The ZBT House was a 75-year-old Washington University institution. The building was demolished last July, but the space it sat on is still serving Jewish students. Chabad on Campus is now using the lot for its events. That has been a blessing for the Chabad, which has seen an influx of students seeking a closer connection to Judaism.
Failing foundation, burst pipes
The two-story brick Tudor-style house at 7020 Forsyth Blvd. had been home for the Alpha xi chapter of Zeta Beta Tau since 1946. It was built in 1921 and like many older homes, the foundation began to deteriorate. In 2015, University City officials inspected the building and posted a condemnation notice. That forced the students living in the house to seek alternative campus housing.
Over the next nine years, the building faced more serious structural issues. In 2022, Howard Weiser, a ZBT alum and 1983 graduate (who began at Washington University and completed his studies at the University of Missouri), became a volunteer financial advisor to the chapter. He serves as a trustee for the Alpha Xi ZBT corporation that legally owns the property. Weiser primarily assisted the chapter members with financial counseling. That role evolved to taking on the challenges of a building in desperate need of repairs.
“In early 2022, the pipes had frozen and during the winter break the house became severely impaired,” Weiser said. “On the second floor, the pipes burst and there was no one there. For a couple of days, water poured through the house.”
Weiser and two other ZBT trustees needed to figure out the logical next steps. Ideally, if funds were available, that would mean a gut rehab and water remediation.
“Half of the house was stripped down to studs and damage was even worse than we had imagined,” Weiser said. “The price range for refurbishing the building was $400,000 at the low end just to fix studs, fix floor joists, get walls put back up and painted. There were also issues with tuckpointing the roof. The high end of the bid was close to $1 million.”
Savings held by the ZBT chapter weren’t anywhere close to that level and fundraising to secure that amount of money would have taken years. Meanwhile, the house was vacant, which meant other potential problems.
“We were concerned about squatters or vagrants, and we started noticing that someone had been going through the house,” Weiser said. “One of our concerns was if we were to just leave the building condemned, it would continue to deteriorate. We made the very tough decision to demolish the house all the way down to its foundation.”
Chabad On Campus growth
After the house was torn down, its next-door neighbor, Chabad on Campus, offered a solution that would make good use of the lot and provide a revenue source for ZBT.
“They’ve leased it to Chabad, and we are making good use of it,” said Rabbi Hershey Novack, co-director of Chabad on Campus. “It’s safe, and our community on campus is growing, and the participants are coming from all sides, so we have more space.”
A temporary shelter offers protection from the elements and a fence installed by ZBT provides security. That was an important requirement Novack identified after consulting with Scott Biondo, community security director at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.
“My first call was to Scott to talk about how to make this safe and secure, because this is an important time to think about that,” Novack said. “It’s always important to think about security, but particularly now.”
Biondo also connected Novack with Greg Yawitz, past president of the Jewish Federation and CEO of KEAT Properties. Yawitz provided counsel and advice on how to proceed with a lease. Now, Chabad on Campus has access to much-needed additional space to host large gatherings of students.
“We host a Chabad dinner every Friday night and anywhere between 250 and 400 students show up,” Novack said. “Now we have this outdoor area. It’s very important that young people have a place to participate and feel safe and comfortable. That’s why this partnership from ZBT has come at an opportune time.”
The future of ZBT
The Xi chapter of ZBT, like the national organization, has a mission of preparing its brothers for leadership and service within their communities. The chapter also lays claim to a famous alum, Harold Ramis, who graduated in 1966. Ramis, who died in 2014, wrote and starred in “Ghostbusters” and “Stripes.” He directed “Caddyshack” and “Groundhog Day.”
Ramis also co-wrote “Animal House,” which was based in part on his college days as a member of ZBT. The script was a collaboration with two other writers, Doug Kenney (Harvard, 1968) and Chris Miller (Dartmouth, 1963). Most of the debauchery in the movie likely came from the pen of Miller, who used as inspiration his own experience in Alpha Delta.
Membership in Greek life on college campuses has been on the decline for some time. That is a trend Jewish fraternities and sororities share. When Howard Weiser was a student at Mizzou in the early 1980s, he was one of 80 ZBT members. The chapter currently lists 31 members. The Washington University Xi ZBT chapter now has six members, all of whom are seniors. They are a nomadic group when it comes to gathering for meetings. Those half dozen members often participate in Chabad on Campus events. Living arrangements are also cobbled together. Some rent homes from Chabad, an arrangement Weiser called symbiotic.
At some point, Chabad on Campus might be interested in purchasing the ZBT property, but that would require a change in the articles of incorporation for the ZBT association corporation. Those articles state that the board’s actions must be in the interest of the members of the chapter. The logical interpretation of that would mean finding another permanent property or rebuilding on the existing site.
“In consultation with the national housing board of ZBT, we made the decision that following demolition, we would maintain the property and start fundraising,” Weiser said.
Weiser declined to predict whether ZBT at Washington University will be viable in the future, but he is hopeful.
“I am taking the position that with the support of the national fraternity, the chapter may have an opportunity to survive,” he said. “I don’t know what things will look like in 10 years. I remain optimistic that the chapter will survive, but I’m also a realist in that the winds are not quite blowing in the direction we need them to.”
