California Gamma Initiates lOOOth Member

by Kenneth Coatsworth, California '82 & Jon Chambers, California '83

On August 20th, 1983. California Gamma initiated Robert Theaker, badge number 1000! It had taken eighty-four years and generations of hard work to reach this number and the entire Chapter was overjoyed.

THE CHARTERING OF THE UNIVERSITY

In 1853, with thkty thousand dollars and three students, Henry Durant es­tablished a college in the small town of Oakland, California. Durant had dreamed that one day his school would rival the most prestigious universities of the east coast. Eventually his school would become the grand-daddy of the world's largest university system.

Under Durant's direction the school grew rapidly. In 1855 the institution was chartered by the state as the College of CaUfornia and had grown to fifty stu­dents and eight faculty members. In 1867 the State of California was re­quired by the Federal Government to establish technical colleges. However, the State felt its interests would be bet­ter served by a University emphasizing liberal arts as well as technical subjects. Durant's college was chosen to be such a school and in 1868 was chartered as the University of California.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY AND CHAPTER

From its earliest history, the Greek system has been closely tied to the Uni­versity. A chapter of Zeta Psi was founded in 1870, three years before the first permanent University owned build­ings were opened on the Berkeley cam­pus. The Greek system and University continued to grow together, and by 1899 enrollment had reached 2,200 stu­dents. The time was ripe for Phi Kappa Psi to join the University, and on April

Winter 1984

Most Cal Phi Psis will recognize this as their Chapter home, at 2625 IHearst Ave.

Front porch modifications on Cal Gamma's Hearst Avenue house are seen in this photo.

15, 1899, seven men were initiated into the California Gamma chapter. These men included badge number 1, Carl SchiUing, of the Schilling spice empire, and badge number 2, Joseph Vincent de la Vega, great-uncle of one of the chap­ter's present pledges, Peter de la Vega.

Also in 1899 the University Regents selected Benjaman Ide Wheeler to be

President of the University. During his twenty year tenure, enrollment in­creased from 2,229 to 11,692 students. The Greek System also expanded and soon represented more national sorori­ties and fraternities than any college west of the Mississippi River! Phi Kap­pa Psi also experienced tremendous growth, and in 1921 moved into a new

67

Chapter house north of campus. During this period of predominantly Greek tra­ditions such as the Stanford-California Big Game Rallies and a "Senior Pilgramage" were established. Partici­pation in the Greek system peaked in 1957 when 2002 members were active in the fraternities.

LOSS OF CHARTER AND REFOUNDING

During the late sixties and early sev­enties, Cal Ganmia, like many fraterni­ties throughout the country, was losing members to graduation while at the same time rush was dying due to anti-establishment feelings that were on campus at the time. In 1965 there had been 55 fraternities on the Berkeley campus, and by 1972 there were fewer than 10. This lack of interest in the fra­ternity system was one of the main rea­sons Cal Gamma lost both it's house and charter that year.

Then in 1976 Phi Psi Headquarter's stafiF rounded up nine very interested Berkeley students: Michael Aczon, Lars Enevoldson^ Gary Goldstein, Peter Harvey, Kimball Koch, Hugh Macinnes, Matthew Lawrence, Harold Thompson, and Blake Yeaman, and to­gether they recolonized Cal Gamma. On January 28, 1978, Cal Gamma was once again awarded its Chapter charter. The efforts of the nine men not only paid off for themselves, but also for the many young men who have since been pledged and initiated by the Chapter. The nine refounders are still actively in­volved with Cal Gamma; Gary, Peter, and Blake are all involved with various financial aspects of the Chapter, and the others participate in other func­tions, such as the Big Game Luncheon, where Cal Beta and Cal Gamma alumni and undergraduates get together in San Francisco for reports on how each Chapter is doing before the Cal-Stan-ford football game.

Yet, the refounding was not the end of all the hard work. The first rush af­ter the charter was retuned saw Cal Gamma pledge 13 men. Soon thereaf­ter, the house we were in at the time be­came too small to fill the needs of the students. With the aid of alumni Terry Horn and Carl Stoney, we were able to find a house that was bigger and more comfortable. Cal Gamma was on the rise. In 1980, due to unfortunate cir­cumstances beyond our control, the house we were occupying was sold to another fraternity and once again we were changing houses. Thanks again to Carl and Terry, we found our present home. Although it was in need of work at first, chapter projects in the past two

When Cal Gamma was lost in 1972, unfortunately so was the Chapter's brand new "Mil­lion Dollar" house lost to foreclosure. The 2908 Channing Way building represented per­sonal sacrifice of financial help form several Cal Gamma alumni, and from the Fraternity's housing loan fund.

years have made the basement into a cozy area, and fund raisers have put a redwood deck in front of the house and a roofdeck on top of it. Cal Gamma is rolling once again.

CAL GAMMA TODAY

What Cal Gamma Phi Psis share to­day is a close knit relation between not only those who live in the house, but those who live outside as well. Whether it is simply eating lunch at the house, or going out after studying, the Brothers' bonds are strong and lasting. Recent alumni still spend plenty of time with their undergraduate Brothers, and it

gives new initiates and pledges a chance to meet those alumni who started the traditions that have been carried on since the refounding.

What makes these bonds so strong is the careful selection of the men who join Phi Psi. Last year careful selection paid off; 24 men were initiated through three rushes. In each pledge class there was a diversity in majors ranging from chemical engineering to mass communi­cations, and a diversity in home towns ranging from Seattle to New York to Tokyo.

The Winter quarter pledge class brought the Cal Gamma badge total all the way to 999. When we held rush in

Cal Gamma's "1000th Member" pledges on initiation day.

68 The Shield of Phi Kappa Psi

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the Spring, our first pledge was Bob Theaker of Modesto, California. Cal Gamma had finally made it over the top. Joining Bob were Mark Perlow of Danville, CA, Tom Riley of Roseville, CA, Rick Tawfik of Foster City, CA, Bill Buchan and Dave Singhal of San Jose, CA, and DanCJohnson and Craig Coburn both of I ps Angeles. This "lOOOth member" pledge class has tak­en no time in becoming very active with chapter matters. Rick was elected BG while Tom, Dan, and Mark are all com­mittee chairmen.

YEARLY ROUTINES

Each year, Cal Gamma looks for­ward to many annual events. Along with the usual formal dance that most fraternities hold, Phi Psis at Berkeley await the bounce-a-thon, where a bas­ketball is bounced all the way to the "Farm" in Palo Alto (Stanford). The event raises money for chapter house improvements. Last year, the basement area was remodeled. The year before, a deck was constructed on the front of the house.

Another annual event, starting this year, is the Phi Psi "500". After almost six months of planning and organizing by many Brothers, the "500" came off as a first year success, with profits go­ing to Children's Orthopedic Hospital of Oakland, and the Spirit of Giving, a campus organization for the betterment of the University.

The big event of the year though, is the "Luau". Cal Gamma takes great pride in transforming its home into a tropical paradise, complete with water­fall and pond. What makes our luau so different from other tropical fraternity parties is that the past three years we have had musical guest Eddie Money play. Can we make it four in a row? We sure will try.

THE FUTURE

Fall '83 rush brought in 9 more pledges, all of whom have shown ex­traordinary qualities. In the class there is foiu- time Cal Gamma legacy Pete de la Vega, and legacy Sean Brady. To­gether with other pledges and 3 trans­fers (2 from Cal Zeta, and the other from Rhode Island Beta) they boost the present undergraduate membership above 50, which not only surpasses the average membership of the 39 fraterni­ties on campus, but is also the highest membership at Cal Gamma since re­founding in '76.

The future looks good for Cal Gam­ma. With the aid of Gary Goldstein, Peter Harvey, Blake Yeaman and other

The Phi Psi "500" was a first year success for Cal Gamma.

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Berkeley's magnificent view of the bay, beyond Sather Tower.

Winter 1984 69

The current Chapter home for Phi Psi at the University of California.

Phi Psis and friends celebrating after the first annual "500" at Cal.

alumni, the housing corporation is try­ing to raise enough money to purchase the present Chapter home from its cur­rent owners. House Corporation owner­ship would enable better long-range planning for the property, and the Chapter's future would be considerably more secure. In addition. House Corpo­ration equity would grow, and under­graduate revenue would be building on the Chapter's future rather than just paying rent as currently arranged.

With only five members graduating this Spring, the outlook for Cal Gamma

is for the best. With rush coming up once again, the Chapter looks forward to increasing total membership to near sixty. From there on, the future is bright; more members can only mean more friendships, more memories, and more fun during college days at Cal Gamma, and beyond.

Those interested in helping this out­standing chapter secure permanent housing are urged to contact Terry R. Horn, California '68, 405 Primrose Road, Burlingame, CA 94010; office phone 415/348-1050.

Moving?

Please notify us in advance

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70 The Shield of Phi Kappa Psi