Sigma Alpha Epsilon - University of Illinois

Ted Schnell '71: Architect and Loyal ILBE Alumnus T ransferring to the University of Illinois after three semesters, Ted Schnell '71 became interested in the strong Greek life at Illinois. He participated in informal spring recruitment in 1968 and, after dining at 10 fraternities, Ted decided he liked ILBE the best. Recruitment Chairman Bob Mickelsen '69 accepted Ted as a pledge, and his journey with ILBE began. Ted jumped right in to life at ILBE, serving three years as intramural sports manager and semester stints as house manager and eminent warden. "SAE was a top house on campus and aligned with all the top sororities so it was easy to feel pride in membership, generally, and specifically because of the high quality of the brothers in the house." Ted particularly enjoyed intramurals as ILBE was perennial champion or runner-up in football and basketball in a fiercely competitive fraternity league. He was named top campus intramural manager of the year in 1971. After graduation, Ted's passion and involvement with ILBE did not dwindle. While living in Chicago working initially as an architect, Ted was the lead organizer for Chicago area alumni events in the '70s, '80s, and '90s for brothers of his era, including dinners at SAE national, Chicago restaurants, and the Ravinia Park Music Festival. Ted also served on alumni management groups who dealt with financial problems, repairs on the house, and eventually the closing of the chapter. Ted was chairman of the Century Celebration in 2000. "We had a very strong committee membership group of about 12 Chicago area alumni and the event at the chapter house was great. A strongly committed second-generation alumnus, Bruce Campbell '51, and I committed to putting out a book on the history of Illinois Beta, which was fun to produce and distributed at the Century Celebration." After a career as an investment officer and real estate executive in Chicago, Ted moved to California where he is a semi-retired real estate and business consultant. He often thinks back to many special memories of ILBE, including his pledge brothers, SAE songs and parties, the card room, sorority exchanges and serenades, the funnel slingshot water balloon wars, and all-night bull sessions. "Since moving to California I have enjoyed seeing from afar our great alumni leadership get the house recolonized and back to full strength. I look forward to getting back to 211 E. Daniel St. in the future." Ted and his wife, former Illinois Beta Little Sister of Minerva Barbara Elizabeth Shivvers, live in Monrovia, California. Reach out to Ted via e-mail at tedschnell@ rocketmail.com or on Facebook. illinois beta chapter SAE F&H Keeps CHapter House in Good Condition T he term F&H is used periodically in our newsletters and some of you may wonder what or who is F&H? F&H is the financial and housing arm of the national fraternity. Our mission is to build strong chapters through great housing along with promoting a safe, competitive, and affordable housing option utilizing property management resources and services. F&H has been involved with ILBE since 2004, the year the chapter closed. F&H purchased the house in 2004 when the house corporation needed assistance to pay for renovations in order to rent to another tenant. After the renovations, the chapter house was rented to Acacia for the tenure of the closure. In 2010, F&H funded major renovations in preparation for the 2011 school year and ILBE's first year back on campus. We added a new sprinkler system, a new HVAC system, new flooring, carpet, painting, doors, and a fire alarm system. Since then, F&H has made various updates to keep the chapter house safe and attractive. In 2013, we had new LVT flooring installed in the dining room and, in 2014, in all of the second and third floor hallways and bedrooms. There has also been new furniture purchased for the library along with new couches and chairs for the chapter room. The second floor bathroom was completely remodeled in 2014. Security cameras were also added to help secure the investments that have been made in the house. In summer 2015 we plan to upgrade the Internet system, add furniture in the bedrooms, and possibly enclose the patio. F&H looks forward to keeping the ILBE chapter house in good condition and working with the house corporation to ensure ILBE stays a strong chapter at the University of Illinois. Fraternally, Phil Holst Director of Alumni Relations and Chapter Operations SAE Financial & Housing The second floor bathroom was completely remodeled in 2014. (Above) New LVT flooring was installed in the dining room in 2013 (Right) The chapter room has an updated look with a fresh coat of paint.

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