Cross & Crescent

I’m holding a penny postcard dated February 28, 1917, addressed to John E. Mason, Jr., 251 South 44th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On the back it reads, “Announce in P.G.G. [Purple Green & Gold] Umatilla Club of Oregon Agr. [Agricultural] College will be installed as Alpha Lambda Zeta of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity on Mar 2-3-4, 1917.” There is no signature. A piece of brotherhood history preserved.

Leo Haw (1916), Karl Eaton, and Clayton Strain (1915) were graduates of Pendleton High School and arrived together on the Oregon State University (or Oregon Agricultural College [OAC] as it was then known) campus in September 1912. They signed a lease on a house for a year. By the fall of the next year they had moved to a different house, forming a men’s club that slept and fed 10 men, and it was called Umatilla because six of the men were from Umatilla County, Oregon. The men in the club were very active on campus and achieved academic successes.

In 1974, Clayton Strain wrote his recollections of the history in those early days, admitting to concern about the injuries and deaths that had been occurring throughout the country during fraternity Hell Weeks.

“By April ’16, we decided to petition Lambda Chi Alpha. I had arranged a meeting with Dr. Dubach who was in charge of clubs and fraternities for C. K. Powell (1916) [president of the Umatilla Club at the time of petition] and one or two others to see what help he could give us in choosing the right kind of a fraternity. This fraternity (Lambda Chi Alpha) was organized as a reform fraternity to break away from torture hazing and return to fraternal ideals. It was new with something over 20 chapters. There was no doubt but Dr. Dubach would approve it enthusiastically.”

To Clayton Strain went the honor of being Alpha-Lambda 1. He recollected, “I was initiated at Cornell University with arrangements being made by future Grand High Alpha Ernst J. C. Fischer (Cornell 1910). I remember attending the Boston Convention in the summer of ’16. EJC Fischer was a most active leader.”

Brother Strain also remembered the first chapter president, Theodore P. Cramer (1918). “His ability as a leader and organizer put the new Zeta on its feet and gave it an early start toward attaining the standards of Lambda Chi Alpha, and he was also student body president.”

Theta Kappa Nu

And, the story continues……..

Twenty-one men (called the ‘originals’), all veterans of World War I, met on the Oregon State campus in January 1921 to take the first step of the organization known as the Ares Club, which was named for the Greek god of war. The club stressed patriotism and actual service in World War I as a requirement for membership and upheld ideals of loyalty to country and school, service to others and mutual helpfulness.

On November 17, 1922, the Ares Club was granted a local charter by the school and became the Psi Chi fraternity and joined the Interfraternity Council (IFC). The early members were active in organizations outside of the fraternity, varsity sports, student body officers, ROTC, and thirty were members of honorary fraternities.

Forty-seven members of the Psi Chi local fraternity were received into Theta Kappa Nu on May 17, 1930. Donald F. Lybarger (Gettysburg 1919), who would later become the Grand Archon of Theta Kappa Nu, was the installing officer. The chapter struggled and became dormant for about one and a half years until merging in 1934 with Prokyon, a local fraternity which had been founded in 1925. This merger brought stability to the chapter. Five years later the Lambda Chi and Theta Kappa Nu chapters united as a result of the merger of the two national fraternities.

Order of Merit Recipients

Five chapter brothers have been awarded the Order of Merit from Lambda Chi Alpha, emblematic of “unusual, lengthy, and dedicated service—particularly at the local chapter level”: William K. Deeks (1970) in 2004, Victor L. Goodnight (1926) in 1956, David R. Long (1927) in 1973, Gerald A. Reese (1974) in 1978, and Lynn P. Sabin (1920) in 1968.

This speaks volumes to the stability of the chapter through the years and underscores how the chapter has received the Grand High Alpha Award “indicating superior operations and fraternal spirit” in 1974, 1984, 1988, and 1997.

I spoke with the chapter’s current High Pi, David Leathers (California State-Fresno 1982) to gain an understanding of the chapter’s success. “Having visited close to 180 chapters in my service to Lambda Chi as a chapter consultant, I found that some chapters built a higher standard and they didn’t settle for something lower; Alpha-Lambda is such a chapter. They won’t settle for just being average…they want to be out front. They are teachable, which is a volunteer’s dream. Oregon State is a solid chapter because they have a fantastic tradition of operating and doing everything better than everyone else. They are solid financially, have good academics, and enjoy a great alumni service tradition. Our alums remain loyal to the university, and our chapter has a long-standing tradition of three to five legacies joining every year. The chapter started as a supper club with individuals who lived hours away on the far side of the state and the chapter became a home to the men.”

Frequently, volunteers want to know how an individual gets involved in the role of chapter adviser. “I’m smiling because I had heard that George Spasyk (Michigan 1949) [executive vice president emeritus of Lambda Chi Alpha] would be in town as the keynote speaker at the chapter’s 90th anniversary celebration," Leathers says. "Having recently transferred in my job, I called him and asked him to meet me for lunch, but instead he invited me to the banquet. Well, I went and while I was chatting with people, George told everyone they needed a High Pi. The rest is history as I took the position in 2006.”

Gerry Reese (1974) joined the chapter in September of 1970. “I joined that fall, going through formal rush. I felt very comfortable with the men, and I met Bill Deeks and Dennis Zerba (1971) who were both a very positive influence. At the time we had 35 to 40 members and our pledge group was about 35, so we had close to 70 living in the house. Our men were from all over Oregon and several were from out of state. The next three years leading up to the chapter’s first Grand High Alpha Award were very busy and very challenging. All of the members were very active on the campus, including IFC, and we made changes and implemented new ideas. Our brothers worked hard and showed a lot of pride. My best memories were the house dances, late-night bull sessions, and making plans for life.”

I wanted to know about alumni involvement with the chapter. “The chapter has always had significant alumni involvement. Bill Deeks has been a strong influence for many years. We come back because of the influence of brothers who came before us. I think of Dave Long (1947) and brothers who were involved in the construction of our chapter house. Victor Goodnight was involved in obtaining the property on which the present chapter house is situated. Lynn Sabin (1920) was very involved in planning and organizing the ’72 convention, which was held in Portland. Clayton Strain changed Umatilla into Lambda Chi. Strain had a vision and made a very generous gift to set up a scholarship fund in the 1980s, which has been added to by others. Today, it generates $35-40,000 a year in scholarships.”

Diversity & Alumni Support

Josh Raines is the current High Alpha, and spent the fall quarter on an internship in England. “We have been accepted as an Inner Circle chapter and continue to implement it, which is challenging to meet the criteria. Dave Leathers has been pushing us in a positive direction with community involvement and philanthropy. Our chapter has about 70 brothers and we will have five new associate members by the time this article is published. We have a very active chapter, winning intramurals in various sports and overall in 2008. One brother is on the varsity soccer team and another plays lacrosse. Chris Lejion is active in NROTC; Geoff Jenks, a former High Alpha, is vice president of judicial of IFC; and Kevin Aguas is president of the IFC.”

The question for every successful chapter is, "Why do good men keep joining?" “They join because of our brotherhood. We are a diverse group who are very accepting of one another. The house offers so many opportunities to improve yourself. We are selective in who we recruit and look for men with solid values. We recruit all year round with summer recruitment being the largest. Two of our brothers recruit incoming freshmen all summer in the Portland area beginning mid-June and in return, the chapter gives them a room in the house plus they have a rush budget with which to work. They call the rushees and meet with them for lunch and invite them to rush events such as paintball, camping, and rafting. All of the members in the chapter attend these events, and we work with alumni throughout the state, including cookouts which are held at their homes.”

I continue to ask how good alumni are created. “Officers are elected the first week of January, and then go on a retreat with an established itinerary and map out what they want to accomplish during the coming year. We set goals including grades, recruitment, involvement and philanthropy. We put up posters around the house to remind the brothers, continually communicating with all of the brothers. We take Ritual very seriously, and the mood of the house changes during ritual week. Older brothers make it a great experience and give back to the new brothers. Practice it and it is totally memorized. We keep it alive through explanations in post-Ritual sessions and ask the new initiates how we can improve activities during I-week, and continually talk about it. In other words, the outstanding alumni are created as a result of a great undergraduate experience, from start to finish. Alumni are the backbone of the chapter. Bill Deeks is constantly helping everyone; another alum helps with Ritual; a few assist with recruitment; many visit the house and others help with renovations.”

I spoke with John Meland (1975) and David Sulmonetti (1984), each of whom served as High Alpha during a year in which the Grand High Alpha Award was received. John remembers the chapter, “We had a great group of alumni and I loved meeting the men from the ‘30s; Clay Myers (Oregon 1949) [former Grand High Alpha] who, although initiated at the University of Oregon, was frequently at our chapter, and all of the men who worked so diligently to keep us on the straight and narrow. Bill Deeks was a huge asset.”

Dave adds, “I remember Clayton Strain who made a one-time gift of $150,000 to the chapter through the Oregon State University Foundation and all of the brothers who have benefited from his generosity. His son Doug, who was initiated as an honorary member, founded Electro-Scientific Industries (ESI) in Beaverton, Oregon. Our housemother, Ms. Briggs, was selected as Lambda Chi Alpha’s 1980 Housemother of the Year and was very influential in the house. She insisted upon manners and basic civility, and today the alumni still talk about Mrs. B.”

Gerry Reese mentioned during our conversation that a number of sisters of Lambda Chis ended up married to chapter brothers. He mentioned his two sisters, Norma who married Damon McCauley (1974) after meeting at Gerry’s wedding and Sarah who married John Sommer (1974). In addition, Dennis Zerba’s sister Debbie married Doug Hallander (1971); Craig Roenicke’s (1976) sister Claudia married Dennis Zerba; and Larry Cartier’s (1974) sister Linda married Mark Borquist (1974). What makes this very interesting is that this tradition began when Clayton Strain’s sister Hazel (president of the Sigma Kappa chapter) married a Lambda Chi, Willette B. Murray (1921), a brother in the chapter.

A quote by Robert M. Hamill (TKN #2 and Alpha-Lambda #343) portrays an example of the love of brotherhood that is Lambda Chi Alpha, “Another disabled veteran of this group [Ares] that should be memorialized by all Oregon State Lambda Chi Alphas was Theodore A. Squires, a member who passed away shortly after the end of World War I. He left the substantial nucleus of the local Theta Kappa Nu’s large building fund through the bequest of his $10,000 Service Life Insurance policy. This was considered a large amount in those days and it generated the substantial fund that passed dowry-wise to the local chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha.”

May that love of our great fraternity last forever. Dave Leathers thought that a perfect title for this article would be, “Tradition of Excellence” and he was right.