Beta Theta Pi - Michigan State University

4 THE DRAGON'S WAGON Robert Baker '66 with three of his grandchildren. Robert Baker Jr. '66 Reflects on the Lifelong Impact of Beta Theta Pi I was raised in a small, unsophisticated rural community near Ann Arbor, Michigan, and knew nothing of the Greek system. When the time came for fraternity rush during my freshman year I decided, along with many others in my dorm, to check it out. I found rush to be an interesting and pleasant experience and although I was offered the opportunity to pledge several houses, I decided to think it through. My roommate, Ron Wickham '66, pledged Beta, so, during the balance of the year I enjoyed the opportunity to hang with a number of his brothers at the Gamma Psi house. I found the Betas to be a terrific eclectic, not cookie cutter, group of civilized but fun loving young men who could be appropriately serious. I sensed that I could improve myself by joining so decided to pledge during my sophomore year; I still have my pledge paddle. The next fall I moved into a fantastic brand new Frank Lloyd Wright-style chapter house constructed right on the bank of the Red Cedar River; it was truly an awesome place thanks to those who came before me. Gamma Psi was made up of a very warm, welcoming group of high-achieving young men, many of whom were pursuing excellence and others just plain fun to hang with. I was proud to be a Beta, wearing its crest and pin on my navy blazer at every appropriate opportunity. I grew up believing that I should give back to any organization that I was involved with; so, as a Beta I participated in intramural athletics, campus government and held the position of recording secretary my junior year. By the spring of senior year in 1966, most of my brothers were transitioning into adults and looking toward graduate school or employment. I hadn't managed to mature at that point in my life. I just felt like I wanted to stay in school forever, which in my heart I knew to be folly. I came to my senses and I realized that I had serious doubts about pursuing a career in engineering; so, I seized control of my life and took action. I dropped out of school and took a variety of odd jobs saving up for a big trip to the west coast. Two days after my Christmas day birthday in '66 I piled my possessions into my MGA and headed west on Route 80 towards San Francisco. Along the way I overnighted at Beta houses in Nebraska and BYU finally wrapping up my trip at Cal Berkeley. If that wasn't a terrific Beta experience I don't know what might be. I found the Bay area to be rainy and chilly so I headed south to LA where I secured a test engineering position with Hughes Aircraft. It was a pretty awesome job, working on aircraft radar jamming systems with a top secret clearance. To finish my BSEE I took night classes at UCLA and finally, in the spring of '68, newly engaged, returned to MSU to wrap up my remaining requirements on campus. I lived in an apartment, but reconnected with Gamma Psi by working in the kitchen to earn my meals. Within two weeks after completing school I was married and headed off to IBM's training program where I cross-trained as a computer systems engineer and marketing representative. Early in my career, during one of the infamous GM strikes, IBM decided to cut back so I took the opportunity to resign and open up my own consulting and time sharing company in Saginaw. When I turned 35, tired of the cold, I moved my IT consulting and boutique software development company to warm sunny SoCal where I continued to prosper. I'd lost my bride to cancer at the tender age of 38 so I remained in SoCal where I raised my four children as a single dad. So far I've been blessed with seven awesome grandchildren. I still enjoy working almost full-time, as I'm able to pick the type of clients and projects that interest me. I work out of my home and when I head out I'm usually on my Harley Ultra Classic or in my Cessna 182. I'm very active in the leadership of several SoCal aviation groups and as an FAA volunteer. Life here is good. In 2007, during a trip back to Michigan, I visited with a couple of brothers who'd been elected to revitalize the Gamma Psi alumni board. I offered to create and host a website for Gamma Psi; they accepted and I've hosted the site since. I also created a Gamma Psi Facebook group which seems to be popular amongst the actives. When the chapter began its rechartering process I added a membership database with e-mail capabilities to our site and I post pictures and events when made available. The site is data-driven and security facilitates multiple authors with access to maintain various sections of the site. I'm hopeful that in the future that one or more alumni and actives will step forward to generate more content, including upcoming activities and photos of past and upcoming events. Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media sites have reduced some of the demand for a private site; however, there are numerous advantages that a private site delivers, including privacy and security, as well as private-only features. About five years ago, I received an e-mail from a local South Dakota Beta who serves the General Fraternity as their alumni affairs commissioner. He asked if I would be interested in joining a few other local Betas to establish an Orange County Beta Alumni Association. I offered this group a proposal similar to that I'd made to Gamma Psi and ended up creating OCBetas.com. OC Betas have been hosting alumni gatherings about three times a year and helped support the creation of a new Beta chapter at Chapman College. I've very much enjoyed meeting Beta brothers from Duke, Ohio State, South Dakota, Texas, UCLA, USC, UCI, Utah, Wisconsin, Miami of Ohio, and others. I've also hosted and attended almost all of our gatherings. While I don't have much contact with my Gamma Psi brothers, the Betas I've met through the Orange County Beta Alumni Association have been a real boon to me. I've become good friends with several of them who feel as I do, that it is important for all of us to give back to organizations that have previously given us something. That is what my parents did with the groups they benefited from and I've followed their lead. I've found that the benefits received from giving always outweigh the costs. My years as a Beta at Michigan State gave me a chance to develop and polish my social and leadership skills. I've learned a great deal more about Beta from the men in my Orange County Beta Alumni Association, many who had quite different experiences during their Beta days. Beta is truly one of the finest if not the finest fraternal organization in the Greek system. I would highly recommend Beta membership to any young man who is seriously interested in developing his leadership and social skills during his college years. Yours in _kai_, Robert Baker '66

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