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This is the second page of reminiscences garnered from the Chronicle of Nu Beta for this decade, as authored by Paul Joinnides. Click here for the first page. Due to the personal nature of the reporting, we have chosen to essentially quote most of the content authored by Paul verbatim, as it retains the flavor of his style.
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION
In bringing this history up to date, we have encountered problems. We find that records are missing or incomplete and that those present leave out those memorable events that those present at the time would remember so well. Although we have done our best, we are sure that much has been omitted but with a history such as ours there is just too vast an amount of material for all of it to be presented here even if it all was on record.
We apologize for the long lists of names you will find throughout the context but, being that it has been the combined individual contributions on the part of each brother of Nu Beta that has made Phi Gamma Delta at Rutgers the best, we felt it necessary to do this. We hope that upon reading some of those names you will recall people you haven't thought of for a while and recall some of those unforgettable moments that we, the authors, were unable to include in this history.When Brothers Tibbetts and Staub said that "the past is but a prologue to the future", they were so right. We can see that Nu Beta has continued to live up to its glorious past and has taken even bigger and better strides toward the top of the Rutgers fraternity system. This is due, of course, to the high quality of men insisted upon and if this continues to hold true in the future the Fijis of today and yesterday will be visiting the number one house on the Banks in the years to come.
This brings to mind a little quote left to me by my good friend and president of the house, David E. Schuller ('66) which may be food for thought in the coming years. "The sincere concern for each brother for every brother makes Phi Gamma Delta number one." We here today are sure that Nu Beta will continue to be number one and even reach new heights in the future.
To continue where the first edition left off, we go back to the Fall of 1955. IN that year the house at 78 Easton Avenue was painted inside and out and new forest-green rugs were installed.
Fifteen men were pledged that semester, of which six were on the freshman football team with several others on various other freshman squads. Eleven of those men were initiated in January.
On the varsity athletic scene, the Nu Beta Fijis again represented the University in all major sports. The football team saw Ed Evens as co-captain, backed up by twelve other men of the Purple: Tony DeSantis, Bob Howard, Greg Holmes, Jim Marco, Andrew Baker, Bob Max, Lee Lusardi, George Wilson, Bill Whitacre, John Ohnemus and Ed Farrell. Lee Lusardi turned out to be the leading ground-gainer for Rutgers that season and Bob Howard was named to the second team All-East and Honorable Mention All-American. Bill Whitacre and Greg Holmes were proclaimed 'unsung heroes' by the Associated Press.
Dave Stires captained the varsity basketball team that year with Fijis John Brugler, Floyd Kregenow, Joe Ens and Bill Whitacre helping him out. RU found some of our men-of-the-diamond on their own diamond: Vince Gwinn, Al Strohmayer, Arnie Steinhaus and Bill Whitacre were these men. The lacrosse squad had the services of Bob Kenny while the crew team had Dave Morgan, Ted Imback and Tom Denny in their shells.
Athletics were by far not the only field in which the Nu Beta boys excelled. Al Strohmayer was a cadet lieutenant and second in command of AFROTC, while Warren Jones commanded the first platoon of the Scarlet Rifles.
Les Hargrove contributed to our scholastic rank of 4 out of 25-he was a member of Beta Beta Beta, honorary pre-med society, as well as Delta Phi Alpha, German honor society.
Vinto Gwinn was selected to Phi Beta Kappa. Brothers William Beach and Len DiLillo were Henry Rutgers Scholars.
Both the Lusardis were elected to Student Council that year, with Lee being elected as the president of that body.
In recognition of their outstanding years on the Banks, four of our natives were selected to Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. These men were Vinton Gwinn, Robert Kenny, Floyed Kregenow and Lee Lusardi.
In addition to the full social program that year, a successful Parent's Tea was held as well as an unforgettable boat ride.
Picked to keep the Phi Gams on top for another year were Warren Joyce as president, John Riorden as treasurer, Donald Slowinski as recording secretary, Dwight Kirkpatrick as corresponding secretary and Bradley Hindson as historian. Hank Evans was chosen Purple Legionnaire by the brotherhood.
| The 1956-57 year was a fantastic one for Nu Beta. The section report said: "Nu Beta is second to none on campus and has the Condon Cup. Administration is sound and alumni support solid, and the University believes the Fijis demonstrate the important role of social fraternities in undergraduate life." (From the national Fiji archives web page:) "The Condon Cup is awarded to the undergraduate chapter which has shown the greatest improvement over the past academic year in the areas of scholarship, extracurricular activities, and fraternity relationships. Named after Herbert Thomas Condon, Sr. (Washington Faculty), it was given by the Sigma Tau Chapter at the University of Washington, and approved by the 1952 Ekklesia. " |
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A pledge class of 25 was taken that fall and 21 of them were initiated in the spring.
The football lightweights not only had two Fiji men on the squad, Len DiLillo and Brad Hindson, but also had Brother Greg Holmes coaching the backfield. Spring sports had ten Fiji starters that year.
In the Homecoming Weekend festivities, the boys from 78 Easton Avenue took an honorable mention in the glee club contest and also received official praise from the University for its entry in the first annual Float Contest.
As will be seen in the next few paragraphs, Nu Beta completely dominated the Rutgers campus in University participation that year.
Warren Jones was again second-in-command of AFROTC and Dave Morgan was Wing Adjutant of AFROTC. The Arnold Air Society included four Fijis: Dave Morgan, Don Taylor, Jerry Alford and Crosby Houston. Scabbard and Blade also had good Fiji support, with Bill Whitacre, Bob Lusardi and Len DiLillo in their ranks.
The University Quartet had the services of Brothers Dwight Kirkpatrick and Bob Langford.
Lee Lusardi was in Cap and Skull that fall and also president of Student Council, while Bob Lusardi, Bob Langford, and Bill Whitacre were members of Crown and Scroll, with Bill the president. When new selections were made the following Spring, the Phi Gams were again well represented with Bill Whitacre and Bob Lusardi in Cap and Skull and Bill Austin, John Bauer, Richard Howard and Jay Hunton picked to Crown and Scroll.
To go along with the amazing men in Phi Gam that year, four- yes, four- brothers were selected to Phi Beta Kappa. These outstanding men were Len DiLillo, Les Hargrove, William Beach and Floyd Kregenow. This was truly remarkable!
The Fijis comprised 10% of the Golden Key Society at Rutgers that year and the same percentage of RU students picked for Who's Who, with 5 men, namely Floyd Kregenow, Lee Lusardi, Bill Whitacre, Bob Lusardi and Warren Joyce.
In student politics we also excelled. Tom Weber and Bob Lusardi were elected presidents of the classes of '60 and '58, respectively. Bob Lusardi was also vice-president of the Student Council. The vice-president and secretary-treasurer of the class of '59 was Brother Richard Howard. Student Council positions went to Allen Bugg, Jay Hunton, Tom Weber and Bob Lusardi. Ted Imbach was president of Targum council and Bill Whitacre was the vice-president of IFC. You will note that the president of the class of '58, V.P. of '59 and president of '60 were all Fijis, again truly remarkable.
We certainly did our share on campus that year. We also received a letter from the dean. I don't know what you guys did, but the dean had something to say about a 'Christmas tree incident'.
Along with everything else, the Keller Trophy (intramural) race went well for the natives that year with the capture of three championships, football, basketball and swimming. With the addition of points in several other sports, the Fijis managed to obtain this prized trophy.
To add even more to this banner year, we were ranked five out of twenty-five scholastically.
The able cabinet which led Phi Gamma Delta so well that Spring and would do the same next Fall was Bill Whitacre as president, Don Taylor as treasurer, Bob Lusardi as corresponding secretary and Jerry Alford as historian.
Archon President Phillip C. Ebling was guest speaker at the Norris Pig Dinner that Spring.
| Due to the truly outstanding year the Raritan Fijis had in athletics, scholarship and all other campus activities, the General Fraternity awarded our chapter the coveted Cheney Cup for 1956-57. You fellas must have been proud of it then just as we still are today. (from the national Fiji web site:) "The Cheney Cup is awarded to the undergraduate chapter which demonstrates the greatest all-around efficiency in scholarship, fraternity relationships, and general collegiate activities. It was presented to the Fraternity at the 65th Ekklesia in 1913 by Archon President Orion H. Cheney (New York 1897). The picture shows the Cup as it appeared in 1913. It was designed by Tiffany and Co., New York. Around the rim is the inscription, Awarded each year to the chapter of Phi Gamma Delta attaining the highest efficiency in the conduct of its affairs. " |
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On our return to the Banks in the Fall of 1957, we found eleven Fijimen on the varsity football squad. These were Bob Lusardi, Bob Max, Bill Whitacre, Bill Austin (who won the Homer Hazel Trophy for outstanding Rutgers halfback), Dick Howard, Jay Hunton, Nugent Sharp, Bob Clark, Bill Pulley, Jim Sierk and Jim Rogers.
In other varsity athletics, John DelCoreo was our contribution to the 150-lb football team, while Bob Fenstermaker was a Rutgers merman. Jim Sierk grappled for R.U. and four Fijis represented the Purple on the lacrosse squad-Bill Austin, Bill Anthony, Bob Clark and A. Van Heuvelen. Jay Hunton and Bill Pulley were on the cinders for the Scarlet.
Under the leadership of Les Hargrove we won the Brett Song Contest for the third straight year. Phi Gam also had four men on the Rutgers Glee Club.
The ROTC program had several outstanding Fijis in key positions. Bill Whitacre was in command at AROTC, Don Taylor second in command at AFROTC, and Bob Langford was Wing Personnel Officer. The Arnold Air Society saw Bill Austin, Ed Scott and Dick Wagryn in the fold.
The first year of delayed rush saw nineteen men pledge.
The election of officers in Spring '58 saw Bill Austin as president, Ed Scott as treasurer, Mike D'Aries as recording secretary and A.Van Heuvelen as historian.
Once again the Fijis found the proper formula for combining extra-curricular activities with studies and finished five out of twenty-five scholastically.
On the scene of campus activities, the brotherhood had Ted Imbach as president of the Targum Council, Bob Lusardi as president of the senior class and vice-president of Student Council and Jim Van Orden on the WRSU staff.
1957-58 culminated at Pig Dinner when Cecil J. Wilkenson, executive secretary of the General Fraternity, presented the Cheney Cup to us for the previous year.
In the Fall of 1958 there was a Fijiman that all Rutgers was very proud of, Nu Beta's president, Billy Austin. Billy was a pre-season All-American pick and lived up to those expectations, playing some of the best football Rutgers had ever seen. Backing him up on the Scarlet eleven were seven other Fijis: Bill Pully, Bob Clark, Jim Rogers, Nugent Sharp, Jay Hunton, Steve Hall and Chuck Torpy.
Bill was also Cadet Colonel of AFROTC, member of Cap and Skull, and lacrosse midfielder. He naturally received the Athlete of the Year award at Spring Convocation.
Representing us on the football lightweights were Tom Weber, Doug Saarel and Bob Gordon. Bob Fenstermaker paced the swim team while the track team had the services of Bob Gordon, Doug Saarel, Jack Carlock and Bob Pully, captain and university record-holder for shot put. Varsity wrestling had Jim Sierk and Gary Van Orden, and four on the lacrosse team-Bill Austin, Jay Hunton, Alan Van Heuvelen, and John Leeds. On the diamond were Brothers Hall, Hal Klug (former Cleveland Indians bat boy), Bruce Casella and Jim Rogers.
As usual, athletics were but a part of the contribution made to the school by the Fijis. Eight advanced ROTC boys were Fijimen when out of uniform. Tom Weber was elected as senior class president for the coming year and also chairmaned Campus Chest and Brett Song Contest. Paul Benke was elected the president of the class of '61 and Jim Van Orden was WRSU program director.
For the fourth straight year the Fijis captured the Brett Song Contest. This got to be a tradition with us as we won it three more times before the contest ended.
At our elections, five outstanding men were picked to lead us and keep us number one for another year. These men were Al Bugg as president, Tom Scherr as treasurer, Tom Weber as recording secretary, Jim Van Orden as corresponding secretary, and Bob Fenstermaker as historian.
A strong push on scholarship started that year and with financial support from the alumni, scholarship teams were set up for cash prizes which were awarded at Pig Dinner. Also at the Pig Dinner that year was the glorious burning of the mortgage of the old chapter house.
According to the records, a moose head replaced the deer head over the fire place. Well, if you'll come visit the chapter house now, you'll see a magnificent deer head and we'd sure like to know who has our moose!.
For the second year out of four in which the Keller Trophy was in existence, the Fijis went on to capture it in that 1958-59 year.
MORE TO COME