking about the future course of the Fraternity. Preliminary thinking was underway about revisiting the constitution. Aware of this, some veterans spent considerable time, while awaiting military discharge, working on a proposeal for a major revision.
Prior to the 1946 Annual Meeting, a committee readied the proposed revision for submission at the meeting to be held Oct. 10, 1946. Adopted, the constitution now called for two organizations. This led to the creation of the Fraternity for both active and alumni members, and the Illinois Chapter for undergraduate members on the campus.
The newly elected Fraternity officers and directors felt an urgency to catch up on loose ends and ground lost during the war as well as to begin new activities to help move the Fraternity forward. So, they began to process of forming the two organizations and carrying out related mandates issues at the Annual Meeting. For the first time, the Fraternity's Board of Directors had a purpose entailing considerable responsibility and authority. It would now function as the executive group for the Fraternity and conduct a goodly share of the day-to-day, routine business.
One of the responsibilities assigned to the Fraternity was ownership of the property. The Fraternity Board was directed to lease the house to the Chapter, starting Jan. 1, 1947. To do this, the Board formed a Building Committee composed of the Fraternity Vice President, the Chapter President, and an active appointed by the Chapter President. Instructed by the Board to work out a lease plan, the Building Committee prepared a budget, determined a rental fee, and worked out a payment schedule. Approved by the Board, the plan set the rent at $1,800 a year with payments of $175 per month for the nine months of September through May and $75 a month, June through July.
As early as 1939, the founders could foresee a future need for two organizations and held some preliminary discussions regarding the matter. These talks dealt mostly with one organization for the student members, another for either alumni only or an overall group to include everyone. Only brief superficial attention focused on the need for two organizations for management purposes; that would come later. Nothing concrete was done regarding two organizations in those first few years. There was not yet a need for them, but the seed had been sown.
When WWII ended and it was clear that Nabor House was well on its way back, it was also clear that many Nabors had been thinking about the future course of the Fraternity. Preliminary thinking was underway about revisiting the constitution. Aware of this, some veterans spent considerable time, while awaiting military discharge, working on a proposeal for a major revision.
Prior to the 1946 Annual Meeting, a committee readied the proposed revision for submission at the meeting to be held Oct. 10, 1946. Adopted, the constitution now called for two organizations. This led to the creation of the Fraternity for both active and alumni members, and the Illinois Chapter for undergraduate members on the campus.
The newly elected Fraternity officers and directors felt an urgency to catch up on loose ends and ground lost during the war as well as to begin new activities to help move the Fraternity forward. So, they began to process of forming the two organizations and carrying out related mandates issues at the Annual Meeting. For the first time, the Fraternity's Board of Directors had a purpose entailing considerable responsibility and authority. It would now function as the executive group for the Fraternity and conduct a goodly share of the day-to-day, routine business.
One of the responsibilities assigned to the Fraternity was ownership of the property. The Fraternity Board was directed to lease the house to the Chapter, starting Jan. 1, 1947. To do this, the Board formed a Building Committee composed of the Fraternity Vice President, the Chapter President, and an active appointed by the Chapter President. Instructed by the Board to work out a lease plan, the Building Committee prepared a budget, determined a rental fee, and worked out a payment schedule. Approved by the Board, the plan set the rent at $1,800 a year with payments of $175 per month for the nine months of September through May and $75 a month, June through July.
The FraternityNabor House Fraternity was incorporated in 1939, as indicated earlier. One of the primary reasons for its incorporation was to establish that the new men's cooperative was a fraternal organization and to ultimately gain recognition for it as a local social fraternity by the University's Dean of Men's Office. Another important reason was to make it a legal entity with the responsibility for and management of business, financial, and legal matters and ownership of property.
The final decision to incorporate was made at a house meeting on March 27, 1939. The plan was to apply for the corporate charter as "Nabor House Corporation." But, following the decision to incorporate, it became apparent that some details needed more attention before the application was finalized. Not the leas of these was the exact name of the organization to be put on the application. "Nabor House Fraternity" was the eventual choice to strengthen the bid for approval by the University and to further demonstrate that the organization was indeed fraternal in nature. An application was completed, citing the Fraternity's object as the purpose of the organization. The five founders, who were to be directors if the corporation were approved, signed the application before a notary of public and forwarded it with the $10 filing fee on April 21, 1939, to the Secretary of State. The result is history: the carter was granted April 29, 1939. Obtaining the charter provided fiscal, legal, and tax advantages to the Fraternity, too. Incorporation also served to finalize the organization's name. |
The ChapterOn May 20, 1947, the active chapter forwarded its application to the Secretary of State for a charter as a nonprofit corporation in Illinois. Clarence L. Oeth, '47 1/2, James H. Litchfield, '47, and Everett J. Smiley, '48, signed the application, stating the purpose to be: "To provide a home for students in the College of Agriculture at the University of Illinois, we are operating a residential property on a not for profit cooperative basis." Listed as the first directors were Clarence L. Oeth, '47 1/2; Paul J. Ferree, '48; and Donald N. Duvick, '48. The charter was granted July 1, 1948, listing "Illinois Chapter Nabor House Fraternity" on the charter as the corporation's legal name. The chief reason for incorporating the chapter was to make it a legal body with the authority and responsibility for managing its business, financial, and legal matters, and having ownership of any property it accumulated. Improved functioning of Nabor House resulted from forming the two corporations, and so another milestone in its history had been reached.
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