New Pledges Greet Alumni at Homecoming

In late August the undergrads returned to campus and quickly jumped into the demands of rush and planning for homecoming.   Five outstanding young men pledged Phi Kappa Psi in mid September.  While these numbers were smaller than hoped for, it was clear that significant effort was put into rush by the undergrads.   There are plans to court additional pledges in the Spring and there will be a lot of planning for next year to assure a larger pledge class. 

The new pledges worked hard to prepare the house for the weekend and they eagerly greeted those alumni who visited on homecoming weekend which took place on September 20th  - 21st.  
On Saturday Weiser Hall was open all day to returning alumni and highlights of the day included beautiful weather, munching on a six foot sub before the Bullet football game, a Miller Hall meeting with the undergrads followed by refreshments back at Weiser Hall.   Alumni in attendance numbered 10 – 15 and were predominantly from the most recent graduating classes;
however, there were unconfirmed sightings on campus of Alumni Brothers John Kendig and Geoff McDermott (both 1980) .   

The Torch

Please watch for The Torch which should arrive at your home any day

 
The Hunting Scene – the Full Story

In May we published Brother Ned Brownley’s (1953) recollection of how the infamous hunting scene came into existence.    Shortly after sharing this story through one of our electronic newsletters, Brother Freeze wrote in with the details behind the story and granted permission for the story to be shared.   Below in their own words is the full story of The Hunting Scene.  

The painting of the "Hunting Scene" began in 1951 at Stahley Hall.  The brothers decided to remodel the basement recreation area for dancing, darts, cards, pool table, and a small bar.  It was done in knotty pine paneling.  To hide the bar, when not in use, it was decided to attach a large framed painting (3' x 7') over the opening.  Someone found a picture of a hunting scene and Brother Wilson (Gary) Freeze who had artistic ability agreed to do the painting.  Gary started the painting, but was unable to finish at least half of the painting and left college.  I took the unfinished painting down to my home in Havertown and showed it to my sister's mother-in-law Edna Haley Winter.  Edna was a professional painter who taught art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA  and she completed the painting and side sections of the fraternity shield and Phi Kappa Psi.  To my knowledge, the painting remained in Stahley Hall and was transferred to the basement wall in Weiser Hall 1960.  It is now in the living room of Phi Kappa Psi.  Brother Ned
 

Brother Freeze reports: 

There is more to the story about the creation of the picture of a hunting scene.
 
I am the one that started the picture and never able to complete it.  I attended Gettysburg on a football scholarship, was pledged as a freshman, an accepted into the fraternity in 1951.  The fraternity was extremely good for and to me.  In that period of time scholarships paid only student basic tuition.  I still had to find ways to pay for my books, room and board.  My family was not in a position to help me financially so I had to find employment to pay my own way.
 
I worked in a Spudnut Shop off campus from 4 until 8 in the morning at fifty cents an hour to buy books.  I resided in the home of Professor Wolfinger, the Golf coach, and received free room for cleaning the halls and bathroom daily and making the beds for six other students that resided on the second and third floor.  I also washed dishes at lunch and dinner at Ma Sheely's house for meals.  This kept me rather busy.  My major was in Chemistry and I had labs several afternoons each week.  Football practice started at 3:30 in the afternoons and many times I didn't leave a lab until four o'clock.  I had to run laps for every five minutes I was late for practice.  I mention all this so you can understand how busy my days were.  Still I found the time to complete all my pledge duties.
 
When it was near the time of initiations I was concerned that I would not be able to raise the money.  I discussed this with my big brother and the work in the basement came into play.  The picture might be something that I could accomplish and in turn be excused from paying the initiation fee.  I began working on the picture whenever I could find a spare minute and it was coming along pretty good.  But I broke my left leg playing football against Lafayette and wore a cast from my hip to my ankle.  This hindered some of my money earning efforts.  I was also told that I would never play football again.  I left school shortly after that and went to work at Merck chemical drug plant in Riverside, Pa.  It was a job arranged for me by Jack Shainline, the schools line coach.
 
I did not know until fifty years later that my initiation fees were paid by my big brother.  Brother Ned's relation finished the picture and it hung in the house with my never knowing it had been finished. 
 
The maturity of the brothers and fellow pledges were always supportive of my efforts to keep pace with the brotherhood.  It was something very special to me.  I never forgot.  And when I was able financially to repay some of the debt I owed to Penn Epsilon, Phi Psi, and Gettysburg College, I did so gratefully.  Not everyone attending college is financially able to do so without extreme efforts.  I am proud to be a brother of a fraternity that continues to live up to its founder's ideals.  Hi! Hi!  Live ever, die never, Phi Kappa Psi!!
 
Now you know the rest of the story.
 
Brother Wil' (Gary) Freeze '51

The Hunting Scene

Brothers,

The undergraduates are back to school and it has been a busy summer for the Alumni Corporation.    Here’s a quick highlight of what has been going on:

• In June, the Pennsylvania Epsilon Alumni Corporation kicked off a brand new scholarship program using the Chapter Scholarship Fund maintained by National.     This is a Pennsylvania Epsilon fund for just our chapter that is managed by National.     Further details about this fund can be found under the scholarship section of this website and will be highlighted in future communication to the Alumni.  We were pleased to issue three scholarship awards to our undergraduates for their performance over the Spring 2008 semester.    The winners were: 

     „« Jay Hagerman, GP, earned a $1500 Chapter Leadership Award for his strong leadership as GP and on campus coupled with a cumulative GPA of 3.67

     „« Adam Ortiz, AG, earned a $1000 Chapter Commitment Award for his commitment to Phi Kappa Psi as AG and his cumulative GPA of 3.75   

     „« Andrew Holstein, House Manager, earned a $500 Award as the sophomore with the most improved GPA while demonstrating commitment to the chapter as House Manager

These awards were paid directly to the student’s account at the college and are intended to defray the cost of tuition.  

• In July a new website was launched.  We are at the same address:  www.pennsylvaniaepsilon.com, but with a whole new look.   Further details about the new website will follow in the next issue of The Torch, but check out the new website and register as an Alumni.    

• Over the summer, the TV set in Weiser Hall was stolen, most likely by a contractor during some routine maintenance of Weiser Hall performed on behalf of the College.    We are pleased to report that after a brief dialog between the College and the Alumni Corporation, the College committed to purchasing a new TV set.   During discussions about this matter the College recognized that our undergraduates were well respected on campus and that because Weiser Hall has not been damaged by our undergraduates (damage is not an uncommon occurrence at other houses) it was clear that Phi Psi’s respected the facility and the college recognized that immediate replacement of the TV set was the right thing to do.   Our hats are off to the College on doing the right thing and to our undergraduates for earning the respect of the College!

• The undergraduates have been busy planning for Rush which is in early September and Homecoming Weekend which is September 20 -21.    You should be receiving a separate email with all the details about Homecoming and you can also check the website for further information.   We hope to see you at Homecoming Weekend!

Finally, as always we need your support.  There will be future communication to you outlining the details, but for starters:   we need your financial support.   If you have been giving regularly, please continue doing so, and if you have not, please start now.   You can make a donation with a credit card on our new website by clicking the “Make a Donation” button.  Donations can also be mailed to our Treasurer, Harry Wiggins, at: 

3525 Waters End Trail, Lakeridge, VA 22192.

We would welcome additional members to the Alumni Corporation Board to help us carry on the activities of the Alumni Corporation.    Please consider volunteering a few hours of time each month.  For details, you can contact Nick Modha, President at nick.modha@wellsfargo.com. 

Fraternally,

Nick Modha, 2001, President
Harry Wiggins, 1970, Treasurer
Tony Elar, 1975, Secretary
Doug Brouder, 1983, Chapter Advisor
Gregg Siefert, 1982, Board Member