Katelyn
Harper/ Staff photographer
Alumnus Spike Davis talks with John
Purcell at Alpha Tau Omega’s open
house Saturday morning.
|
From the Indiana Statesman
Alpha Tau Omega ‘sets stage’ for ISU Greeks
Fraternity showcases its new $1.3 million
house north of campus at open house
By
Matthew Chico Assistant campus editor
Alpha Tau Omega is the
first fraternity to build a house in the ISU
community. The dedication at 730 N. Sixth street
celebrated the fraternity's six months work
organizing and constructing the $1.3 million, 28
bedrooms and 9-suite mansion. Al Perone,
dean of student affairs, remarked on the
addition to the campus. "ATO is the first
fraternity to build a house next to campus and
has set the stage for other chapters,
fraternities and sororities to follow," Perone
said.
The festivities
included comments from several guests from the
ISU community and fraternity members.
Jason Williams, a
junior automotive technology management major
and Alpha Tau Omega vice president, thanked
everyone on behalf of the active chapter. "With
25 brothers living in the house, the
opportunities are endless," Williams said. Jerry
Gray, President of ZO housing corporation and a
1970 graduate of ISU, spoke to the current
active chapter of Alpha Tau Omega. Gray spoke
about living in the '60s. "We always thought we
lived in a golden age in the '60s, but to the
undergrads, you live in a golden age. I see what
you're doing, and you're figuring it out as you
go along," he said. "This is the first
fraternity house for you, this is an opportunity
for you, to bring it to the same level as we did
or more," Gray said.
Gray said he remembered
the financial obstacles that were faced during
the construction and spoke about how the
obstacles were overcome. "I wrote letters to 23
fraternity brothers and within a week, 18 had
stepped forward to help out and that is the
essence of brotherhood. That's why we did this."
Gray said. ATO alumni pledged approximately
$700,000 and the remaining costs were financed
through First Financial Bank.
The ribbon cutting
ceremony opened the doors for a tour of the
house. Allen Tamar class of 1981 toured the new
house and reflected on his days at ISU as an
ATO. "Brings back great memories, seeing a
lot of mementoes here, seeing good friends, had
a great time at university. We had academic part
to prepare for the future but the other part was
having good times and good friends. These are
the memories you hold dear as you get older,"
Tamar said.
John Fritz, a senior
aviation major, holds several positions within
the fraternity. Fritz said the location will
bring the fraternity and university closer.
Fritz was part of the construction during the
summer. "I plan on coming back to share
stories," he said. "I was here when it was
built."
Williams said the new
house is a great opportunity to grow as a
chapter and community. "Hopefully other
fraternities and sororities will move north of
campus, and be more visible to ISU community and
Terre Haute," Williams said.
John Newton, director
of alumni association and Alpha Tau Omega
alumnus, said the event was a success. "It did
what we wanted to do. We were able to thank
people, highlight accomplishments. We open the
door to see fruit and gifts of labor and
dreams," Newton said.
Gray hopes the new
house will bring notariety to ISU and leaves a
message for the active members of Alpha Tau
Omega. "Milestone for the campus set new
standard and expectation for this school and
bring notary to the university," Gray said.
Gray left a message for ATO of 2005. "The
message I leave to them, when I look back and
graduates of my time, I am astound extremely
successful people they are, I think these young
men have the opportunity to reach that bar for
themselves," he said. "Bringing a
level of thinking that they never had an
opportunity before," Gray said.
ATO currently has 30
active brothers and pledge class of 25, and has
been at ISU since 1963. |
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Fraternity to say goodbye to mansion
 |
|
ONE LAST
TIME: Graduates of Indiana State University and members
of ATO arrive at the south Sixth Street fraternity house
with family Saturday morning for a final walkthrough.
(Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis) |
Current, former
residents reminisce in Sixth Street house
By Peter Ciancone/Tribune-Star
September 26, 2004
To Steve Thompson, former Terre Haute resident and member of
Alpha Tau Omega's Zeta Omicron Chapter, the house has its own
spirit.
The Jacksonville, Fla. resident, who pledged in 1972, joked that
the next owners might find that it might have more than one. "I'd be worried
about all the things coming out of the past, like poltergeists,"
Thompson laughed.
Saturday morning, as current and former residents visited the
fraternity house at 1304 S. Sixth St., stories and memories ran
through the place like beer used to, on occasion, and like the
bond of brotherhood that held them all together.
It is to be sold, said Andy Hadley, pledge class of 1985, and
president of the housing corporation that owns the house and
rents it to the chapter.
Current members will live there until the first of the year, the
Terre Haute resident said, as ground is broken on a new house
just to the north of the Indiana State University campus, ending
the chapter's almost 40-year relationship with one of Terre
Haute's grand old Sixth Street mansions.
Standing on the front porch to greet visitors, Hadley said,
"Over 900 guys have passed through those doors in those years." They all brought
stories, some from long memories, some from this week.
"It takes lots of manual labor," said Zach Crowe, an ISU senior
from Terre Haute who will be one of ATO's last residents in the
louse. "Manual labor. Lots of upkeep."
That's okay with him, Crowe said.
"Not many people can say they live in a nine-bedroom house with
six people while they go to college," he said.
Will Lacey, the chapter's current president, said the six of
them put in about six hours a night over the past week to make
the place presentable for their visitors.
John Haley, a Terre
Haute resident who pledged in 1973, didn't seem to notice the
problems with the general repair of the place. He was more
interested in how he remembered it.
"In here, it was a formal living room," he said. Gesturing
behind himself, he said, "In here we had a piano."
Amid all the stories of parties and fraternity hijinks, Haley
said, "I think the neighbors will be glad to have all the
fraternities gone."
That's true to some extent.
Kaylynn Sanders, president of the Farrington's Grove
Neighborhood Association, said the group was glad the purchaser
planned to take the house back and turn it into a private family
home.
"It just means that another of those big beautiful homes is
going back to the purpose they were intended for," she said. She
added that the remaining fraternities take pains to become part
of the neighborhood, attending the Association's meetings and
taking part in activities like planning a neighborhood watch.
That said, the neighborhood was originally filled with mansions
occupied by single families, and the neighborhood is always glad
when another reverts to that state.
Hadley said the ATO house was now the farthest fraternity house
from campus, and was looking to move closer, as many others
already have.
Many of the fraternities are looking at a spot between the
railroad tracks and Locust Street, said Damien Duchamp,
assistant director of student activities on campus.
"More than anything else, it's a convenience issue," he said,
making it easier for residents to get to and from classes and
facilities.
As such, Crowe said, many of the chapter's 51 on-campus members
are spread into other housing, with only the last six remaining.
"I love it," said Jonathan Ellenbrand, a senior from New Albany,
while tying his tie to meet the visitors. "It's a very unique
experience. You don't always have the chance to live with six or
seven of your close friends. We have that common bond as
fraternity brothers."
Scott Riley of Evansville, who pledged in 1964, said everybody
had their own space back then, though the house was much more
crowded 40 years ago than it is today.
Standing in the attic, swapping stories with Randy Bretz, also a
1964 pledge who returned to the house from Nebraska, Scott said
the bunk beds in the attic were crammed in, and required an
electric blanket because a couple of the windows wouldn't close.
Looking up at the ceiling, Bretz pointed to the spot where about
20 such fittings were plugged in, with wires strung high to get
to the individual bunks.
Probably not up to code, they laughed.
Somehow, the conversation crossed over to a cave exploration
trip, probably identified with the low ceilings and crowds in
the old ATO attic. Riley used that trip to make the same point
made by most of his brothers.
"To have a bunch of guys to go do that stuff with, that's what
fraternity life is all about," he said.
"It was a weekend where the girls had something going on," Bretz
explained. "So none of us could get a date."
They both laughed at the implied dig at their own friendship.
Over coffee, orange juice and rolls, 40 years of ATOs shared
those stories.
"I wasn't going to move in," Lacey said. "But once you're in,
you can't leave." |
