Cross & Crescent

Football is (almost) in the air. Yes, I know it is hot in many parts of the country but everywhere I go fans are getting ready for fall — fantasy team selections, tailgating parties, noise, marching bands, and watching the bruising gladiators of the gridiron come running out of their respective tunnels.

The dreams of going undefeated and being bowl-bound have yet to come face-to-face with reality. One of my favorite parts of college football traditions is the mascot. At Wake Forest University the mascot and Lambda Chi Alpha are forever intertwined.

Our story begins in 1895 with the appearance of a tiger with gold and black stripes as the accepted mascot. By the early 1920s the various sports teams had suffered through some dismal seasons. In 1923 the football team upset Trinity (later to become Duke University) in football and for the first time a reference was made in the school newspaper to those ‘Demon Deacons.’� This was an obvious reference to their Baptist heritage.

Then in 1941 a Demon Deacon mascot made his first appearance.

Charles ‘Chic’ Forbes (Wake Forest 1960) is remembered by his friends and brothers for a great sense of humor, creative talent, and generosity. One of his proudest moments occurred in 1957 when he created and designed the current Wake Forest University mascot, the ‘Demon Deacon.’

In 2005, his original drawings were framed and are presently on display in the formal Lambda Chi chapter lounge. But let’s hear it in Chic’s own words.

About a half century ago I was approached by several Wake Forest folks that knew I did occasional art work for school annuals, magazines, and newspapers to redesign the ‘Demon Deacon’ mascot,” he says. “The human Deacon then had no molded costume as does the current Deacon. He wore a tuxedo with tails and a high silk hat. I did several drawings that were taken from some of the previous drawings and submitted them to a committee. My final instructions were to draw the Deacon in the center of the drawing. I am pleased to see that our selection has endured for such a long time. When my wife, Laquita, and I are watching one of our WFU games on television, she will say to me, ‘Your son is on television again’ (that’s the son that belongs to the entire Wake Forest family).’

Forbes died July 3, 2008.

Our chapter at Wake Forest has produced many outstanding brothers, a few of whom are identified in the side bars. One brother, Leon Brogden (Wake Forest 1932), was inducted into the Wake Forest University Sports Hall of Fame in 1974, and was named a distinguished WFU Alumnus in 1971.

In the words of Mike Queen (Wake Forest 1968), senior pastor at the First Baptist Church in Wilmington and a trustee at WFU for 16 of the past 19 years, Leon was a very special person.

‘He was the most admired man in the community, and as great a coach as he was (associated with 55 state high school championships), he was a better person.’� Queen went on to add, ‘Leon, known as ‘coach,’ was a Deacon in the Baptist Church and was the most humble of men.’

Unusual for a high school coach to have one of his players become an NFL quarterback, but Brogden had two: Roman Gabriel and Sonny Jurgenson in the NFL at the same time.

When they played one another the students took up a collection to send Brogden to Los Angeles. He sat on one sideline for one half before shifting to the other sideline for the second half.

Many great and positive stories continue to be told about the man, but an accurate summary was made when he was inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame: ‘The field of athletics has produced no finer example for us to honor.’

Queen, senior minister of the First Baptist Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, is a member of the Wake Forest University Board of Trustees for 16 of the past 19 years and will return to that responsibility next year. Serving with him on the Board of Trustees are two other Lambda Chis: Jim Judson (1980) and Don Leonard (1965).