Beta Theta Pi - University of Wisconsin

The author with a partygoer at a 1969 beer supper. 3 ALPHA PI CHAPTER W e've lost a few traditions over the 152 years we've been on campus, but none have been mourned more deeply than those fabulous beer suppers of the '60s and early '70s. The beauty of the beer supper back then was that it combined the three things the brothers loved above all others: cute girls, beer, and food—although the less said about the food, the better. The way it worked was that on a designated Friday night before a home football game, we would supply the band and the beer, and the sorority we invited would supply the food. This was no half-assed thing; I can remember us paying a band called Harvey Scales and The Seven Sounds over $1,000 in 1968. That was a lot of money then, but when the singer's first name is Twistin', as you can only imagine, they wouldn't come cheap. The pledges would start carrying all the first-floor furniture up to the second floor around 4:30 p.m., followed by rolling up the red carpets in the living room and TV room. The piano we had was manhandled into a corner of the living room, and they would put padded tarps over our much-loved color TV. By 5 p.m., the two bathrooms upstairs would be fogged up with steam as the brothers showered up for the event. The sink area would be filled with the heady scent of the colognes that were so popular back then. With names like English Leather, Brut, and Hai Karate, they sound today like something from a dominatrix's toolkit, but everyone wore them. One brother would anoint himself with patchouli oil, purchased no doubt from some State Street bohemian shop. I refuse to even mention the trend of "soap on a rope" that was also popular in the day. I'll never forget the sound of the sororities singing their fire-up songs as they swung down Francis Street and then across the Towers parking lot to us: It was, admittedly, an old song, even then. During the next few hours, it would be just us and the sorority in the Beta Barroom, an environment a lot more conducive to getting to know someone than just about any place else you can imagine. Brothers married girls they met at beer suppers—no kidding! The food they brought with them can only be described as execrable. How anyone can bring an entree of tuna noodle casserole to a gathering of close-talking young men and women I'll never understand. "Is that fish on your breath, or is it just me you're trying to disgust?" We would all breathe a sigh of relief when the entree was beefy macaroni casserole, although that would be swimming in its own grease. You didn't go to a beer supper for the food! Beer suppers were the best way I've ever seen to meet women, aided of course by the golden nectar that has brought courage under fire to our kind for more years than we'd care to admit. In my four years, our beer on tap was Miller High Life. We paid $13 a half-barrel (15 1/2 gallons). The mere aroma of Miller High Life today still puts my senses on alert like a pointer dog on hunt. There's no doubt in my mind that when the time comes that I'm lying, dying, and preparing to travel to Wooglin, I'll still remember those fabulous beer supper nights, and the girls singing in four-part harmony to meet the Betas: To reminisce on this and other Beta traditions, contact the author. He'd love to dish about the dirty details. Yours in _kai_, Rod Taylor, #1448, UW 1972 T H E S T O R Y O F A L O S T T R A D I T I O N Those Fabulous Beer Suppers HELP US GROW THE BROTHERHOOD D o you know any young men who would make a great addition to Alpha Pi? Send all referrals to one of our vice presidents of recruitment. Please include the student's full name, contact information, hometown, and any legacy connections. Beran Evran '26 (262) 225-1010 Erik Messmer '26 (216) 317-2290) Submit Your Recruitment Referrals "You take the legs of Betty Grable, You take the hips from old Mae West, You take the face of Mia Farrow, And from Jayne Mansfield take the chest, WE NEED THE CHEST! And then you put them all together, Sweeter than Theta, or Pi Phi, You get a lot more lovin' in this whole wide world, From a perfect Gamma Phi! "We are the Joy Girls of 'A Chi O,' Hello, hello, Helloooooo!"

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