Fraternity Row is built upon a foundation of unheard stories. Beyond the combination of Greek letters that distinguish one fraternity from another, there is a deep-rooted history unique to each house.
The mystery surrounding these houses may create an aura of curiosity to those passing by, who silently wonder what goes on behind the wooden doors.
Interfraternity Council President Dan Combs said Penn State fraternities have a “really rich history.”
“A lot of [the houses] have been around longer than most of the other buildings on campus or downtown,” Combs (senior-chemical engineering) said. “So, a lot of them are beautiful on the outside, and you wonder what they look like on the inside.”
Life during wartime
In a sepia-toned photograph hanging in Alpha Tau Omega’s house, 321 E. Fairmount Ave., soldiers’ combat boots walk down the same brick path that leads to their front door. Originally built as a fraternity house in 1927, the house served as army barracks during World War II.
With many men enlisting in the war effort, barracks were in high demand. The university took control of struggling fraternities after the Great Depression and when America joined World War II, fraternity brothers had to share their houses with members of the army reserves, Alpha Tau Omega President Mike Stavrakos (junior-mechanical engineering) said.
Many brothers had enlisted in the war effort. Fewer men on campus caused fraternity numbers to dwindle. Stavrakos said Alpha Tau Omega was down to only a handful of brothers.
“The rest were cadets and soldiers,” he said.
The house is registered as part of the Holmes-Foster/Highlands Historic District of State College, he said.
The same structure that stood in the early 1900s stands today without any major modifications. The only difference Stavrakos noted was the ivy that used to line the red brick exterior in old photographs.
The Phi Gamma Delta house, 319 N. Burrowes St., was also used as barracks during World War II.
There is still a manhole in the front lawn of the fraternity house that was used to store weapons during the war. Former brothers said the tunnel led from the barracks to the house basem*nt, Phi Gamma Delta President Joe Charles explained.
Unlike Phi Gamma Delta, Alpha Epsilon Pi’s house, 240 E. Prospect Ave., was not always theirs.
In fact, the Phi Sigma Delta letters still remain on the Alpha Epsilon Pi house today — even though it is not their house.
Alpha Epsilon Pi President Jon Shahar said the house was originally Phi Sigma Delta’s until they were kicked off campus in the 1990s. Negotiation between several fraternities ensued regarding who would get the house, and Alpha Epsilon Pi ended up victorious — under one condition: the Phi Sigma Delta letters must stay on the exterior of the house.
There is also a trophy room dedicated to Phi Sigma Delta that holds historical items like yearbooks and photographs.
“They’re sort of our alumni,” Shahar (junior-management and economics) said. “We don’t wear the same letters but they consider themselves part of our alumni.”
There are Phi Sigma Delta legacies in the Alpha Epsilon Pi house today, and both alumni visit the house when back in State College, he said.
“It’s kind of a two-fraternity-in-one deal,” he said.
The dirty work
Fast forward past the old photographs of brothers in military uniform to a modern, bustling State College.
Within the past 10 years, fraternity membership has nearly doubled, Combs said.
Five days a week, most fraternities have cooks that come to the house and provide lunch and dinner for about 40 brothers who live there.
Carlton Jaquess cooks for brothers at Delta Tau Delta, 429 E. Hamilton Ave. In the summer, Jaquess works on cruise ships. He was paired with the fraternity through Happy Valley Home Cookin’, a food service operation that serves several fraternities at Penn State.
“[Jaquess] brightens our day,” Delta Tau Delta President Ben Bobick said. “He’s awesome.”
A menu is posted every Monday morning and there are several options each day, he said.
One Saturday this semester, Delta Tau Delta wanted to have a pig roast, so they brought Jaquess to the house to cook a $300 pig. Bobick (junior-broadcast journalism) said the result was “phenomenal.”
Donna Ray has cooked at Alpha Tau Omega for more than a decade. In addition to cooking, she helps with house maintenance during breaks and oversees contractors during repairs, Stavrakos said.
“She’s kind of our first line in communication with improving the house in more drastic ways,” he said.
Around the house, Stavrakos said he talks to Ray every morning and said she “always has a comment — good or bad.”
“After 15 years of being at the house, she has that relationship where she really likes the brothers,” he said. “She honestly has never had a year where she didn’t like the guys that were living in the house.”
Combs said at his fraternity house, Phi Kappa Psi, 403 Locust Ln., dinner is served at 5 p.m. every day and people are usually waiting to eat together.
“You’re eating meals with your brothers, which is always nice and it’s one of my favorite parts about it,” Combs said. “We usually all sit around a big table.”
One common perception of fraternities is that they are messy, but many fraternities have cleaning services or responsibilities assigned by seniority.
At 328 E. Foster Ave., Delta Kappa Epsilon President Mike Dulan said he thinks people would be surprised that fraternity houses “aren’t messy 24/7.”
Dulan (senior-management information systems) said most people come to the house on weekend nights when the houses are packed and messy, but the following day the house is clean again.
He said the brothers take shifts to clean the house, and a cleaning service comes on Mondays to “catch things [they] might have missed.”
Still, there are inconveniences to living with about 40 other brothers. At Delta Tau Delta, Bobick said everyday items are often used quickly and constantly need to be restocked.
Unlike Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta does not have a cleaning service, so all of the work falls on the brothers.
The fraternity has a contract with Happy Valley Home Cookin’ that the cook will only make food if the kitchen is clean, Bobick said.
The presence of alumni also motivates fraternities to clean their houses.
Phi Gamma Delta’s alumni and national headquarters representatives are in the house almost daily so there is a constant pressure to clean, Charles (senior-computer engineering) said.
House manager Tim Chwal (sophom*ore-political science) said the brotherhood has cleaning obligations every day “regardless of what’s going on.”
The temptations
It’s perceived that life in a fraternity house is loud and distracting, but many fraternity presidents described their house as a mostly productive environment.
Stavrakos said he has no problem getting homework done at the Alpha Tau Omega house. On most nights, there are at least 10 brothers studying in the dining room or chapter room, he said.
However, there is pressure to be social in fraternity houses, so time management is key, Bobick said.
“When it comes to getting work done, it all depends on the individual,” he said.
Distractions are a natural part of living in a fraternity house, and people usually know what to expect when deciding to live there, Bobick said.
He gave the example of brothers playing loud music late on Thursday and Friday nights.
“It’s just how it is,” he said.
Shahar explained that this social pressure is not unhealthy.
“It’s just a pressure to be a part because you joined,” he said. “It’s a good pressure.”
Fraternity houses can become a home for brothers.
“At any point in time that I want, I walk down my hall, and I can go into any other room and there’s somebody there that’ll be down to hang out,” Shahar said. “You’re never alone.”
Phi Gamma Delta, also called the “Hummel Fishburn Lodge” by its brothers, has a club room with a fireplace, couches and a hand-carved mantle.
“It really feels like a ski lodge,” Charles said. “It’s a nice place where brothers can just hang out and talk at different parts of the day.”
Bobick said his favorite part about the Delta Tau Delta house is the back porch, which the brothers call the “fratio.”
Brothers are not allowed on it during the winter for safety reasons, so time on the “fratio” is limited to the beginning and end of the school year.
“When that first sun hits...you can just be out there having a good time, playing music,” he said. “It’s the best place in the world to me.”
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