Recollections of David Tibbs about Delta Phi Kappa and the beginnings of SC Gamma Chapter
Mike McKeown and I had been friends through high school and were roommates at Clemson in 1967. We lived in the “Tin Cans” dorm. One of Mike's classmates was John Segars who was an active brother in Delta Phi Kappa (DPK) local fraternity. I knew nothing about fraternities at that time and went to “rush” with Mike out of curiosity, for free food and beer. I had no intentions of joining a fraternity as I didn't think that "lifestyle" was for me. My first cousin, whom I had always looked up to, had a football scholarship, was a BMOC and a brother in Kappa Delta Chi (KDC). I thought that if I did decide to be in a "frat" I would pledge KDC. However, when I visited KDC it just didn't feel right. In fact none of the fraternities felt right. When I rushed Delta Phi Kappa (DPK) I received a warm welcome and truly felt as though they wanted me to be part of the fraternity. Some of the guys that made me feel at home were Bill Biediger, John Beason, Scott Bergren, John and Bobby Segars, Bill Lacher, Tommy Touchstone, Hall Waddell, Tom Hash, Evans Reynolds, Wally Brittain and Jon Shuler. Mike and I became pledges and went through the "transition" to becoming a brother. Some of the "activities" we were required to endure were down right "bizarre” but it was partly because of those "extremes" that we bonded as a pledge class and as brothers.
During the following year of living in the fraternity house I had the time of my life. One of the activities I can remember was sponsoring some orphans from local boys’ home. We brought them to Clemson and treated them to hamburgers and a basketball game. That was a great feeling! One of highlights was getting snowed in at Lake Lure - what a blast! There were many other great times too numerous to mention.
As the second semester of my junior year grew to a close it was time to elect officers for the next year. I was totally shocked when I was nominated for president. Then I thought "I was only nominated and someone else will be elected". To my surprise I was elected president of DPK. I had never been a leader of anything at that point in my life and really didn't know how to handle it. Bill Lacher, who was the outgoing president, took me under his wing and trained me on Robert's Rules of Order and the other necessary skills that was part of the job. We then took our final exams and all went home for the summer.
When Fall Semester 1969 began, the administration at Clemson University decided to allow national fraternities on campus. The first exposure we had was through a form of "rush" where the school allowed national fraternity representatives to come by each of the local fraternity houses to "sell us" on their attributes. We had fun with the fraternities we had no interest in when they came by to talk to us. Some of the guys will remember comments like "Who is Charlie Barnes" and "A pocket full of pledge pens". I don’t think any of us had a clue on how to handle what was about to happen. “Going National” became the focal point for all the local fraternities at Clemson.
One of our DPK brothers (Jon Shuler) had gone on to graduate school at the Universtiy of SC where he joined the S.C. Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta (PDT). Allen Edwards' best friend from high school , Dennis Harrington, was also a Phi Delt at the USC. As I recall it was those connections that biased us towards PDT. This is how I remember the next several months.
Judge Wade Weatherford and Mr. Pete Stuart represented the PDT National Headquarters evaluation team. As president, I was the primary interface between PDT team and DPK. Both of these gentlemen were refined, with an awesome presence. I remember how frightened and overwhelmed I felt. In one of our first meetings the "Judge" and Mr. Stuart told us that other local fraternities at Clemson had expressed an interest in PDT and they intended to vote for the best local fraternity to represent them at Clemson University. They explained that they would make that selection based on character attributes reflected in academics, community service, intramural sports, and other "competitions" such as the homecoming display and Tigerama. We talked about those expectations in the next fraternity meeting. We all knew that if PDT was going to be our choice, we would have to work very hard over the upcoming "trial period" to earn their respect and, more importantly, their vote! We also discussed that even if we gave it our best effort we may still not be selected. There were other national fraternities that had expressed an interest in us and would accept us "as we were" (no trial period). We voted in that meeting to pursue PDT. The vote was unanimous - the brotherhood had the confidence to "go for broke". I had no idea what a powerful force those men that voted that night, represented with their character, intelligence and determination to succeed. It seemed I was the only one that had any doubt that we could do it. I can even remember questioning if I had done an adequate job in portraying the ‘conditions’ to the brotherhood that Judge Weatherford and Mr. Stuart had given me. My doubts were also based on our past ‘performances’. Prior to that year we did not have the best grades, nor had we excelled in much of anything except having a good time, and we were near the top of that bracket! During that trial period we began to get organized and formed committees of the various "competitions" by which we were to be "judged".
Everybody worked very hard during that time and the peer pressure was unbelievable. The brotherhood pulled together as a team to achieve most the goals we set. The time then came for the vote by the national fraternities to take place. The "Judge" and Pete Stuart had given every indication they were going to make the decision that was best for PDT. Up until the night of the vote we honestly did not know if we would be selected. It was a somber atmosphere in "the house" that night! There was a pay phone in the hall outside the lounge entrance from which we had been told to expect a call. We knew that at least one fraternity was going to get some bad news from PDT that night we just hoped and prayed that it would not be us. When the phone rang you could have heard a pin drop. Pete Stuart told me that they had a lengthy discussion that night in trying to decide which local chapter to select. At that moment I really thought he was preparing me for the "bomb". Then he said, "We selected DPK to be the SC Gamma Chapter of PDT"! Everyone could "read" my body language and the house exploded with cheers! We all went out on the quad singing "Phi Delta Theta Grand Old Fraternity". I don't remember much after that. I just know that I felt as though the weight of world was off our shoulders. We set a goal as a brotherhood and worked our collective butts off to achieve it. I have no doubt that Jon Shuler and Dennis Harrington had an influence on the PDT team but I also know that the "Judge" and Pete Stuart were professionals and their decision was based on our character, our performance and that we fought for what we believed in. They voted for the best fraternity on the Clemson University campus!
Up until the "vote" much of my time had been invested in fraternity activities and I was failing most of the engineering courses I needed to graduate. Needless to say I did not contribute much to the rest of the brothers excellent grades that semester, which we needed to achieve our high academic standards required by PDT. If I was going to graduate I needed to spend what time was left "cramming" just to bring the "F's" up to "C's & D's". There was still much work to do to get ready for the transition to PDT and I knew I didn't have the time for it. At our next meeting I resigned as president. Allen Edwards was subsequently elected and became the charter president of the SC Gamma Chapter of PDT. Allen was instrumental in our selecting PDT to start with and was the perfect fit for the job in so many ways. In March 1970 we were all inducted into the Bond of Phi Delta Theta. Allen Edwards "nominated" me to be Bond Number 1 and I can never thank him enough for that honor!
What a time these ‘glory days’ were! I am also honored to have the privilege to have been part of the lives of such an elite group of young men. Many of them went on attain pretigous careers. I have no doubt that they cherish those times and their continuing relationships with their brothers as much as I do.
I always look forward to seeing them again at our reunions that we have every 5 years since the 25th reunion. Jim Douglas was the keynote speaker at the 30th reunion and he talked about growing up as an only child. He went on to say that the brotherhood had a special meaning to him because he did not know what it was like have a brother before then! I was impressed that Jim still had memorabilia from when we were pledges over 30 years ago! Jud Drennan was the keynote speaker at our 35th reunion. Jud stood up behind the podium and retrieved a speech from his coat that he had obviously spent some time crafting. Right at the beginning of his talk he laughed and threw what he had written over his shoulder. He pitched it because he started out speaking from his heart – he did not need his notes! Jud talked about the Greek Olympics and the tug-of-war against the “Deeks’. They were all “jocks” and didn’t believe we could beat them. Jud went on to explain how we pulled in a cadence to win the event. We were not as athletic as they were but we pulled as a team to beat a group of stronger individuals. I also remember him talking about Tommy Gaither’s famous line, “there ain’t no place like first place”.
Jim, Jud, Allen and others show their love for each other every time we are together. What a great honor to be part of Phi Delta Theta history at Clemson University.
During the following year of living in the fraternity house I had the time of my life. One of the activities I can remember was sponsoring some orphans from local boys’ home. We brought them to Clemson and treated them to hamburgers and a basketball game. That was a great feeling! One of highlights was getting snowed in at Lake Lure - what a blast! There were many other great times too numerous to mention.
As the second semester of my junior year grew to a close it was time to elect officers for the next year. I was totally shocked when I was nominated for president. Then I thought "I was only nominated and someone else will be elected". To my surprise I was elected president of DPK. I had never been a leader of anything at that point in my life and really didn't know how to handle it. Bill Lacher, who was the outgoing president, took me under his wing and trained me on Robert's Rules of Order and the other necessary skills that was part of the job. We then took our final exams and all went home for the summer.
When Fall Semester 1969 began, the administration at Clemson University decided to allow national fraternities on campus. The first exposure we had was through a form of "rush" where the school allowed national fraternity representatives to come by each of the local fraternity houses to "sell us" on their attributes. We had fun with the fraternities we had no interest in when they came by to talk to us. Some of the guys will remember comments like "Who is Charlie Barnes" and "A pocket full of pledge pens". I don’t think any of us had a clue on how to handle what was about to happen. “Going National” became the focal point for all the local fraternities at Clemson.
One of our DPK brothers (Jon Shuler) had gone on to graduate school at the Universtiy of SC where he joined the S.C. Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta (PDT). Allen Edwards' best friend from high school , Dennis Harrington, was also a Phi Delt at the USC. As I recall it was those connections that biased us towards PDT. This is how I remember the next several months.
Judge Wade Weatherford and Mr. Pete Stuart represented the PDT National Headquarters evaluation team. As president, I was the primary interface between PDT team and DPK. Both of these gentlemen were refined, with an awesome presence. I remember how frightened and overwhelmed I felt. In one of our first meetings the "Judge" and Mr. Stuart told us that other local fraternities at Clemson had expressed an interest in PDT and they intended to vote for the best local fraternity to represent them at Clemson University. They explained that they would make that selection based on character attributes reflected in academics, community service, intramural sports, and other "competitions" such as the homecoming display and Tigerama. We talked about those expectations in the next fraternity meeting. We all knew that if PDT was going to be our choice, we would have to work very hard over the upcoming "trial period" to earn their respect and, more importantly, their vote! We also discussed that even if we gave it our best effort we may still not be selected. There were other national fraternities that had expressed an interest in us and would accept us "as we were" (no trial period). We voted in that meeting to pursue PDT. The vote was unanimous - the brotherhood had the confidence to "go for broke". I had no idea what a powerful force those men that voted that night, represented with their character, intelligence and determination to succeed. It seemed I was the only one that had any doubt that we could do it. I can even remember questioning if I had done an adequate job in portraying the ‘conditions’ to the brotherhood that Judge Weatherford and Mr. Stuart had given me. My doubts were also based on our past ‘performances’. Prior to that year we did not have the best grades, nor had we excelled in much of anything except having a good time, and we were near the top of that bracket! During that trial period we began to get organized and formed committees of the various "competitions" by which we were to be "judged".
Everybody worked very hard during that time and the peer pressure was unbelievable. The brotherhood pulled together as a team to achieve most the goals we set. The time then came for the vote by the national fraternities to take place. The "Judge" and Pete Stuart had given every indication they were going to make the decision that was best for PDT. Up until the night of the vote we honestly did not know if we would be selected. It was a somber atmosphere in "the house" that night! There was a pay phone in the hall outside the lounge entrance from which we had been told to expect a call. We knew that at least one fraternity was going to get some bad news from PDT that night we just hoped and prayed that it would not be us. When the phone rang you could have heard a pin drop. Pete Stuart told me that they had a lengthy discussion that night in trying to decide which local chapter to select. At that moment I really thought he was preparing me for the "bomb". Then he said, "We selected DPK to be the SC Gamma Chapter of PDT"! Everyone could "read" my body language and the house exploded with cheers! We all went out on the quad singing "Phi Delta Theta Grand Old Fraternity". I don't remember much after that. I just know that I felt as though the weight of world was off our shoulders. We set a goal as a brotherhood and worked our collective butts off to achieve it. I have no doubt that Jon Shuler and Dennis Harrington had an influence on the PDT team but I also know that the "Judge" and Pete Stuart were professionals and their decision was based on our character, our performance and that we fought for what we believed in. They voted for the best fraternity on the Clemson University campus!
Up until the "vote" much of my time had been invested in fraternity activities and I was failing most of the engineering courses I needed to graduate. Needless to say I did not contribute much to the rest of the brothers excellent grades that semester, which we needed to achieve our high academic standards required by PDT. If I was going to graduate I needed to spend what time was left "cramming" just to bring the "F's" up to "C's & D's". There was still much work to do to get ready for the transition to PDT and I knew I didn't have the time for it. At our next meeting I resigned as president. Allen Edwards was subsequently elected and became the charter president of the SC Gamma Chapter of PDT. Allen was instrumental in our selecting PDT to start with and was the perfect fit for the job in so many ways. In March 1970 we were all inducted into the Bond of Phi Delta Theta. Allen Edwards "nominated" me to be Bond Number 1 and I can never thank him enough for that honor!
What a time these ‘glory days’ were! I am also honored to have the privilege to have been part of the lives of such an elite group of young men. Many of them went on attain pretigous careers. I have no doubt that they cherish those times and their continuing relationships with their brothers as much as I do.
I always look forward to seeing them again at our reunions that we have every 5 years since the 25th reunion. Jim Douglas was the keynote speaker at the 30th reunion and he talked about growing up as an only child. He went on to say that the brotherhood had a special meaning to him because he did not know what it was like have a brother before then! I was impressed that Jim still had memorabilia from when we were pledges over 30 years ago! Jud Drennan was the keynote speaker at our 35th reunion. Jud stood up behind the podium and retrieved a speech from his coat that he had obviously spent some time crafting. Right at the beginning of his talk he laughed and threw what he had written over his shoulder. He pitched it because he started out speaking from his heart – he did not need his notes! Jud talked about the Greek Olympics and the tug-of-war against the “Deeks’. They were all “jocks” and didn’t believe we could beat them. Jud went on to explain how we pulled in a cadence to win the event. We were not as athletic as they were but we pulled as a team to beat a group of stronger individuals. I also remember him talking about Tommy Gaither’s famous line, “there ain’t no place like first place”.
Jim, Jud, Allen and others show their love for each other every time we are together. What a great honor to be part of Phi Delta Theta history at Clemson University.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Thomas K. Gaither, Jr. on -
Daivd:
What a wonderfully written history of DPK. I to would not have maded it through CU without the support of my brothers. I love you all... Yours in the Bond, Tommy Gaither (Gator #47)
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