Fraternity History & More

It Is Déjà Vu All Over Again!

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

“It’s déjà vu all over again!” is the title of the previous post. It is a saying credited to Yogi Berra although some have said that he repeated the line and didn’t coin it. I give Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra the credit anyway because it fits his personality. Berra died yesterday at age 90 having lived a long and prosperous life. He was born in the Hill section of St. Louis, where the Italian immigrants settled. He wasn’t a fraternity man. In fact, he didn’t make it to high school, but his passion for baseball served him well.

Today the Pope is in Washington, D.C. on his tour of the United States. I have several friends who will get to see the Pope up close and personal. One of them is part of Pi Beta Phi’s National Panhellenic Conference delegation. Oriana Bertucci was initiated into the Pi Phi chapter at the University of Guelph. After graduation, she served as a Leadership Development Consultant, followed by a stint working in the organization’s headquarters in St. Louis. When a job opened up back in Canada near family, she became the Director of Ryerson University’s Catholic Campus Ministry. She’ll be seeing the Pope in Philadelphia although it is not the first time she has seen him. She could be called a Pope groupie, and I love hearing her stories about her sightings of the Pope.

Oriana Bertucci, Pi Beta Phi, courtesy of the Toronto Star (article at http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/09/21/papal-us-visit-spurs-gta-catholics-to-head-south.html)

I have a few fun historical posts in the works, but there are not enough hours in a day to complete them yet. Frankly, I’d forgotten how much time goes into running a one-hour Rotary Club meeting each week. Three months down, nine more to go! The mum sale (or that “damn mum sale” as I like to call it) has us at the breaking even point with 90 more mums to sell. Had every member sold 10 mums we would not be in this spot, we’d be closer to the $1,200 we are raising for a local organization. When hundreds of mum are delivered to my home next week, I hope that they will disappear quickly. Although it’s been decades since I was a sorority chapter president, the feeling is déjà vu all over again. I need to read T.J. Sullivan’s Motivating the Middle. I am grateful for the members who give 110% and truly believe in Service Above Self. The one member who sent me an email saying although she could sell the poinsettias we’ve sold each December, she could not imagine how she would sell mums. She gave it her best try and sold about 20!

Moreover, we are weeks away from a wedding. Our daughter had planned a rustic fall at an Old Feed Store; a very big snafu put an end to that. She scrambled to find an alternate venue which has the same rustic feel. You can bet that there will be many mums decorating the church and reception venue!

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/

Posted in Fran Favorite | Tagged Motivating the Middle. Pi Beta Phi, Oriana Bertucci, T.J. Sullivan, Yogi Berra | Comments Off

#NHPW2015 – It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again!

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Working with any group of students on a college campus, be it a sports team, the French club, the jazz ensemble, or a Greek-letter organization, can be like the movie Groundhog Day. Each year the faces change, with a number of students graduating and another group joining the mix, but the same things need to be said again and again.

What if all one knew about fraternities and sororities was learned through films, television, and through the news? If that is all one knew of Greek-letter organizations, what would one expect from the experience? Would one expect wild parties, hazing, and a dumb-as-doorknobs group of friends?

If one joined a Greek-letter organization knowing only what was viewed and read, would one be ready for hazing or even desire to be hazed like the characters in a film? Would one even realize that there are standards and expectations about behavior, scholarship, community service and the member’s role in the college community? Would one know that letters are always being worn whether they were on one’s chest or not? Would one realize that every act would reflect on one’s organization, whether it was a good action or a bad one?

This begins National Hazing Awareness Week (#NHAW15) when Greek-letter organizations and campuses across the country promote an awareness of hazing through social media and on-campus events. Speakers have been making the rounds talking about hazing and how to spot it and change the culture when it does exist. Banners are displayed, events take place, and members sign a written pledge not to haze.

Is hazing something that might only occur in Greek-letter organizations? No, unfortunately it is not. This morning an article on hazing within bands, those musical groups which usually perform half-time shows during football games, came across my twitter feed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/28/are-college-marching-bands-hotbeds-hazing

Professional sports teams seem to delight in hazing rookie players and those actions don’t seem to bring the scorn that other hazing incidents do. The media’s tendency to glamorize those incidents is unfortunate. Hazing is hazing wherever it occurs.

Each GLO is faced with the challenge of undergraduate chapters with a yearly turnover of members, a need for constant education regarding the GLO’s values, policies, and procedures, and the availability of committed and knowledgeable alumni/ae advisors. Those undergraduate members are the face of the organization on college campuses in the U.S. and Canada, although they are the members with the least knowledge of the organization. And every stupid thing they may do without thinking of the ramifications reflects poorly on the entire organization and GLO world. Our detractors do not know the Greek alphabet and to them we are all the same organization.

Hazing Prevention.org (hpo) was founded by Tracy Maxwell in 2007 and each year a concerted effort is made to bring awareness to hazing at the beginning of the academic year. To add a picture to the “These Hands Don’t Haze” mosaic, visit http://hazingprevention.org/home/prevention/these-hands-dont-haze/.

Hank Nuwer, the author of a number of books on hazing, was a founding board of directors member of hpo. He has written extensively about hazing, but he is also a novelist and a journalism professor. The list of GLO members who perished on September 11, 2001 which I published here, has its roots in a list he hosted on his website that sad day 14 years ago. He graciously allowed me to use it as a starting point for my list. I verified each name and gathered additional names. It would have been an almost impossible task, had it not been for the “as it was happening” list that he hosted on his website.

Hank Nuwer’s recent novel, a work of western and historical fiction.

***

Last week I learned of the death of Peter D. Hannaford. David Pietrusza wrote this on the Calvin Coolidge Foundation website:

Coolidge scholar and key Reagan adviser Peter D. Hannaford died at age 82 at his Eureka, California home on September 5, 2015. His 2001 book, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge: Sensible Words for a New Century, helped set the stage for the current renaissance in Coolidge scholarship and appreciation. (for the rest of the post see https://coolidgefoundation.org/blog/in-memory-of-peter-hannaford/)

Hannaford was my late sister’s father-in-law. I met him at my sister’s wedding and at her funeral. Over lunch and dinner, while I was at my sister’s home packing up her clothing, I asked him about how when he met President Reagan and their working together.

My condolences to Irene, his wife of 61 years, sons Richard and Donald, and grandchildren Thomas and Patricia.

The book about Ronald Reagan’s formative years in Illinois was a gift from the author, my brother-in-law’s father. Ronald Reagan was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon chapter at Eureka College.

Posted in Fran Favorite | Tagged #NHPW15, Calvin Coolidge Foundation, Coolidge Foundation, David Pietrusza, Hank Nuwer, HazingPrevention.org, Peter D. Hannaford, Peter Hannaford, Ronald Reagan, Tau Kappa Epsilon | Comments Off

Alpha Phi’s 143th and GLO Social Media Feeds

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

There are several GLOs which do not celebrate Founders’ Day on the actually date of founding. Alpha Phi was founded on September 18, 1872; it is stated in the minutes of Alpha chapter’s November 4, 1872 meeting. However, Alpha Phi celebrates Founders’ Day on October 10.

Here’s a link to a post about Jane Marie Bancroft Robinson, an Alpha Phi who was active in deaconess work. http://wp.me/p20I1i-es

Jane Bancroft Robinson

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Ellen Swain, the University of Illinois Student Life and Culture Archivist (and a recent convention initiate of Pi Beta Phi) recently wrote a blog post about some pictures which were sent to the archives. The story involves a Kappa Alpha Theta and an Alpha Sigma Phi. http://archives.library.illinois.edu/slc/rekindling-lost-love/

Photo courtesy of UofI Student Life Archives

Paul Wieland and Diane Rutter at a Kappa Alpha Theta formal. (Photo courtesy of U of I Student Life and Cultures Archives)

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The Sigma Alpha Mu twitter feed had a touching story written by the daughter of a Sigma Alpha Mu founder. founder http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/cityroom/2015/09/13/a-rabbi-from-uber/?_r=0&referrer

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John-Luc Banks, a Delta Sigma Phi at North Carolina State University, penned a heartfelt letter to students considering suicide after a student intentionally fell to his death on the campus. https://www.facebook.com/notes/10153255604137833/?pnref=story suicide NCstate

Posted in Alpha Phi, Alpha Sigma Phi, Delta Sigma Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Sigma Alpha Mu, Student Life and Culture Archival Program, Syracuse University, University of Illinois | Tagged Alpha Phi, Alpha Sigma Phi, Ellen Swain, Jean Marie Bancroft, Jean-Luc Banks, Kappa Alpha Theta, North, Syracuse University, University of Illinois | Comments Off

ΣX’s Merlin Olsen Day, ΦKΨ’s Constitution Day, and ΣΦE’s Trek on a Giant

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Sigma Chi’s 6th Merlin Olsen Day of Service took place on Tuesday. It has been held annually on September 15 since 2010. The day honors the philanthropic spirit of Merlin Olsen, a 1962 initiate of the Sigma Chi chapter at Utah State University. Olsen played football at Utah State and then went on to become a Pro Football Hall of Fame member.

Olsen also served as a long-time spokesman for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and was also a committed Sigma Chi. He was named to the fraternity’s Order of Constantine as well as being a Significant Sig.

‏@Watsonmymind92

I was able to #HonorMerlin today by taking lunch, with my coworkers to the local police force. #lifelongcommitment

Some of our brothers giving back to the community by volunteering in honor of Merlin Olsen service day. #HonorMerlin

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Today, September 17, is Phi Kappa Psi’s Consititution Day. It happens to fall on the United State’s Constitution Day. The U.S. Constitution Day recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and U.S. citizens. September 17, 1787, is the day upon which the delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document.

Phi Kappa Psi members are encouraged to wear their badge and fly the fraternity’s flag. Constitution Day marks the 129th anniversary of the fraternity’s undergrad-alumni shared governance.

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The video of the day comes from the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. Sleeping Giant State Park is located near the campus. It’s called Sleeping Giant because the traprock mountain resembles to a sleeping human figure.

Joey Mullaney, a member of the chapter, suffers from Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), a debilitating, degenerative neuro-muscular disorder, and is confined to a wheelchair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxYfB5YOzbk. The chapter members took turns carrying him to the top of the Sleeping Giant.

On October 11, the chapter is sponsoring a 10-mile bike ride on the Farmington Canal Trail through Hamden and Cheshire. The funds raised will support FARA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to FA research.

Posted in Fran Favorite, Phi Kappa Psi, Quinnipiac University, Sigma Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Utah State University | Tagged Constitution Day, Hamden, Joey Mullaney, Merlin Olsen, Merlin Olsen Day of Service, PhiKappa Psi, Quinnipiac University, Sigma Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sleeping Giant State Park | Comments Off

A Death, a Greek Village, and a Highway Clean-Up and GLO Connections

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Delta State University Professor Ethan Schmidt, Ph.D. was killed in a shooting on Monday morning. He was killed by another professor while sitting in his office on the DSU campus in Mississippi. Schmidt was a member of the Emporia State chapter of Phi Delta Theta and served as his chapter’s president. Phi Delta Theta’s facebook page contained this posting:

Phi Delta Theta Fraternity

Sending our deepest sympathies to the friends, brothers, and family of Kansas Epsilon (Emporia State) Phi Ethan Schmidt who was shot and killed on campus at Delta State University today.

In coelo quies est Brother Schmidt.

The translation of Phi Delta Theta obituary epitaph, “In coelo quies est” is “In Heaven there is Rest.” John McMillan Wilson, a Phi Delta Theta founder, used the phrase in his memoirs and the fraternity continues the tradition. Condolences to Dr. Schmidt’s friends, family, and Phi Delt brothers.

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The Greek Life community at the University of Arizona received a wonderful gift last month. Geraldo Rivera, a Tau Delta Phi from the U of A chapter, and his wife Erica, donated $500,000 for the construction of a Greek Heritage Park. It will be construction near First Avenue and Cherry Avenue. According to a press release, the park will “serve as a functional center in the heart of the Greek Village for chapter and community events, fund development and donor recognition. The space will honor more than 50,000 UA Greek alumni and the 90 organizations that have been a part of the UA Greek community since 1915.”

Rivera, in addition to being the 2015 recipient of the Order of Omega Greek Hall of Fame Award, graduated from West Babylon High School on Long Island, NY. I am also a graduate of the same high school.

***

Here’s a shout out to the Kappa Alphas on the SIUC campus and a thank you to all the GLOs who have adopted a spot to clean. It’s not an easy job (my Rotary Club adopted a stretch of highway, so I speak from experience), but it makes the highway look so much cleaner.

‏@SIUKappaAlpha

The first time out at our Adopt-A-Highway! Keep an eye out for our sign on Route 13. #SIUKA15

Kappa Alphas on Highway 13 in Carbondale, IL.

Posted in Fran Favorite | Tagged Carbondale, Delta State University, Ethan Schmidt, Geraldo Rivera, Kappa Alpha Order, Phi Delta Theta, SIUC, Southern Illinois University, Tau Delta Phi, University of Arizone, West Babylon High School | Comments Off

There She Almost Is…Miss America 2016 – Will She Be a Sorority Woman?

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Congratulations to Miss America 2016, Betty Cantrell, Miss Georgia. She is not a member of a GLO as far as I can tell. She studied at Wesleyan College, where Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu were founded. It no longer has sororities. I could find no social media information about her membership in a Mercer University sorority.

4th runner-up, Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin, Phi Mu, Auburn University (2nd runner-up for Miss America Quality of Life Award for outstanding community service)

3rd runner-up, Miss Louisiana, April Nelson, Alpha Phi, Oklahoma City University (Talent preliminary winner)

1st runner-up, Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts, Kappa Delta, University of Southern Mississippi (STEM Scholarship Winner)

TOP 7

Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin, Phi Mu, Auburn University (2nd runner-up for Miss America Quality of Life Award for outstanding community service)

Miss Louisiana, April Nelson, Alpha Phi, Oklahoma City University (Talent preliminary winner)

Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts, Kappa Delta, University of Southern Mississippi (STEM Scholarship Winner)

Miss Tennessee, Hannah Robison, Alpha Omicron Pi, University of Tennessee at Martin (1st runner-up for Miss America Quality of Life Award for outstanding community service, STEM Scholarship winner) – People’s Choice Winner

TOP 10

Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin, Phi Mu, Auburn University (2nd runner-up for Miss America Quality of Life Award for outstanding community service)

Miss Florida, Mary Katherine Fechtel, Kappa Delta, University of Florida (Lifestyle and Fitness preliminary winner)

Miss Louisiana, April Nelson, Alpha Phi, Oklahoma City University (Talent preliminary winner)

Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts, Kappa Delta, University of Southern Mississippi (STEM Scholarship Winner)

Miss Oklahoma, Georgia Frazier, Alpha Chi Omega, University of Oklahoma

Miss Texas, Shannon Sanderford, Chi Omega, University of Oklahoma

TOP 12

Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin, Phi Mu, Auburn University (2nd runner-up for Miss America Quality of Life Award for outstanding community service)

Miss Florida, Mary Katherine Fechtel, Kappa Delta, University of Florida (Lifestyle and Fitness preliminary winner)

Miss Louisiana, April Nelson, Alpha Phi, Oklahoma City University (Talent preliminary winner)

Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts, Kappa Delta, University of Southern Mississippi (STEM Scholarship Winner)

Miss Nebraska, Alyssa Howell, Pi Beta Phi, Creighton University

Miss Oklahoma, Georgia Frazier, Alpha Chi Omega, University of Oklahoma

Miss Tennessee, Hannah Robison, Alpha Omicron Pi, University of Tennessee at Martin (1st runner-up for Miss America Quality of Life Award for outstanding community service, STEM Scholarship winner) – People’s Choice Winner

Miss Texas, Shannon Sanderford, Chi Omega, University of Oklahoma

TOP 15

Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin, Phi Mu, Auburn University (2nd runner-up for Miss America Quality of Life Award for outstanding community service)

Miss Arkansas, Loren McDaniel, Kappa Delta, University of Arkansas

Miss Florida, Mary Katherine Fechtel, Kappa Delta, University of Florida (Lifestyle and Fitness preliminary winner)

Miss Louisiana, April Nelson, Alpha Phi, Oklahoma City University (Talent preliminary winner)

Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts, Kappa Delta, University of Southern Mississippi (STEM Scholarship Winner)

Miss Nebraska, Alyssa Howell, Pi Beta Phi, Creighton University

Miss Oklahoma, Georgia Frazier, Alpha Chi Omega, University of Oklahoma

Miss Texas, Shannon Sanderford, Chi Omega, University of Oklahoma

Miss West Virginia, Chelsea Malone is a brother of Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity.

Tonight, from Atlantic City, Miss America 2016 will be crowned. The traditional There She Is…. song, made famous by Bert Parks, will be sung for the first time in a number of years. The program is produced by dick clark productions. Although he is deceased, Clark’s company is alive and well. Clark was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter at Syracuse University.

The preliminary competitions are over. Of the preliminary judges, Jenni Pulos is a Pi Beta Phi and James Brown, III, is a Kappa Alpha Psi. Among the celebrity judges at the Sunday night competition are Lambda Chi Alpha Brett Eldredge and Alpha Delta Pi Danica McKellar.

Below is a list of sorority women who will compete for the Miss America 2016, to the best of my sleuthing abilities.

Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin, Phi Mu, Auburn University (2nd runner-up for Miss America Quality of Life Award for outstanding community service)

Miss Arkansas, Loren McDaniel, Kappa Delta, University of Arkansas

Miss California, Bree Morse, Delta Gamma, California State University – Long Beach

Miss Florida, Mary Katherine Fechtel, Kappa Delta, University of Florida (Lifestyle and Fitness preliminary winner)

Miss Kansas, Hannah Wagner, Alpha Phi, Wichita State University

Miss Louisiana, April Nelson, Alpha Phi, Oklahoma City University (Talent preliminary winner)

Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts, Kappa Delta, University of Southern Mississippi (STEM Scholarship Winner)

Miss Nebraska, Alyssa Howell, Pi Beta Phi, Creighton University

Miss Nevada, Katherine Kelley, Alpha Chi Omega, University of Alabama

Miss New Mexico, Marissa Livingson, Pi Beta Phi, University of New Mexico

Miss New York, Jamie Lynn Macchia, Alpha Omicron Pi, Wagner College

Miss Ohio, Sarah Hider, Chi Omega, Ohio University

Miss Oklahoma, Georgia Frazier, Alpha Chi Omega, University of Oklahoma

Miss Rhode Island, Alexandra Curtis, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Syracuse University

Miss Texas, Shannon Sanderford, Chi Omega, University of Oklahoma

Miss Wyoming, Mikaela Shaw, Chi Omega, University of Wyoming

Additionally, Chelsea Malone, Miss West Virginia, is a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity.

For the list of sorority women who have worn the Miss American crown see http://wp.me/p20I1i-zK.

Posted in Fran Favorite | Tagged Miss America 2016 | Comments Off

Happy 150th Alpha Tau Omega!

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Before September 11 became a day of national tragedy, it was a date important to all Alpha Tau Omega members. On September 11, 1865, 150 years ago, Alpha Tau Omega was founded by three young Virginia Military Institute cadets – Otis Allan Glazebrook, Alfred Marshall, and Erskine Mayo Ross.

Those three young men, Glazebrook, Marshall, and Ross, had been participants in another national tragedy, our Civil War. As VMI cadets, the three, along with most of their classmates, took part in the Battle of New Market.

The ages of 257 VMI cadets who fought in the battle ranged from 15 to 25, but most were like the three ATO founders, between 17 and 21 years old. Ten cadets would die in action or of their wounds. Another 45 were wounded.

This is the story of Alpha Tau Omega from its website:

Alpha Tau Omega began as an idea in the mind of a young Civil War veteran who wanted peace and reconciliation. His name was Otis Allan Glazebrook. His people were defeated, many of their cities burned, much of their countryside ravaged. But Glazebrook, who had helped bury the dead of both sides, believed in a better future. He saw the bitterness and hatred that followed the silencing of the guns and knew that a true peace would come not from force of law, but rather from with the hearts of men who were willing to work to rekindle a spirit of brotherly love.

Most people weren’t ready for sermons on brotherly love. John Wise, a classmate of Glazebrook’s at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, and a member of Beta Theta Pi, put it this way when he wrote of that time: ‘For four years we had been fighting. In that struggle, all we loved had been lost… in blood and flame and torture the temples of our lives were tumbling about our head… we were poor, starved, conquered, despairing; and to expect men to have no malice and no vindictiveness at such a time is to look for angels in human form.’

Glazebrook, deeply religious at age 19, believed that younger men like himself might be more willing to accept, forgive, and reunite with the Northern counterparts if motivated by Christian, brotherly love. But he needed an organization, a means of gathering and organizing like-minded people. That was why a letter caught his attention. As cadet adjunct for the VMI Cadet Corps, Glazebrook routinely handled mail addressed to the Institute’s Superintendent, General Francis H. Smith. One such letter came from an official of a leading northern fraternity who wanted help in reviving his southern chapters. (The South lost all 142 of its fraternity chapters during the war, and it was only with great effort that they were revived and expanded.) Fascinated, Glazebrook asked Gen. Smith about fraternities. As Gen. Smith explained what they were, Glazebrook knew he had found his organization.

Glazebrook invited Marshall and Ross to his home at 114 East Clay Street in Richmond, Virginia, on September 11, 1865. He read them the Constitution he wrote and then invited his friends to sign it. In doing so, Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity was founded making it the first fraternity created after the Civil War.

: Otis Allan Glazebrook (Photo courtesy of VMI Archives)

As a VMI cadet, Otis Allan Glazebrook served as a Corporal of Company D. He graduated first in the Class of 1866. Although he had an interest in the law, he enrolled in the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. Glazebrook was ordained in 1869.

He was a personal friend of President Woodrow Wilson, a Phi Kappa Psi. In 1914, after a career as a pastor, Glazebrook was appointed as the U.S. Consul to Jerusalem and shortly thereafter he became responsible for the the interests of eight nations in the Holy Land. In 1920, he was sent to Nice, France, and served as U.S. Consul there until his retirement in 1929. He died in 1931.

Erskine Mayo Ross served in Company A as a 1st (orderly) sergeant. He had a long and distinguished career as a lawyer and judge. When he retired from his post as a member of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Judicial District, President Calvin Coolidge commented on Ross’ service. The President, a Phi Gamma Delta, noted Ross had a “record which will long stand as a memorial to a just and fearless and able judge.” Ross died in 1928.

Both Glazebrook and Ross were involved as alumni of Alpha Tau Omega. Alfred Marshall never had that chance. As a VMI cadet, Marshall served as a Corporal in Company D. After graduation he began his career as a civil engineer. He died of yellow fever on September 22, 1870 while working in Mobile, Alabama.

A few other early initiates of ATO were also veterans of the Battle of New Market. These include the first initiate, John Garland James, as well as Archibald Waller Overton and Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie.

The Battle of New Market painting which hangs in the Alpha Tau Omega headquarters in Indianapolis.

At ATO’s 150th celebration held in early August, ATO’s National Chaplain, Rev. Comforted Keen, spoke about the cadets, their spirituality, and the Battle of New Market. It was a powerful and moving talk about the lives of those three young men on the battlefield and how their lives intersected with the lives of the young men in the audience.

Rev. Comforted Keen, ATOs National Chaplain, speaking at the 2015 ATO Congress.

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This came across my twitter feed this morning – http://bit.ly/1Lk3pOG. Norrine Ward, is the mother of Curtis, a 1979 graduate of the chapter, and grandmother of Sean, a Sigma Chi from the class of 2018. What a wonderful gesture on the part of the University of Utah Sigma Chi chapter.

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. All rights reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/

Posted in Alpha Tau Omega, Fran Favorite, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Chi, Virginia Military Institute | Tagged Alfred Marshall, Alpha Tau Omega, ATO 150th, Battle of New Market, Calvin Coolidge, Erskine Mayo Ross, Otis Allan Glazebrook, Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Chi, Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, University of Utah, Woodrow Wilson | Comments Off

GLO News and Notes – Labor Day 2015 Edition

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Life has been busy. Last week, we adopted another puppy, in addition to the one who is 18-months-old. When we adopted Coco, the brown dog, after the death of the 14-year-old rat terrier, we told ourselves we’d forgotten how much work a puppy is. We said the same thing this week and it hasn’t been that long since we were training a puppy. I think we’re just a lot more forgetful.

Max is the black puppy. He’s about 4-months-old. Coco is about 18-months-old.

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Three years ago, Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, issued a mandate that all single-sex fraternities and sororities become coed. Please note that there are already coed GLO options available on campus. The effort was recently abandoned due to little being done to abide by it and a loss of donation income by those opposed to the action. Former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift, an initiate of Trinity College’s Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter, withheld donations because of the coed edict. She was aware that her chapter would be forced to close or lose its affiliation with Kappa Kappa Gamma if the edict had been successful. She stated in a news article, “I think there were a lot of alumni like myself trying to get the administration to look beyond stereotypes and understand the significant value of all women, single-sex institutions … It was a really important part of my undergraduate career, and I believe it served that role for other women.”

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Congratulations to Delta Gamma Dani Weatherford, who was recently appointed the Executive Director of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC). She will begin her work with the organization on Oct. 1, 2015. Weatherford replaced Alpha Chi Omega Nicki Meneley, who. earlier this summer, joined the Fraternity Executive’s Association (FEA) as its Chief Executive Officer. Best wishes to both women as they begin new adventures.

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‏@PhiKappaTau

On Sept. 18, the United State Postal Service will begin selling Paul Newman stamps! http://phitau.co/1Jzl3hb (Newman was initiated into the Ohio University chapter of Phi Kappa Tau.)

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‏@PhiGamArchives

9/6/1901 The Ekklesia (convention) moves to a theater so President McKinley can use the convention hall for lunch. Hours later he is assassinated.

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‏@PhiPsiArchives

The #Beatles on 1964 U.S. tour depart Denver Airport after concert with #PhiKappaPsi record album in hand.

The #Beatles in Denver on same U.S. tour stayed in same hotel hosting 8/25-29/1964 #PhiKappaPsi GAC (convention) at same time

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Alysia Kezerian, University of Oregon Chapter President, at the Craig Rehabiliation Hospital in Denver, Colorado. (Photo courtesy of Pi Beta Phi)

Alysia Kezerian, the President of the University of Oregon’s Pi Beta Phi chapter attended Pi Phi’s convention in Chicago this summer. When Libbie, the Ring Ching Roadshow car, made its debut at the final banquet, Kezerian likely had no idea that one of the car’s first visits would be a special one just for her. On August 2, 2015, she was severely injured in a rock climbing accident. While driving Libbie to the west coast for a series of appearances, Pi Phi’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Eily Cummings, stopped in Denver and spoke with Kezerian, who is recovering at Criag Rehabilitation Hospital. Cumming’s blog post is at http://ringchingroadshow.org/2015/09/04/i-want-to-finish-what-i-started/

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The Alpha Sigma Alpha chapter at Murray State University recently made news for pledging Alexis Cain. Cain is enrolled in Murray State’s College to Career program. It is a part of the Comprehensive Transition Program or SHEP Program (Supported Higher Education Project). The program allows students with intellectual disabilities to be enrolled in higher education, making use of Pell grants, KEES money, or federal work study without the requirement of having earned a high school diploma.

Cain has Down Syndrome and became the first woman on the Murray State campus to pledge a sorority. Given that most, if not all, National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organizations have rules and regulations about membership qualifications (matriculated students only and a minimum GPA), it is refreshing to note that Cain was able to meet the requirements of membership. I hope she and her chapter sisters know that they are charting new territory and my best wishes for a wonderful experience all around!

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Happy #CollegeColorsDay!

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Today, September 4, is #CollegeColors Day. This opportunity to celebrate the day by wearing your favorite college’s colors and apparel was started in 2004 by the College Licensing Company. In all fairness, it should be noted that the College Licensing Company represents 200 collegiate institutions throughout the country.

My undergraduate Alma Mater, Syracuse University, has as its colors orange and white. Those colors were chosen in 1890. Prior to that the colors were rose pink and pea green. The lore is that the sports teams objected to the rose pink.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s colors are maroon and white. For a short time prior to the Saluki dog being named SIUC’s mascot, the teams were known as the Maroons.

Stephen Crane (front row, center) sits with teammates on the steps on the east side of the Hall of Languages in 1891. Photo courtesy of SU Special Collections Research Center

Syracuse University Athletes, circa 1890s
Photo courtesy of SU Special Collections Research Center

Posted in Fran Favorite, SIUC, Syracuse University, University of Michigan | Tagged #CollegeColors, College Colors Day, SIUC, Syracuse University, University of Michigan | Comments Off

Following a Mentor in the 1870s and Landing in Greencastle, Indiana

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

In 1877, four young Japanese men arrived in Greencastle, Indiana. They became students at the alma mater of their teacher, an American missionary. They, too, like their mentor, became fraternity men. Two joined Delta Kappa Epsilon and the other two became Beta Theta Pis.

Sutemi Chinda, Keizo Kawamura, Izumy Nasu, and Aimaro Sato at Indiana Asbury University (Courtesy of DePauw University Archives)

The story starts with John Ing who graduated as valedictorian from Indiana Asbury University in 1868. Founded in 1837, the school became DePauw University in 1884 to honor benefactor Washington C. DePauw. Ing started his studies before he served in the Union Army. After reaching the rank of Captain, he requested and was granted an early discharge to return to school. He also earned a Master’s degree from the same institution. While an undergraduate, he was a founding member of the Psi Phi Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon.

In 1870, Ing married Lucy Elizabeth Hawley, a Mount Holyoke College alumna. Ing served as a Methodist missionary from 1870-78. The St. Louis Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church first sent the couple to China. After four years, the Ings asked for a recuperative furlough. Lucy Ing had given birth twice and had lost one child and she was in poor health. They made it as far as Yokohama, Japan. A second daughter was born there, and she, too, died. While waiting for suitable transportation to the west coast of the United States, the couple was persuaded to start mission work in Hirosaki, Japan. They stayed in Japan. A church was organized in 1875. Ing introduced to northern Japan the apple tree with large, sweet apples.

Ing’s mission school in Hirosaki was geared to the samurai class. In 1877, four young men who were educated by Ing traveled to Indiana. Sutemi Chinda, Keizo Kawamura, Izumy Nasu, and Aimaro Sato were professed Christians with little money, but they were ready and willing to work.

Nasu and Chinda became members of Ing’s fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon. Sata and Kawamura became members of the Delta Chapter of Beta Theta Pi. Kawamura died in 1881. Nasu translated Homer’s Iliad into Japanese and became a professor at the Royal College of Tokyo, but he, too, died young. He passed away in 1885.

In 1884, Chinda earned a master’s degree from Indiana Asbury. He served as Japan’s ambassador to Germany, the United States, and England. Since 1935, the Cherry Blossom Festival has been a harbinger of spring in Washington, D.C. The cherry trees were a gift from the people of Japan during Chinda’s tenure as the Japanese ambassador to the United States. First Lady Helen Taft planted the first tree in West Potomac Park on March 27, 1912. Chinda’s wife planted the second tree. Coincidentally, Chinda’s wife was Sato’s sister. Chinda represented his country at the 1918 Paris Peace Conference. He died in 1929.

Aimaro Sato as a college student (Courtesy of the DePauw University Archives)

Sato was also a career diplomat. He served as the Japanese Minister to Mexico, chief of staff of the Japanese Peace Commission at the Treaty of Portsmouth, and Japanese ambassador to Austria-Hungary, the United States and the League of Nations. On January 30, 1917, the Beta Theta Pi Club of Washington, D.C. feted Sato at the University Club. Beta President Francis H. Sisson attended. There were 65 Betas from 25 chapters in attendance. The collegians from the Johns Hopkins University chapter sang Beta marching songs and greetings were read from Sato’s chapter. Sato addressed his brothers, “This kind of meeting is agreeable to me because it breathes genuine friendship without any shadow of conventionality. I like it all the more because, banishing all worldly cares, forgetting our ages, politics, creeds, nationalities, varied or conflicting interests, and laying aside even diplomacy, we come here to have a good time together simply as brothers in the bonds of Beta Theta Pi and to recall the sweet associations of the past and to form wider friendships for the future.”

There is evidence that these four were not the only Japanese men to travel halfway around the world to attend college at Greencastle. The Beta Theta Pi catalog lists another member of Delta Chapter, Ogata Sennosuki, who earned an A.B. in 1885 and a D.D. in 1905. He turned down a diplomatic career to serve in the ministry of the Japanese Methodist Church.

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, DePauw University | Tagged Aimaro Sato, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, DePauw University, Francis H. Sisson, Francis Hinckley Sisson, Greencastle Indiana, Indiana Asbury University, Izumy Nasu, Keizo Kawamura, Ogata Sennosuki, Sutemi Chinda | Comments Off

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Following a Mentor in the 1870s and Landing in Greencastle, Indiana

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