Alpha Delta Phi - University of Washington

e Washington Alpha Delt 5 Al Ulbrickson Jr. as a rower for UW. Walter Bates in a team photo taken in 1936. The Boys in the Boat A L P H A D E LTA P H I A N D U W R O W I N G Washington Chapter has a strong tradition of rowing athletes dating from 1920 through the 1980s, and we intend to highlight these athletes in future Washington Alpha Delt newsletters. A fter the release of the film The Boys in the Boat this December, based on the book by Daniel James Brown, we were asked if any of the boys were Alpha Delts. The book starts in the early 20th century with the confluence of future legendary boat builder George Pocock and oarsman Al Ulbrickson Sr. (later Coach Ulbrickson). The backdrop of the story is the economic depression and the desperation of poor blue-collar men wanting to break from their past by earning college degrees. The rowing team was their ticket for the financial support needed to stay in college. The book goes into detail on how the University of Washington built a rowing powerhouse program in the early 1900s that continues today. The story focuses on the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and how UW Rowing put together a national championship team, comprised of mostly juniors, to represent the United States. In researching, we found that none of the boys in the boat were Alpha Delts, but there are several other direct connections. The captain of the 1936 team was Walter Bates '36. As a senior, he did not make the Varsity boat but led the Junior Varsity boat to that year's IRA championship. After graduating, Walter spent most of his life in Maui working for the Maui Agricultural Company as the director of training and served as president of the Puunene Athletic Club. Coach Ulbrickson's son, Al Jr. '52, won the bronze medal as a senior in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki and is a member of the UW Husky Hall of Fame. After graduating, Al served in the Army, then went to work for UW, becoming the vice president of student affairs. Finally, while the 1936 rowing team was in New York City waiting to board the ship to Europe, they stayed in the Alpha Delta Phi Club located at 136 W. 44th Street. The club no longer exists, but it once served as both the headquarters of Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity and as a social club for Alpha Delts living in or visiting New York City. Why did the rowing team select the Alpha Delta Phi Club for their stay? We can speculate the team captain, Walter Bates, was responsible for that connection.

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