Sigma Alpha Epsilon - Vanderbilt University

Sigma Alpha Epsilon I Vanderbilt University 5 Seniors outside of the Castle for a pledge class photo. Recruitment Chairman Neal S. Sutton '15 Chicago, Ill. neal.s.sutton@vanderbilt.edu Social Chairman Arya Bekhradi '15 Houston, Texas New Member Educator Cabell W. Brown '15 Memphis, Tenn. Legend of Nero the Lion Alumni Recount Days of the SAE Live Mascot T hanks to several contributions to the SAE Yahoo group, including Lee Calloway '58, the mystery of Nero the lion has begun to unravel. Nero was briefly a pet and mascot of the chapter during the late 1950s. The legend is that a group of brothers learned that the lion was for sale at a Birmingham Petting Zoo, although other accounts now say that, in fact, Nero was purchased from the Birmingham pound where he had been left by his former owner. Nero was three months old, a mere 90 pounds, and the nails on his claws had been extracted. The chapter members brought him back to Nashville in a cage, where the young lion took up residence in a vacant room in the basement of 2500 Kensington Place. There he played with his only toy, a bowling ball, which he loved to bat around and send thundering across the cement floor, crashing it into the stone wall. Many SAEs who were living in the house recall the nighttime rumbles of Nero bowling, his occasional roar, and his fragrant odor, although there is apparently no record of who cleaned out Nero's litter box. The end of Nero's term with SAE remains open for speculation. Some claim that neighbors and health authorities got involved and caused the animal to be sold to a petting zoo, while others say that an upperclassman in the chapter took the lion home at the end of the academic year and later donated Nero to a North Georgia exotic animal preserve. If you have any stories about Nero the lion, please be sure to share them with us on the Yahoo group page, http://groups.yahoo.com/nero/groups/ TNNUalumni/info. The Oklahoma Band Stooge Alumnus Recalls an Infamous Moment of SAE Team Spirit I t was the fall of 1976, and the Commodores were opening the season against number-five-ranked Oklahoma. It was a big game for the Dores; excitement was in the air on that beautiful early September afternoon, and the SAEs were having a pre-game party at the chapter house, with a host of freshmen in attendance, in which I was privileged to be included that year. Kickoff was around 1 p.m., and the stands were filling up uncharacteristically early. At 45 minutes before kickoff, some of the rushees began asking if it was time to begin walking over to the stadium. "Not yet," we were told summarily by several of the actives. At 15 minutes before kickoff, the stands appeared to be completely full from our viewpoint from the front porch of the SAE house, and we saw little hope of getting any seats in the student section, much less getting a block of seats that would allow the SAEs and their rushees to sit together. At approximately 10 minutes before kickoff, it was announced that it was time to walk over to historic Dudley Field, which all 150 of us did. As we emerged from the ramp and began the climb up the steps into the student section en masse, our group was met with jeers, laughter, and flurries of tossed ice cubes emanating from the long-ago-seated blocks of Phi Delts, KAs, and Sigma Chis, all of whom found our seat-less plight both hapless and comical. Oblivious to the relentless taunting, our group was silently yet steadfastly ushered by a group of seniors and juniors that included Bill Orand '77, Ted "Choo-Choo" Parker '77, Tommy Patterson '77, Andy Stockett '78, and Dav Mosby '78. Over the jeering, I faintly heard words being uttered at the front of the line to the effect of "Who's got the scissors?" and "Somebody get the camera ready." And the next thing I knew, there was a smiling, kneeling Bill Orand with scissors in hand, surrounded by a dozen or so admiring front-liners, posing for the photograph that would be shown in SAE slide shows for many years to come, and cutting down the rope displaying the Magic-Marker-written, poster-board sign that read "Reserved for Oklahoma Band." As the rope-cutting SAEs who had cordoned off the prime seating area in the student section the night before knew all too well, Oklahoma would not be bringing their band with them to Dudley Field. So, after the rope was cut and the poster board sign was tucked away for posterity sake, the SAEs and their dates seated themselves together just in time for kickoff. Vandy trailed by only 7-3 at halftime that day but ultimately lost by a final score of 24-3; however, it was a very respectable showing by the 'Dores against such a formidable opponent. Times have since changed for our bowl-winning Dores (Anchor Down), yet the brothers of Tennessee Nu continue to show their team spirit in "Reserved for Oklahoma Band" fashion. Phi Alpha, Jerry Patterson '80

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