iJiriii'itt'. MM Wim 'Sil' '•'i Vol. 1 No. 1 ALPHA PHI OF PHI GAMMA DELTA Spring 1973 FROM ALL OF US TO ALL OF YOU Upon reviewing the recent history of Fra ternities here at Ann Arbor I think it is quite apparent that the Fraternities have survived some difficult times. We have seen our num bers drop from the high forties to thirty-one or two active chapter houses. We have seen the entire Greek system go practically without of ficial recognition with the University. We have seen the average number of Rushees drop from five-himdred to a mere forty or fifty. We have seen the size of houses on campus diminish due to the lack of pledges and good men available. We have seen the failure of IFC. However, the system of Fraternities here has not folded. We have not failed. The remaining Fraternities on campus are very strong and Phi Gamma Delta is no excep tion ! Often the men we get now are genuinely interested in what Phi Gamma Delta and the whole system has to offer. We remain ex tremely active on campus in varsity and intra mural athletics, in student government, and in University activities. We have rebuilt IFC into FCC (Fraternity Coordinating Council). In Rush we have worked hard at proving ourselves and selling our product to the men coming through. Our success in remaining an active. vital, viable part of campus life is real. One might say we have weathered the storm. But. . . the problems we face are still here. Things are still chaotic at times, extremely competitive and often distressing for chapters here as we fight to grow back. We may have weathered the storm but I think we are not yet back home to port. This is the first Newsletter in some time. It comes as an expansion of our efforts in all ways to improve ourselves. The letter had been sacrificed recently with concern for more immediate problems. We are now convinced again of its importance. Our position in Rush and on this campus in general has made us very aware of what Phi Gamma Delta has meant to us and to so many others. We do not take this Fraternity for granted. This Newsletter is an attempt to reestablish ourselves in one more way. We would welcome your support. I would like to invite every graduate brother personally and in behalf of ^1 the men here to visit us. Just stop by—we would welcome the opportunity to meet you and I am sure you would like to see us as we really are. \r\nSpring 1973 Page 2 AL "WILDCAT" WALL...A BROTHER NOT AN EMPLOYEE BY BOB VAN The he first time I SYKE met "The Wildcat" looked more like a cowboy than a house man. The western shirt, the bolo tie with the polished stone arrowhead The girl glowed with the innocence of a five-year-old as she bent over to squeeze him. Wall then capped off the meeting with, "Did the moon and the stars just go behind a cloud? They don't seem to be very bright with you here. " They left the room with grins almost as wide as the one on the face of "poor old Uncle Wildcat. " Wall's life before he came to Ann slide, and the boots may have started the impression, but the bow-legged stance and the free-and-easy manner of the man Arbor involved more occupations than most people dream of trying. And he can tell you a hundred stories about his ad made it real. ventures. Albert "Wildcat" Wall has been a Golden Gloves champion in Cleveland, a mortician, a tavern owner, a worker in a bomber factory during World War n, a nightclub entertainer, and a pre-med student. For the last twenty-six years He leaned across the table and asked, "Did I tell you how I knocked out a man without even hitting him?" I had a feel ing that the question was rhetorical. I was right. "The announcer was a friend of my trainer's . . .", the story came out, he has been the house man at the Alpha Phi chapter of Phi Gamma Delta at the University of Michigan. polished from a thousand tellings, ". . .he The Phi Gam house became Wildcat's corner THAT FIGHTING THUNDERBOLT FROM CLEVELAND. . . AL. . . "WILD home in 1946. He took the job from a friend who was moving to Ohio and a higher salary. Wall realized that the University town atmosphere would stimu late his desire to continue his education on an informal basis. He "read a little" turned to my opponent and said, 'In this CAT". . . WALL.'" As the story con tinued I learned that "Battling" Brown forgot to step in the rosin box before he entered the ring, as a result a puddle of water (spilled from a trainer's sponge) was his downfall. "He jerked his head back just as my fist passed and he and attended Red Cross medical training seminars. This led to training in the use and instruction of first aid, cardiac heart massage, and artificial resuscitation. head hit the ringpost. Wall slipped on this water and the back of his It threw him for car accident victims ward and the front of him hit the floor many times and he treats minor ailments in the Fraternity with good old-fashioned and knocked him completely out. It took me a month to explain to my trainer that home remedies as well as modern first I never hit him. " aid. One night Wildcat came home "pretty battered up. . . although he had "whip has treated Wildcat prides himself on his progress in his self-education. But he is even more proud of his closeness to "his boys. " As we talked it became apparent that he shares their successes and fail ures. He likes to think of them as "younger brothers of mine. " During our conversation one of the members of the house entered with a girl. Wildcat's face lit up as he swung into his act. "I thought it just got bright er in here, but I didn't see you come in," he was really warming up now. "How about a hug for a poor old man . . . poor old Uncle Wildcat..." ped" his opponent. His wife took one look and ordered him to quit. "She wouldn't live with a slap-happy guy. " It was boxing that gave Wall the nick name of "Wildcat. " The name has been with him ever since. He used the name when he turned to entertaining from boxing. He worked in blind pigs and speak-easies during Prohibition. Ask (or just look like you might) and Wildcat will tell you of the times when men asked if they could put their guns under his chair while they danced. He might also tell you about the tip he received for \r\nPage 3 Spring 1973 playing and singing "Sleepy-Time Gal" lor a mobster. "He gave me twenty dollars. I asked him why so much? 'Well,' he said, 'we're gonna be worth $50,000 . . . and if we don't I'll be dead.' " During those days Wall made eighty to ninety dollars a night, for singing three times a week. He now makes eighty-two dollars and fifty cents a week. But the lack of a rewarding salary does not both er him. The real reward for Wildcat is quick to stress that if he does happen to take "a year or two off" he will come back to the Fraternity. He notes, "I'm more a brother than an em ployee. " In fact he has been proclaimed an honorary member of the Ann Arbor chapter of Phi Gamma Delta by a unani mous vote at a national convention. As Wildcat would say, "It's been very rewarding. " The brothers of Alpha Phi agree. Wildcat lies in the friends he has made in twentysix years at the Fraternity. "How many men can say that they have five hundred personal friends? Not many, I'd say." Wildcat's age is a mystery. Most guesses range in the high seventies to the low eighties. He claims, with a grin, to have lived through 113 years. His age has led several boys to be concerned with Wildcat's health. When asked, "How are you feeling today?" he often quips, "Oh pretty good. I've made it to noon so I'm shooting for sundown!" This type of good humor keeps down the number of "mothers" that he claims he must contend with. But Wall admits that he is getting older and he does think occasionally of "a year or so to myself. " Where will he go ? Montana. Since the early fifties Wall has been spending the summer in Cooke City, Montana. The town is a fifteen minute drive from Yellowstone National Park. The lure of rugged country and clean mountain air bring him back year after year. Several of Wildcat's "boys" have vis ited him out in his summer home. One reported that he was stopped by a road construction project just outside of Cooke City, and he struck up a conversation with a flagman. When he mentioned he was visiting A1 Wall, the flagman cried, "You mean Wildcat?" Everyone in Cooke City knows the Wildcat. During the day he cooks for fishing expeditions or visits friends. At night he entertains in the local taverns and is a big hit with all the patrons. WHAT A RUSH! This winter another twelve fine men pledged the Fiji house. The rush pro gram was started off with a pre-rush warm-up all-campus beer bash which was attended by approximately 300 per sons. Formal rush started Sunday, Jan uary 21, and extended to the 25th. Under the co-chairmanship of John Robison and Mike James, signs were placed in buses, dorms and other camjjus buildings, ad vertising the advantages of becoming a Fiji. Coffee dates with men recom mended by the alumni and telephone calls to the general campus population, (with cooperation from the Interfraternity Council), aided us in enticing potential candidates. In spite of a relatively low rush turnout, we succeeded in attracting almost half of the men who came through the house. Out of the fourteen bids ex tended to the rushees, twelve were ac cepted. The winter '73 pledge class consists of these outstanding men; Brian Anderson — Muskegon, MI Marc Hrabovsky — Grosse Point, MI Art Fediuk — Livonia, MI John Thomas — East Detroit, MI James Almdale — Bluffton, Ind James Spiegel — Grosse lie, MI Tim Pederson — Grand Rapids, MI Lee Shaffer — Birmingham, MI Rick Howes — Ortonville, MI John D'Artemenko — Des Plaines, HI Larry Beucke — Ballwin, Mo \r\nSpring 1973 Page 4 Also five new brothers from the fall '72 class. were initiated They include: Bob Bradley — Racine, Wise Mike Staniec — Detroit, MI Randy Tellarico — Grosse Pointe, MI Kestutis Miskinis — Orchard Lake, MI Mills Moss — Richmond, Va In our ongoing search for good men, the open rush committee, led by Chet Gerdts, shingling of the roof, some new desks and dressers, board-room chairs, dishes and silverware, carpeting for the old library and senior stairs, and plumbing and carpentry work, are planned from funds contributed by the Foundation and the Alpha Phi Association. The house never looked so good! has come into contact with a number of people who promise to be good candidates next Fall. Pete Hussey sum med up this year's effort succinctly while discussing the program with some brothers up in The Pit: "What a rush!" THE NEW LOOK Due to the generosity of brothers who have contributed to the Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation the old house at 707 will have a beautiful new study facil ity available for use in the Fall. The long-neglected porch facing Sigma Nu on Oxford is being enclosed, heated, and furnished to provide a well-lighted and comfortable atmosphere for "booking." At a cost of thousands of dollars, the room repairs and purchases to be made over the summer, possibly including re- will feature both arm-chairs and desks for study in addition to bookshelves and a trophy case, drawer space, and a locked cabinet for the porch valuables. Work on will be completed over the summer under the direction of brothers SPORTS The U of M Intramural Season is rapidly drawing to a close, with the FIJI'S firmly entrenched in the middle of the Fraternity Division standings. A bad break here and a poor game there always seemed to keep us from buildingup a winner momentum. An enthusiastic Sophomore class kept the Phi Gams in contention early in the season with strongperformances in some rather unpopular sports, such as, cross country and water polo, but in the major events: football, Softball, and basketball, mediocre sea sons put the FIJI'S out of the running for the Fraternity Division Crown. The Softball team, very optimistic at the start of the season last fall, found that it had plenty of power hitters, how ever a nagging deficiency of batmen who got that plain old single kept the team from performing consistently. Both "A" and "B" football squads did well with the "A" team making it into, living in the house according to plans but not quite through, the first place drawn in consultation with the builder. playoffs. At the same time, the chapter room in the basement will finally be heated and a The "B" team unfortunately Our old stuffed white lost its first game to a team it could easily have beaten later in the season, but the FUI "B's" went on all the way to the final game of the second place play offs which was played, I might add (be cause I was there), in a sea of freezing owl has a new glass and antiqued-wood case, built with painstaking care by "A" team was named to the Fraternity Brother E. Schiller's father, and will be mounted next to the fireplace in the Division All Star Squad. In basketball we did not fare quite so living room on a shelf that will be con well. Our "A" team this year was sorely lacking in the height department could new weather-sealed door added so that the brothers might be more comfortable during meetings, and the room will re ceive more use. structed as part of the same plan. Other mud. Ed Neff, a linebacker for the FIJI \r\nPage 5 Spring 1973 never really get going against its ever taller opponents. The "B" team, which showed flashes of brilliance during the regular season, could never put it all together until the playoffs started, and by then it was too late—for they had lost two games which were frustratingly in their grasp at several points. One loss even went into double overtime. This rather disappointing year seems to be ending on a bright note, however. Our "A" volleyball team is marching over its opponents with machinelike ef ficiency and has its eyes firmly set on the Frat Division championship. 1973 NEWSLETTER STAFF Editor-in-chief: Assistant editor: Sports editor: John Chapman Dan Hardie Mike Rooney Editorial page: Marc Schiller (President) Home fashion page: Mark Penskar Society page: Mike James Feature writer: Bob (Prophet) Van Syke FIJI Athletic Chairmen, John Chapman and Tom Haling, have done a fine organ izational job this year and are optimistic about next years' chances, hi the words of Tom Haling, "If only we can get that fast break going " t' \ \r\nBUCK RATE lUrS. POSTAGE P D ANN ARBOR,, MfCH. PERMIT NO. 71 totonnf! m nw gaUMa mt* m m fHAPTED (iiftjRo si.,ad 'mm, michigaii c/