Phi Kappa Theta Detour: This Party Will Change Your Life
Twenty-five years ago on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, 1996, I went to a party. That party dramatically changed the course of my life. Without it, I doubt I would have gotten into radio, ultimate or my current employer of 19+ years. There's a pretty substantial chance that I wouldn't have graduated from Case at all.
It was my freshman year of college at Case Western Reserve University, and I had been on campus for maybe three weeks, having arrived earlier than most students because I was playing football.In large part because of football practice, I hadn't actually had time to go most of the orientation activities and as a result I hadn't really met very many other people aside from some people in my dorm (Storrs Hall, #207) or on the football team.
We'd only had a morning practice that day and the homework hadn't started to pile on yet, so I didn't really have anything substantial planned for that Saturday. As such, when Phil showed up to invite my randomly assigned roommate Kevin along to a day long cookout / party dubbed "Detour" and expanded the invitation to me, I didn't really have any reason to say no. At a minimum, I figured at least I'd probably get some decent food, as I'd already been thoroughly disillusioned by how bad the cafeteria food was.
I had met Phil before. He was dating a girl on my floor, and as an Indian-American guy (possibly the first one I'd met with my rural North Dakota upbringing) with dreadlocks and an ever present acoustic guitar he'd have stood out even if he wasn't relentlessly friendly and outgoing. I'd also noted the ever present orange "Detour" shirt that Phil was wearing almost every time I saw him. As I would later learn, Phil was the rush chair of the Ohio Alpha Beta chapter of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity that fall, and the party was his baby. He'd also "designed" the "Detour" shirt, which was very, very orange and added the line "haven't you done ENOUGH work yet?" on the back. It served its stated purpose of attracting attention, and not much aesthetically beyond that. Fun additional fact: the shirt advertised the Detour party as being Sunday, August 31, 1996. August 31 was a Saturday that year. Oops.
I was probably vaguely aware that the party was part of fraternity rush, but at that point in my life my extremely limited knowledge of what a fraternity was started and ended with Animal House. I'd certainly given no consideration whatsoever to actually joining a fraternity, and really didn't consider that this party was to attract potential members. If I had, I probably wouldn't have gone at all, although if I'd really thought about it the idea that any fraternity that fitted my mental image of a fraternity would want me as a member would have been laughable.
Since I had no preconceptions about fraternities, I had a fine time at the Detour party. I'm sure I got my first tour of the Phi Kap house that day. I had a bunch of burgers. I may have played some sand volleyball on the back court, although I don't remember doing so. I certainly met most of Phi Kaps that day, although in all honestly at the time there were only 17 of active brothers, which I think included Eli who was off on co-op. I particularly remember having a very long conversation with Zuck out on the porch during the party, although what we spoke about I don't claim to remember. This was a rush party, so there was no alcohol, not that I would have been super interested back then in days before I figured out enjoying beer.
Can I name all of those brothers? Let's see. I can probably go farther and tell you what room of the house they were living in at the time.
Dave - Wine Cellar
Darin - Observatory
Jeff - Parlor?
Neal - FOB
Steve - Greenhouse
Glick - the only brother not living in the house, he had an apartment
Josh - East Wing
Bacher - Bakery
Joe - Studio front
Zuck - East Wing (EDIT: With Herbie the parakeet)
Ron - Whiskey's Roost
Ralph - Oval Office?
Ducar - Ballroom
Dennis - Studio back
Tony - Cave?
Davis - Brewery (EDIT: With Mitzi the ferret!)
Phil - Catacombs
Eli - on co-op that fall
I may have missed one or two people since I didn't pull out the composites or my black book to review it, but that's not a lot of people, certainly. As I recall there were multiple empty rooms in the house, including the Dungeon, the Abyss and The Loft, and the Treehouse. The house was in a long decline period at that time. Things were about to change, and unbeknownst to me I was going to be a big part of it. And it all started with a party.
It's been twenty-five years since I joined Phi Kappa Theta. It's one of the two or three best decisions I've made in my entire life, so I'm going to spend the next many Sundays talking about it.
It was my freshman year of college at Case Western Reserve University, and I had been on campus for maybe three weeks, having arrived earlier than most students because I was playing football.In large part because of football practice, I hadn't actually had time to go most of the orientation activities and as a result I hadn't really met very many other people aside from some people in my dorm (Storrs Hall, #207) or on the football team.
We'd only had a morning practice that day and the homework hadn't started to pile on yet, so I didn't really have anything substantial planned for that Saturday. As such, when Phil showed up to invite my randomly assigned roommate Kevin along to a day long cookout / party dubbed "Detour" and expanded the invitation to me, I didn't really have any reason to say no. At a minimum, I figured at least I'd probably get some decent food, as I'd already been thoroughly disillusioned by how bad the cafeteria food was.
I had met Phil before. He was dating a girl on my floor, and as an Indian-American guy (possibly the first one I'd met with my rural North Dakota upbringing) with dreadlocks and an ever present acoustic guitar he'd have stood out even if he wasn't relentlessly friendly and outgoing. I'd also noted the ever present orange "Detour" shirt that Phil was wearing almost every time I saw him. As I would later learn, Phil was the rush chair of the Ohio Alpha Beta chapter of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity that fall, and the party was his baby. He'd also "designed" the "Detour" shirt, which was very, very orange and added the line "haven't you done ENOUGH work yet?" on the back. It served its stated purpose of attracting attention, and not much aesthetically beyond that. Fun additional fact: the shirt advertised the Detour party as being Sunday, August 31, 1996. August 31 was a Saturday that year. Oops.
I was probably vaguely aware that the party was part of fraternity rush, but at that point in my life my extremely limited knowledge of what a fraternity was started and ended with Animal House. I'd certainly given no consideration whatsoever to actually joining a fraternity, and really didn't consider that this party was to attract potential members. If I had, I probably wouldn't have gone at all, although if I'd really thought about it the idea that any fraternity that fitted my mental image of a fraternity would want me as a member would have been laughable.
Since I had no preconceptions about fraternities, I had a fine time at the Detour party. I'm sure I got my first tour of the Phi Kap house that day. I had a bunch of burgers. I may have played some sand volleyball on the back court, although I don't remember doing so. I certainly met most of Phi Kaps that day, although in all honestly at the time there were only 17 of active brothers, which I think included Eli who was off on co-op. I particularly remember having a very long conversation with Zuck out on the porch during the party, although what we spoke about I don't claim to remember. This was a rush party, so there was no alcohol, not that I would have been super interested back then in days before I figured out enjoying beer.
Can I name all of those brothers? Let's see. I can probably go farther and tell you what room of the house they were living in at the time.
Dave - Wine Cellar
Darin - Observatory
Jeff - Parlor?
Neal - FOB
Steve - Greenhouse
Glick - the only brother not living in the house, he had an apartment
Josh - East Wing
Bacher - Bakery
Joe - Studio front
Zuck - East Wing (EDIT: With Herbie the parakeet)
Ron - Whiskey's Roost
Ralph - Oval Office?
Ducar - Ballroom
Dennis - Studio back
Tony - Cave?
Davis - Brewery (EDIT: With Mitzi the ferret!)
Phil - Catacombs
Eli - on co-op that fall
I may have missed one or two people since I didn't pull out the composites or my black book to review it, but that's not a lot of people, certainly. As I recall there were multiple empty rooms in the house, including the Dungeon, the Abyss and The Loft, and the Treehouse. The house was in a long decline period at that time. Things were about to change, and unbeknownst to me I was going to be a big part of it. And it all started with a party.
It's been twenty-five years since I joined Phi Kappa Theta. It's one of the two or three best decisions I've made in my entire life, so I'm going to spend the next many Sundays talking about it.