Behind the News

By Roy Ockert Jr.

in The Jonesboro Sun

Alumni of Arkansas State University ne College who live in or near Jonesboro, or who return here at least occasionally, can’t appreciate how much the campus has changed in the second half of its first century. The progress has been steady but not spectacular — unless you see if for the first time in 40 or 50 years.

That was the case for some of the alumni returning over the weekend for the 50th anniversary Founders Day celebration of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Among the nearly 200 who attended some or all of the events were several who had not been back since they graduated in the 1960s and ’70s. For them it was something of a Rip Van Winkle experience.

For one thing, you can no longer drive through the campus on Caraway Road or Aggie Road, both major thoroughfares until recent years. Many of the major landmarks are gone, and new ones have taken their place. Old Wilson Hall is still standing and in use, but it’s no longer easily visible to sightseers. The same thing is true for what was once the Education Building. The Reng Center is part of the Student Union and looks nothing like its original version. A few of the 1960s dormitories remain, but that’s about it.

For that reason we arranged a guided campus tour for a couple dozen alumni and spouses who hadn’t been here in a while. Others spent some time walking around on their own, at least while the weather cooperated. Most of them were astounded by the changes but also proud to see how much their alma mater has progressed.

Twenty-two members of the fraternity’s original founding organization and first pledge class returned for the activities — coming from all over the country, from Washington state to Virginia.

As a member I’m prejudiced, of course, but this organization’s roots were quite different from the typical college fraternity, which has become something of a stereotype since the production of the “Animal House” movie — sometimes for good reason.

But Lambda Chi Alpha at A-State started as a veterans club. When the Korean War ended in mid-1953 several hundred thousand military personnel returned to the States, only to find a high unemployment rate. But under the GI Bill most had the opportunity to get four years of additional education.

Therefore, several hundred veterans wound up at Arkansas State College, and within a short time a few of them formed a Vets Club to maintain some camaraderie. They were not the typical college freshmen — on the average five years older and matured further by war. They had no use for the existing social organizations.

In a historical piece one of the veterans wrote later for the fraternity, Jim Stephens, now retired in Gilbert, Ariz., explained why:

“This is another reason we did not want to join an existing fraternity. It was the age factor! At that time most of the frats practiced hazing before the possible initiate was invited to join. They were asked, for instance, to find a pair of ladies’ underwear. The clues were something like this: ‘Look in the empty Coke bottles at the Wigwam for your first clue. That may take you to the barber shop where you looked through the hair that had been cut that week, leading you to a clue that said go to the college pond, and the next clue would be in a mayonnaise jar, hermetically sealed, at the bottom of the lake, etc., etc.’ Hey, most of the veterans were married with young families. If we wanted a pair of ladies’ panties, we would just go home.”

The club did many things not ordinarily associated with college social groups, including building a “Welcome to Arkansas State College” sign at the campus entrance, planting new trees, pouring sidewalks in Indian Village (married students’ housing area) and establishing the first blood bank at St. Bernards Hospital and being on call 24-7 as blood donors.

The Vets Club eventually petitioned to affiliate with a national fraternity because its leaders wanted their organization to endure — “to have a place where we could return.” The supply of war veterans on campus was obviously limited, and the fraternity’s first pledge class included mostly younger students.

The original Vets Club colony had 76 members who joined to form the Lambda Chi Alpha chapter, and the first pledge class added 20 more members.

The irony of the chartering on April 25, 1959, was that the new fraternity got in trouble on its first night when some members of the team brought in from the Missouri School of Mines to perform the ceremonies were jailed for celebrating too much that night in downtown Jonesboro.

Of the 96 founding members, at least 24 are deceased so the return of 23 for the 50th annual Founders Day was a remarkable turnout. Among the Jonesboro founders taking part were Henry Gschwend, Charles Long, D.L. Bailey, Bob Wood and Bill Wyatt.

The national fraternity’s officer who was involved from the beginning of the colonization, George Spasyk, has visited the chapter regularly over the years and is revered by most alumni. Now 85 and retired as the emeritus executive director of Lambda Chi Alpha, he was again the featured speaker for the 50th annual Founders Day Banquet.

The weekend was another reminder of what a great asset we have in ASU and how important it is that on occasion we try to bring people like those veterans home again.

royo@jonesborosun.com