1960s - The Animal House Connection to Iota Chapter
Animal House (the movie) opened in 1978, and if you were like some of us - you found yourself thinking... gee, that scene could have been filmed here! Following our 90th Anniversary Celebration, we became aware of a reference to "Iota's connection to Animal House". A bit of sleuthing brought us this bit of documentation from Dan Guenther '66:
"John Belushi was from Wheaton, Illinois, which is next to Glen Ellyn, the suburb where I was raised and we went to High School. I happened to meet John B. a couple of times one summer when I hung out with Ron Feltus down in Rush Street. Ron was a fellow Phi Tau from Oak Park. He passed away a few years ago. Among the things we all talked about were our wild ass parties, which included a toga party, and our purple joy juice, which included Ever Clear in the mix.
John B. and I also shared a love of Rhythm & Blues, (i.e., Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Lightning Slim Hopkins, Magic Sam, and the Howling Wolf, etc.often heard on the old WOPA). Sam and The Sparks were of that genre of music. WOPA was the R & B station in Chicago that we all listened to back then. I should also add that the director of Animal House, based much of the movie on his own fraternity at Dartmouth. I only met John B. once after that crazy summer. It was many years later, and I happened to run into him in the L.A. Airport when I worked for Rockwell International. We shared a drink together, waiting for our flights, laughing about Animal House. At that time he described the evolution of the movie, and how he shared some of the Iota stories with others. To say that Animal House was based on our Iota chapter would be a stretch, and not entirely accurate. However, there was this connection, many years ago, a thread in the fabric of the film's history, if you will." (Thanks, Dan for sharing this bit of history - as if we didn't already share some common bonds with the movie!)
"John Belushi was from Wheaton, Illinois, which is next to Glen Ellyn, the suburb where I was raised and we went to High School. I happened to meet John B. a couple of times one summer when I hung out with Ron Feltus down in Rush Street. Ron was a fellow Phi Tau from Oak Park. He passed away a few years ago. Among the things we all talked about were our wild ass parties, which included a toga party, and our purple joy juice, which included Ever Clear in the mix.
John B. and I also shared a love of Rhythm & Blues, (i.e., Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Lightning Slim Hopkins, Magic Sam, and the Howling Wolf, etc.often heard on the old WOPA). Sam and The Sparks were of that genre of music. WOPA was the R & B station in Chicago that we all listened to back then. I should also add that the director of Animal House, based much of the movie on his own fraternity at Dartmouth. I only met John B. once after that crazy summer. It was many years later, and I happened to run into him in the L.A. Airport when I worked for Rockwell International. We shared a drink together, waiting for our flights, laughing about Animal House. At that time he described the evolution of the movie, and how he shared some of the Iota stories with others. To say that Animal House was based on our Iota chapter would be a stretch, and not entirely accurate. However, there was this connection, many years ago, a thread in the fabric of the film's history, if you will." (Thanks, Dan for sharing this bit of history - as if we didn't already share some common bonds with the movie!)
1951 - Iota Chapter Re-Charters?
If not the only one, Iota Chapter is one of the very few in Phi Kappa Tau that has TWO charters. Following the economic crisis launched with the stock market crash in 1929, Iota Chapter had "closed its doors" by the mid-1930s. It wasn't until 1950 that interest re-surfaced to revive the chapter, and on May 27, 1951 a second charter was issued for the 9th Chapter of Phi Kappa Tau, Iota. As all of the 1920 charter-signing brothers have entered Chapter Eternal, and for the most part - all but one of the 1920s & '30's members have passed on....this group that was on hand in 1951 for the re-birth Iota have become some of our OLDEST LIVING ALUMNI! From that 1951 group of 17 that signed the charter, here are the ones that we still have contact information for: Rocky Daehler '52, John Hill '52, F.W. Moore, Jr. '52, John Warner '52, Carl Buchner '53, Forrest Cobb '53, William Layton '53, John Walker '53, Dr. David Johnston '54 and Bruce Trevor '54. Others that are still believed to be around, just MIA, are: Arthur Hartley '52 and Harold Lagerstrom '52. Perhaps a few of these fine historic gents will be joining us in 2010?? Another 10 alumni are "on the books" from the Classes of 1950 and 1951 - who we hope to hear from too!
1985 - Iota is #1 Chapter in Phi Kappa Tau
The Iota Board of Governors was rejuvenated in 1983, and following a couple of great years of administrative progression by both the Undergraduate chapter and alumni board, the chapter was invited to the 1985 National Convention in Scottsdale, AZ to receive the prestigious Roland Maxwell Trophy - being recognized as the #1 Phi Kappa Tau chaper in the country. This award is presented annually to the chapter which demonstrates administrative excellence and superior performance in all phases of fraternity operations. Current chapter president at that time, Dan Alpen '86, made the trek to the August convention, and was joined by Greg Naso '85 (then on the National Fraternity staff); Tom Hazelton '77 (then serving the national fraternity as a Domain Director); and John Betterton '88. At their September 1985 meeting, the Iota Chapter Board of Governors paused to pose for this picture with the Maxwell Trophy - (L-R Front): Bill McCracken '60, Spencer Thomas '73, Bob Kappmeyer '61; (L-R Back): Jack Minder '81, Mike Knipp '84, Tom Hazelton '77.