Cross & Crescent

Our chapter at the University of Louisville came about through the concerted efforts of many dedicated individuals.

Charles Howell was a transfer student from Southern Methodist University; Frederick W. Stamm (Baldwin-Wallace 1921) was at the time vice president of the University of Louisville; and Dr. John Marston Houchens (Georgetown 1926) was coordinator of the Speed Engineering School.

These three, along with other interested alumni in Louisville, started the process to begin the chapter. Colonization occurred on April 11-12, 1947, when nine men were initiated by our chapter at Georgetown College, and the chapter was officially installed as Zeta-Sigma on April 3, 1948.

No. 1 on the rolls was Arville L. Woolridge, who was majoring in electrical engineering and a member of ODK. The first president was Russell E. Dougherty, a man who would achieve prominence within the United States Air Force (see sidebar).

The 1950s and ‘60s were successful times for the chapter. Looking through chapter correspondence, I found their GPA was frequently the highest on the campus, and there was a period of six consecutive years where the chapter won the intramural trophy. On several occasions they received the Homecoming Trophy.

Those years also found numerous varsity athletes in football, basketball, and tennis in the chapter. Some of these brothers received All-American recognition and were captains of their respective teams. But the wheels began to come off the train in the early 1970s. By the fall of 1974 membership was down to 13 brothers.

James Zeller (1976), currently president of Zeller’s Hardware Store in Louisville, was a chapter president during that time. “The major challenge began when the school built a complex for the fraternities, each of which housed 40 men, and the chapter couldn’t fill it with brothers so we took in friends and anyone else, trying to pay the bills. This led to all sorts of problems, and the financial debts continued to pile up. Finally, there were 13 of us who decided that we had to make changes, and in essence we had to start over from scratch if the chapter was going to survive. We removed all of the non-members from the complex and made it a drug-free residence. We pulled together as a team and we didn’t want to let each other down. We just worked hard and we followed a plan working toward a common goal. In recruitment we worked to identify and attract men like us. It was a great experience.”

The brotherhood of those 13 men in the fall of 1974 attracted 18 new brothers by the spring of 1975, and an additional 19 the following fall. Two alumni played key roles in the chapter’s resurgence: Dr. Dan Hafendorfer, the chapter adviser at the time, and currently a physician in Louisville; and Dr. Al Futrell (1974), currently chairman of the Communications Department at the University of Louisville. As a result of these efforts, the chapter received their first Phoenix Award, which is awarded to chapters that make outstanding improvements in chapter operations over a relatively short period of time.

I said “first” Phoenix Award, and you are naturally thinking there must be a second. Yes, there was and it came in 2000. For the 20 years or so prior to that the chapter had been on a roller-coaster with some successes and multiple challenges. Again, a group of undergraduate brothers stepped forward determined to save the chapter. You would think that after their second Phoenix Award the chapter would have been pulled away from the edge of the cliff a safe distance.

Unfortunately, by 2004 they had returned to the edge.

Current Status and Recent History

To find out the current status of the chapter and a little bit more history I spoke with the current chapter president, Vince Cain. “We are hoping that the third time for receiving the Phoenix Award (2009) will prove to be the charm. To understand our current history you need to return to 2004. At Lambda Chi’s summer meeting that year our chapter was called before the review committee due to several problems, most of all the lack of membership. The chapter was down to six men. The committee voted to close the chapter. Two brothers attended the meeting: Matt Selm and Shane Hook.”

I spoke with Matt about this event. “The chapter had been struggling with the use and misuse of alcohol for a couple of years. Two years before we attended the General Assembly meeting there were 30 brothers, then all but six walked away. Three of us attended the General Assembly meeting, Shane Hook, the High Alpha at the time, Vaughn Priddy, and myself. We went to the meeting believing that we would be put on some type of extended probation but that the chapter would stay open. We were terribly disappointed and surprised when the Grand High Zeta decided to close the chapter. After speaking with a member of the Grand High Zeta we decided to appeal the decision. Shane and I wrote the speech and I delivered it to a packed room of about 300 brothers. After much debate I remember Mike Smith (Denver) saying that perhaps the delegates should return the decision to the Grand High Zeta for reconsideration. The delegates then voted almost unanimously to return it for reconsideration, but it wasn’t until that fall, in October, that we received word that our appeal had been accepted. With that decision however, came a number of demands, especially that the chapter increase their numbers. That fall the six of us worked together and recruited 21 men and initiated 20 of them. The next year produced similar results and we knew we would survive.”

Vince continues, “Bryan Walter, a brother who was initiated at the University of Kentucky, was one of the six. He became an unstoppable force within the chapter, working tirelessly to recruit quality men. By the time I joined in 2007 the chapter had become stable with 21 actives and another 21 became associate members with me. Today, we have 72 brothers in the chapter with a cumulative 2.97 GPA. I should add that Zach Barnes is a McConnell Scholar and Eric Riedeneger and Erran Huber are Brown Fellows, top scholars coming out of high school. Many of our brothers are active outside the chapter; Nick Pappe, our High Beta, is president of the University of Louisville Music School and a member of Cardinal Singers; Tyler Gill has been elected a School of Arts and Sciences Senator; and Dave Searight is recruitment chairman of the IFC and president of the Rehabilitation Science Organization. In addition, Tyler Gill, J. D. Noelck and Justin Bishop serve as RA’s, and Jon Meredith is the special events coordinator of the Engage, Lead, Serve Board. We are part of an interesting Lambda Chi tradition on the campus. Since 2007, a Lambda Chi has served as the school mascot…the Cardinal. It began with Jon Cecil, then Tyler Gill, and it has been announced that Erran Huber will be the mascot this coming fall. The chapter is also very active in philanthropic work on the campus. Each year we hold our ‘pumpkin bust’ which last year raised $5,000 for Dare-to-Care in Louisville. This coming fall we are planning to partner with Kentucky Harvest and sponsor a music fest on the campus which will be the final event of Welcome Week on August 28. The brothers are aware of the ups and downs of the chapter in the past and we are working to avoid previous pitfalls. Our chapter house, which sleeps seven, is paid for and we have a strong House Corporation led by James Butterfield (HON 2006) assisting us. With generous assistance from David Overall and his construction company we remodeled the chapter room one year ago and replaced all of the furniture. Now we plan to extend the deck on the back porch. In recruitment we no longer search for numbers; for us it is all about quality. We train our officers to be able to handle transition and we have a strong executive committee which holds all brothers accountable. And we are very fortunate to have a strong High Pi in Scott Medley.”

Chapter Adviser Scott Medley

I caught up with Anthony S. Medley (Kentucky 1994) as he was taking a break from his young twins. “I was initiated at the University of Kentucky in spring of ’94. A couple of years ago, Bobby McDowell, one of the original Master Stewards, reached out to me to consider becoming the High Pi at the University of Louisville. At that time Brian Walter was the president and Vince Cain was the vice president and the three of us went out to dinner and we had a good conversation. I made it clear that I didn’t want to be part of a group that only wanted the social aspect of school. After our meeting I felt the chapter had turned the corner and that they had a willingness to accept my knowledge and advice. I began as the chapter High Pi in the summer of ’09 and later they applied to be an Inner Circle chapter. These brothers are the opposite of men whose actions would destroy a chapter. They don’t let things slide, they don’t recruit the wrong men, and they hold each other accountable. Every couple of years there is a turnover with new men who don’t understand how much work it took to get to the top. It takes an entire chapter to make it successful. Walter began to recruit men who were outstanding. He was looking to create a top chapter. You must surround yourself with positive men and get rid of the bad element. You must be supportive of one another and work toward a common goal. We attract top scholars because they are attracted to like-minded men. The word gets out that Lambda Chi will be a positive experience and men want to be a part of that experience. My personal goal and the chapter’s goal are to be one of the quickest turnarounds from the Phoenix Award to the Grand High Alpha Award. This goal is achievable and will require dedication over several years.”