What follows is an excerpt from a letter sent to Eric Schimmoeller from Ron Willis, one of the originators of Ohio Mu.

Enjoy.....

 

A few sterling moments that may be worth mentioning was just how this fantastic trip all began. Many late, late nights were spent at my parent's kitchen table with Brothers Thad Trautwein, Dick Crowell, Pete Richards and me. What seemed like an impossible journey was "how" do we take a local chapter of Phi Delta Sigma to national status with Phi Delta Theta. As a hint, Thad came up with our local chapter name in hopes that we would only have to change "sigma" to "theta." Somehow the wisdom of this made sense and we pressed on by recruiting only the finest young men on campus. (1) They had to be "ladies men" ie., good looking and know how to dress like a "preppy." (2) Impeccable mannerisms, (3) better than average scholars, (4) good in sports wouldn't hurt either (5) and finally, possess what Thad and I perceived as "charisma."

Thad and I embarked on affiliating ourselves with notable, super successful business men of alumni status. We cultivated and captured the respect , friendships and endorsements of gentlemen like Harvey Parker III, Harry Tappan, Chuck Campbell, Chris Ford. All of the men we were certain would have some notoriety with Robert J. Miller, Executive Director. Little did we suspect that one day a letter would arrive in my mail box from Mr. Miller (who we considered as a "God" and that certainly we could never expect to hear from him) informing me to expect a visit from Verlin P. Jenkins whom, I think was a Province President at that time. Arrangements were made for Mr. Jenkins to visit me during the summer of 1963 .Thad was to join me during this visit but was so nervous he kept vomitting and I had to field the questions, the formal interview sequence and the most unforgettable dinner engagement I've experienced in my life.

Taking Brother Jenkin's advice, Thad, Pete Richards, Dick Crowell and I embarked on visiting chapters in Ohio and Michigan (15 if I recall) during all kinds of weather, often pulling over and sleeping in the car because we were too dammed tired to travel any further. Eventually, after receiving the endorsements of the chapter's visited we spearheaded a marketing campaign to up- sell ourselves and our commitment and values to Mr. Miller of National Headquarters and Brother Jenkins whom I'm convinced paid me the greatest compliment of my life saying " Willis, you could sell air conditioners to Eskimos, you're invited to petition Phi Delta Theta at our national convention in Nassau, Bahamas. With the influential assistance of Messrs. Tappan, Parker, Ford and Campbell we finally received our charter (2 plus years in the making) and the journey of everlasting brotherhood became a reality. It's too bad that Ohio Mu has misplaced the original comprehensive brochure we prepared for the national presentation. The biographical sketches and photographs were priceless. As a short side note, during the years of 1966, 1967 and 1968 Ohio Mu chapter captured and retained the President's Cup,Highest Accumulated Grade Average, the Community Service Award, introduced Junior Olympics to Ashland and walked away with the best decorated floats for Homecoming festivities. Might I add, we also were known for throwing the best parties on and off campus where Non-Greeks literally attempted to bribe us to attend.

Hope this helps - Dick Crowell could most probably add to this along with Marv Lubinsky and, of course, Tony.

Ron Willis

 

I'll be following up with Marv, Dick and Tony to get more background. Anyone have anything to add, it's appreciated!

 

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