I joined Sigma Phi Epsilon in September 1978 when I returned from overseas and went back to school at George Mason.
It was the autumn of “Animal House,” but our chapter was neither Delta or Omega, and we were nothing like Lambda Lambda Lambda in the later movie “Revenge of the Nerds” either.
In fact, we weren’t even a chapter.
We were a colony, starting from the ground up to earn chapter status. It took us two years, and whether you want to call us Original Group, Old Guys or the edgier Original Gangsters, we were the founding brothers of Virginia Mu chapter.
I was the second oldest member of the chapter, 30 years old in October 1980 when we got our charter.
That made me 67 at my last fraternity function, the 2017 golf tournament. I won two awards, although one was just for being the oldest golfer. The other was legit — closest to the pin on the seventh hole with what might have been one of the five best shots in my life.
In fact, the tournament was only the third function I have attended since moving away from the Washington, D.C., area in 1982. I flew into town in 1985 for the fifth anniversary of our chartering and again in 2010 for the 30th anniversary.
I was amazed by how few people I knew … and how young all the others were.
I saw two other originals — Dana Fenton was up from Charlotte and Lee Strang has remained in the D.C. area. Jim Eglin came along right after the first group, and he provides one of my funniest memories of the time. He, Dana and I went to see Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange in “The Postman Always Rings Twice.” It was a pretty good movie, and Jim said so when we were leaving.
“One thing, though,” he said. “There was no postman in the movie.”
Then there was Jim’s lovely younger sister Leslie, my soulmate in another reality but out of my league in this one.
At any rate, I came to know other, later brothers through Facebook, and I’m sure I was as shocked as many others when Brandt Heatherington died unexpectedly in March 2020. He and I had become good friends.
Another exceptional brother I have never met in person is Sean Leahey, a former Marine who worked for the national fraternity for many years. He made a wonderful “It Gets Better” recording on YouTube a few years back. Someday I hope actually to meet him.
So where is all this going?
The other day I got an email from the national fraternity asking me to be a chapter captain for a giving drive for our educational foundation. I’m happy to give money. In fact, I’ve been thinking of making a larger donation this year. But what they want is for me to get other brothers — most of whom I’ve ever met — to give as well.
Am I a moron?
Maybe. I’ll be 72 on my next birthday and my energy level is often less than it should be. But Sigma Phi Epsilon has meant a lot to me over the last 43 years. I was a funding brother of Virginia Mu and the first elected president of the chapter after our chartering.
So what the heck.
The drive will be over in three weeks.
So get ready guys.
The geezer will be contacting you.