Cajoling to Keep the Fraternity House Open

March 25, 2026 by Shawn Collins

Each year, our fraternity house in College Park, MD, had to undergo city inspections to ensure compliance with housing and life safety codes. These inspections were conducted by the City’s Department of Public Services.

The list of things to repair in the house was long. If I remember correctly, we’d have around one-hundred or more items to fix or replace around the house to pass inspection. It was an onerous and expensive list every year.

One year, when I was the fraternity vice-president (or IMC, as we called it), I came up with an idea to massage the city manager’s ego, hopefully making our inspections go more smoothly. So, I created a raffle for a “basket of cheer,” with the proceeds going towards the inevitable bills to fix the house.

I approached Don Byrd, the City Manager of College Park, MD, who oversaw the house inspections, and I asked if he would be willing to select the winner of our raffle. I explained that we had a vote among the brothers to determine which local official we respected most, and that Don Byrd was the winner. He was very flattered by that vote that never happened.

We sold lots of raffle tickets and raised money for the house, which was definitely helpful, but the biggest benefit for us was that the city took it way easier on us during the inspection that time around.

Don was proud that a bunch of hooligan frat boys respected him, and we were all happy to have a doable list to fix things and pass inspection. And, the winner of the “basket of cheer” was happy to get the prize. There wasn’t an actual basket, but there was a lot of cheer.

This was one of the most important lessons I learned in my five years of college. And it’s very simple… the Law of Reciprocity, the Golden Rule, Quid pro quo, or whatever you prefer to call it. The end result is that when someone does something for you, you feel obligated to reciprocate.

It doesn’t always work out that way, but it did in this case.

Originally published at https://shawncollins512.substack.com.

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