For Tom Simone, a house does not make a home.
Simone, Class of 1969, returned Sunday to the Beta Theta Pi house, 220 N. Burrowes Road, which he left behind when he graduated. The occasion was a "family-style" Thanksgiving dinner with alumni, men who had accepted bids and those still involved in the recruitment process.
Penn State Vice President of Student Affairs Damon Sims and Schreyer Honors College Dean Christian Brady were also in attendance.
Simone is a member of the fraternity's alumni advisory board and is involved with the restructuring process of the chapter. He said he is happy with the direction Beta Theta Pi is taking, because without principle and guidance to sustain it, the fraternity is just an infrastructure.
An integral part of the "grand experiment" of the fraternity's restructuring is shifting the central focus of the fraternity experience away from alcohol, he said.
He likened the effort to the decline of smoking's popularity during the past few decades.
"When I was in school everyone smoked," he said. "Finally you can have a cup of coffee without a cigarette. Maybe people will drink less and realize it's not necessary all of the time."
The dinner was a first opportunity for many of the alumni present to meet the future men of Beta Theta Pi, and vice versa, as well as a way to reflect on and be thankful for the success the restructured fraternity has achieved so far, reestablishment director Jeff Rundle said.
The chapter has already had 35 men accept bids to join and will begin the new member education process in February, Rundle said.
The fraternity hopes to participate in the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon as an independent organization this year and as an Interfraternity Council organization by Thon 2011, Rundle said.
Jud Horras, administrative secretary for Beta Theta Pi national fraternity, traveled 500 miles from Oxford, Ohio, for the Thanksgiving dinner. He said the Penn State greek community is more in need of a role model for restructuring than any he had visited before.
The national fraternity closed down and re-opened 60 percent of its chapters nationally in the last 12 years, Horras said. He said Penn State's Beta Theta Pi restructuring is unique because it involves "the nicest fraternity house in North America."
"When you present this new model, which is really the old model, to the community, the response is overwhelming," he said. "I find that very exciting."
He said the fraternity's mission is to provide a role model for other fraternities that differs from the current "Animal House" stereotype.
"Fraternities don't have to be defined by the stereotype of a frat," he said. "We allow ourselves to be victims of a stereotype, but we can overcome that."
Alumni and students who had already accepted bids to Beta Theta Pi stood to sing the Beta Doxology, one of the chapter's songs, with each man's right arm extended in front of him and left hand on the right shoulder of the man next to him. Attendees also watched videos before and after their dinners of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. The preceding video featured statements such as "My experience at Beta has taught me that the house is only clean when we have pledges" followed by the statement "There is hope." The initial statements were then reversed to reflect the new ideals of Beta Theta Pi.
Matt Jacobs (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said he participated in formal IFC recruitment, but decided to accept a bid from Beta Theta Pi. He cited the no-hazing policy as a positive factor in his decision, mentioning that one of the fraternities he received a bid from is currently being investigated for hazing.
Galen Bakos (sophomore-mechanical engineering), a member of Campus Crusade for Christ and the Thon morale committee, said he did not join a fraternity his freshman year because he did not like the image of a stereotypical fraternity.
"I thought that fraternities were everything you see on TV and in the movies," he said. "But I came to see that that's definitely not all that it is."
