History of ΣΦΕ, Indiana Gamma
Ball State's Schmoo Parade
In the fall of 1948, a group of men from North Hall on Ball State Teachers College campus were working together to get one of their friends, Dale Kendrick, and his slate elected to the student government. Of the five slates, Kendrick's "Schmoo" party was the only independent (non-Greek) slate to be running for sophomore class officers. Kendrick and his friends painted the entire campus with Schmoos' signs to advertise his party, infuriating Dr. John Emens, then-president of Ball State University. To further promote themselves, Kendrick's slate held the "Schmoo Parade" which was the first ever political demonstration to be held on Ball State's campus.
North and South Hall. Photo provided by Ball State University.
Formation of Zeta Chi
The party won the election, and through the election process, sixteen men became close friends. Most of these men lived in the North hall, a converted Navy barracks which had been moved to BSTC campus following World War II to provide housing for the large number of veterans returning from military service. This was a diverse group of men that did not fit the mold of any other organization on campus. There was also a lot of hazing involved with joining any of the other fraternities on campus, and according to Dan Mallas, "Since there were a lot of ex-GI's in our group, they did not want to put up with the idiotic stuff." In the words of Bill Hofmann, "We thought that we could be Greek without beating people up."
The men decided to form their own local fraternity, so they submitted their request to the dean of boys, Dr. Kenneth Collier. Approval was easily obtained, so the men wrote a constitution and bylaws. They had decided to call themselves Zeta Chi, only later discovering that it might be the name of a women's honorary physical education sorority somewhere in New England. Bill Matthews states, "This didn't bother us because of our size, and because few others knew about this."
Members of Zeta Chi at the all campus leaf rake in the fall of 1948. Front Row (L-R) M. Mann, W. Hofmann, K. Mills, D. Mallas, D. Kendrick. Back Row (L-R) R. Powell. W. Mathews, J. Bishop, G. Wood, P. Miller. Photo provided by William Hofmann.
Journey to National Fraternity Status
After only a little more than a year of existence, the men of Zeta Chi began to set their sights on becoming affiliated with a national fraternity. Dr. John Emens, President of Ball State, was an alumnus from the Phi Delta Pi fraternity at Michigan Normal in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He was friends with Dale Kendrick and he wanted the Zeta Chi's to become part of his national fraternity. Since only a couple of fraternities at Ball State were affiliated with a national fraternity, joining a national fraternity would give greater prestige to the men in Zeta Chi, and make them a more legitimate organization in the eyes of everyone in and around campus.
President Emens breaks ground for the new addition to the Indiana Gamma house. Photo provided by Ball State University.
Zeta Chi's Transformation
Correspondance between the men of Zeta Chi and the Phi Delta Pi chapter at Ypsilanti began, and then a group of four Zeta Chi's went to Michigan Normal to become acquainted with the Phi Delta national fraternity and permission was granted by the administration, an initiation date for February 8, 1950 was set to install the Ball State chapter. Twenty Zeta Chi's were initiated into Phi Delta Pi, and there was a rush for other fraternities at Ball State to "go national."
In two short years, Phi Delta Pi grew to nearly 50 men and there was a great need to centralize the fraternities activities. A change in Ball State's food service policy increased the desire for the men to find a house for the fraternity. Until the 1952-53 school year, students living in Elliot Hall were given the option on whether or not they would like to eat in hall's cafeteria. That year they were not given that option, and the thought of eating cafeteria food increased the desire to obtain a house. After months of planning and negotiating, a lease was signed on December 2, 1952 for the house at 526 North Martin Avenue. Phi Delta Pi became the second Ball State fraternity, after Phi Sigma Epsilon, to obtain a fraternity house.
The original house at 526 Martin Street. Photo provided by "Phi Delt Heart Beat."
From Local Chapter to Sigma Phi Epsilon's Indiana Gamma at Ball State
The house held twenty men who slept in the upstairs, and studied in study rooms on the ground floor. There was also a recreation room with a ping-pong table. The house was furnished with old bunk beds from Ball State and used furniture from many of the brothers' homes. It was much cheaper to live in the house than in the residence halls. The Phi Delts used the left over money to start a house fund. With this house fund, the members hoped to buy a house of their own.
During this same time period, the men of the Phi Delt chapter at Ball State Teachers College were becoming dissatisfied with the Phi Delta Pi national fraternity. Many of the other local fraternities on campus were affiliating with much larger national fraternities. Phi Delta Pi only had four chapters, one of which was inactive.
The fraternity voted to disaffiliate with the Phi Delt national fraternity in the spring of 1952, returning Phi Delta Pi at Ball State to a local fraternity status. This enabled the local chapter to open communications with many other national fraternities. Sigma Nu was the first national fraternity that the Phi Delts approached. Many of the members had friends in Sigma Nu, and teh Sigma Nu national headquarters were located in Indianapolis. While examining whether or not to join Sigma Nu, it came to the Phi Delts' attention that an 80 year-old judge in Chicago, with the veto power to reject a new chapter, opposed the idea of having a Sigma Nu chapter at any teachers college. After encouragement from the Sigma Nu national office to wait a while before applying again, the Phi Delts decided to look elsewhere.
There used to be a Sigma Phi Epsilon colony on Ball State's campus, yet it could not gain enough members to sustain its existence. Some of those members had pledge Phi Delta Pi, so the decision was made to consider affiliating with the Sigma Phi Epsilon national fraternity. After a series of ballots, Sigma Phi Epsilon was the unanimous choice.
The Phi Delts sent their formal petition to SigEp headquarters in October of 1952, with forty members signing it. The chapter was formally accepted to become the Indiana Gamma chapter [the third chapter in Indiana, preceded by Indiana Alpha (Purdue University) and Indiana Beta (Indiana University), and the 133rd chapter in the United States.] An entire weekend of events was planned centering around the installation. These events included the initiations into the fraternity, a banquet at the student center, a dance, and an all campus reception at the fraternity house.
Since its beginnings in 1948, the fraternity known as Zeta Chi, Phi Delta Pi, and now Sigma Phi Epsilon grew from the 16 men in North Hall to tripling its membership at the house on Martin Street. The SigEp chapter had quickly become one of the strongest fraternities on campus, excelling in many different aspects of campus life. A new chapter soon to be filled with many great accomplishments had begun
SigEps handing out tickets to the student carnival in 1962. Photo provided by Ball State University.
SigEp wins the Magnabosco traveling trophy for best overall participation in 1968 Bike-A-Thon. Photo Provided by Ball State University.
One of the first of many Indiana Gamma homecoming floats. Photo provided by Ball State University.
The Chapter House at SigEp Indiana Gamma
As previously discussed, the Phi Delts bought the house at 526 North Martin Street in 1952 before affiliating with Sigma Phi Epsilon. The house could hold up to twenty men and was the center for all the fraternity's activities. There was little room for the men to leave messes in a small house with twenty men living in it.
With the chapter growing at a rapid rate, it was time to buy a larger house. After some negotiations, the chapter purchased a new home at 1431 West Riverside Avenue in 1955 (the address was later changed to 1515 West Riverside Ave by the City of Muncie). This new home could hold forty men, most of whom slept in a cold dorm in the garage. The beds were stacked three high, sleeping thirty-four men. The cold dorm was never heated, so members would sleep in sweats and wool socks with at least three or four blankets pulled over their heads. The house also included an officer's suite, where the six executive officers lived.
The chapter house was unquestionably the heart of the organization, even more so than today. During this time period, female students had to be back in their dorms by 10:30 P.M. each night. Since the members could not be with their girlfriends, at 10:45 P.M the house would contain upwards of sixty brothers gathering together. From there they might study, talk in the lounge, go to a bar, play cards, or watch television.
The house would often host live music events. Photo provided by David Pippenger.
A tradition started in 1956 at Indiana Gamma was that of having a housemother. These women were usually retired Muncie residents with no living relatives. The first house mom was Mary Hunt who served from 1956 to 1963. After her death, the formal lounge in the newly renovated house was dedicated to Mary Hunt in recognition of her years of service.
The Mary Hunt Lounge. Photo provided by Chris Renner.
Lucille Roe was house mom for only one year, and in 1964 Martha Kinder became the new housemother. Martha Kinder was the first house mom to live in the house. Until Mom Kinder moved into the house, men from the chapter would drive and pick the house mom up from her home and she would stay at the fraternity house from around 10 A.M. to sometime in the evening after dinner. When she died on June 9th, 1983, longtime cook, Betty "Woo Babe" Woods stepped into her position. The house mother's suite, where Mom Kinder lived for nearly twenty years, was dedicated in her memory with a plaque and a portrait painted by brother Frank Locklear. When Mom Woods died in July of 1985, Margaret "Madge" Foster was chosen by the chapter to become the new house mother in 1986.
The Mother Kinder plaque and portrait. Photo provided by Ball State University.
The role of the housemother had many different facets. They had to advise the executive officers if problems arose with the kitchen and meal planning, chaperon events when females were invited, counsel members when they wanted to talk to her about problems, and have the ability to put up with the day to day living habits of fraternity men. Things such as living above the house juke box and listening to music at 2 or 3 A.M. may have been part of the reason that Lucille Roe only lasted a year as house mom.
Within seven years the chapter had outgrown the house, so an expansion and house development committee was established to developed to begin plans for improving the house. The new addition and renovation would allow the house to accommodate sixty-five men sleeping in cold dorms, with twelve 3-4 man study rooms. Other rooms to be added were a housemother's suite, library, television room, exercise room, and an acoustically tiled room to practice music.
After nearly thirty years of use and abuse, the house was in desperate need of another renovation. Work began in 1991 and was soon completed in the spring of 1992. Some of the major changes included: changing the kitchen into a self-service facility where members could cook for themselves, moving the t.v. lounge from the downstairs to what used to be the dining room of the house, and creating a pool room in the old T.V. lounge.
A painting of the 1431/1515 Riverside Ave chapter house. Photo provided by Frank Hancock.
In 2009, a new home was built at 1101 West Riverside Avenue, former location of the Sigma Tau Alpha fraternity house. The house, which is the current SigEp chapter house, sleeps 45 men and contains a classroom, formal lounge, 10 bathrooms, a volleyball court, a brotherhood room, as well as a significant increase in square feet. The house provided the chapter with a much needed new foundation to build off of.
Special thanks to brother Brian Hancock ('96) for the information listed above.