2024: A Year Of Fraternal Milestones

1874 - 1899
​Q. T. V.

The Pig Dinner that we will celebrate on the weekend of April 19th-21st has special meaning because we will be celebrating two key milestones in our history. First, it will be our our 150th fraternal year at the University of Maine second, it will be our 125the Phi Gamma Delta anniversary. That is truly something to celebrate. In case that you did not already know, we are the original fraternal brotherhood at the University of Maine, and 2024 is our Sesquicentennial year! One hundred and fifty years ago, in 1874, a fraternal tradition unlike any other was established at the University of Maine by our Q.T.V. brothers, and in 1899, 125 years ago, we became Phi Gamma Delta. 

​ 1899 - 2024
Omega Mu Chapter of
Phi Gamma Delta

They are historic milestones in University of Maine history and our fraternal history, and every Q.T.V.-Phi Gamma Delta brother is an important part of the fraternal lifeblood that has brought us to these two milestone anniversaries. We are one seamless, united brotherhood, and to this day we remain the premier fraternal brotherhood at the University of Maine. Quite simply, we are all part of our proud fraternal story, and Pig Dinner this year will give us time to pause and remember, celebrate and rejoice, and raise a glass or two in honor of our 150 year fraternal legacy at the University of Maine. Our fraternal story is an old story, and there is no other fraternal story like it at the University of Maine!

"Our fraternal story is an old story, and there is no other fraternal story like it at the
University of Maine!"

Our storied fraternal history is deep in the very soil of the University of Maine, and it is a treasured legacy that makes us all very proud to be Omega Mu Phi Fijis. Our history is remarkable for many reasons, and it is our extraordinary collective determination and perseverance that has brought us to our 150th and 125th anniversaries. The same brotherly spirit of our Q.T.V. founders continues to this day. So, please find your way back to 79 College Avenue to attend Pig Dinner this year to remember your time living in the Castle, to reconnect with many brothers, and to celebrate our two fraternal anniversaries. We all have a sense of place in our historic brotherhood because we are all part of our rich fraternal narrative, and the Castle is our elegant fraternal home. It is only fitting that we all attend, and the good news is that each and every graduate brother will all be richly welcomed at the front door by our dedicated, hard-working undergraduate brothers, and there will be many good fraternal hellos from the brothers inside the Castle. 

So, please be one our proud number on the weekend of April 19th-21st, 2024, as we celebrate our groundbreaking, historically long-rooted fraternal brotherhood at the University of Maine. Our 150 year fraternal brotherhood gives us many reasons to be proud, and here is a short list of just some of our memorable fraternal accolades over the last 150 years:

The first fraternal brotherhood at the University of Maine was Q.T.V., our fraternal forebears, established in 1874.​

The first graduate of the University of Maine to receive his diploma was our Q.T.V. brother, Benjamin F. Gould, 1872.

The first fraternal home at the University of Maine, on the site of the present Coburn Hall, was paid for and built by our Q.T.V. brothers.​

Samuel W. Gould achieved a major legislative victory with the passage of the Gould Amendment, an amendment to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.  The Gould Amendment requires that all contents of any food package be clearly marked on the outside of the package in terms of weight, measure, and content. The Gould Amendment was passed on March 3rd, 1913, and it was another major victory of the Progressive Era of reform and regulation. 

The University of Maine hymn was written by our Q.T.V. brother, Horace M. Estabrooke, 1876.​

​Philip Garland, 1912, wrote more music than any other fraternity brother in honor of the University of Maine.​

John D. Utterback

The 1941 Snow Sculpture is considered to be one of most beautiful, as well as being the biggest, snow sculpture ever created during the Winter Carnival, and the designer and engineer in its construction was John D. Utterback. He also designed the 1940 Phi Gam snow sculpture of a bear on top of a sphere. 

Inside Coburn Hall is a plaque that honors one of our brothers who died during the Spanish-American War, Charles C. Scott, 1897.​

Dean James N. Hart, 1885, was the first dean of the University of Maine, and he served as an interim president of the University of Maine.

Joseph M. Murray, 1925, served as an interim president of the University of Maine.

​Our first Phi Gamma Delta house was designed by one our Q.T.V. brothers, Frank E. Kidder, 1878.​

​Gordon R. Heath, 1936, was an important operative in discovering the presence of Russian nuclear warheads in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was the key designer of the winning Phi Gamma Delta snow sculpture in 1936.

Oliver Spurgeon English, 1922, was one of most important psychiatrists in the United States, and he was a great humanitarian. A quote from Temple University Medical School: "We can well imagine that the high degree of positive socialization that this ​erstwhile boy from the farm exhibits today had its early beginnings with his membership there ​in the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.” 

When it was reported in the campus newspaper during the late 1870’s, the only Maine State College student to have fought in the Civil War was one of our Q.T.V. brothers, Nelson H. Martin, 1876. He was from from Fort Fairfield, Maine, and it was report that the enlisted at the age of 13-14.

Frederick D. Potter, 1879, was a friend and associate of Thomas A. Edison, and he was one of the original founder of the Edison Pioneers.

The first class admitted into the University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame included one of our brothers, Theodore T. Curtis, 1923.

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
​Mike Barkley and Keith Carney

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
​Thomas Golden

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
Albert F. Hackett

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
Gerrard R. LaFlamme

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
Vernon F. Napolitano, 1951 Football Team

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
Donald L. Card, 1951 Football Team

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
Eugene F. Sturgeon, the quarterback on the
​1951 Football Team

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
James Van Valkenburgh, the 1961 Football Team

University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame
John R. Roberts, 1961 Football Team

We have nine other brothers who are in the University of Maine Athletic Hall of Fame: Keith Carney, Mike Barkley, Thomas W. Golden, Albert F. Hackett, Gerrard R. LaFlamme, Jr., the 1951 football team that had Vernon F. Napolitano, Donald L. Card, Eugene F. Sturgeon, Donald L. Card, the 1961 football team that had James Van Valkenburgh and John R. Roberts.

The first collegiate baseball at Maine had two of our Q.T.V. brothers: Joseph F. Gould and Alfred J. Keith.​

The first collegiate football team at Maine had Q.T.V. brothers: Gerardius De  Andries Haseth, 1895, and Charles A. Frost, 1895. Gerardius is on the second step, first on the right, and Charles A. Frost is on the fourth step, second player in from the right.

​The first Winter Carnival at the University of Maine, in 1922, started with a glorious fireworks display in front of our first Phi Gamma Delta House.

Edwin F. Ladd, 1884, fought aggressively for the passage of pure-food and drug laws in the United States.

Andrew M. Wiswell, 1927, won a Grammy Award in 1968 as the producer for the original cast album of the musical “Hair,” and he was nominated five more times.​

Paul D. Sargent, 1896, was selected in 1905 to be the first chief engineer of the Maine State Highway Commission, and as the chief engineer, he was charged to create, connect, and improve the highway system throughout the state of Maine. He increased the Maine highway system from 1,300 miles to over 20,000 miles during his tenure as the chief engineer.

The first Rhodes Scholar at the University of Maine was our Omega Mu Brother, Ballard F. Keith, 1908.

James M. Eaton, 1910, established and improved passenger airline service in the United States.

Ray P. Steven, 1898, designed and created the first electrified steam railroad in the United States. He was the president of twelve companies, and increased by 30%, established free insurance for his employees, sick leave, and pension plans. These practices would soon by standard in the years to come. The concrete bridge that he designed and built between Allentown and Philadelphia was the greatest reinforced concrete bridge ​in the world.​

William P. Keenan, 1940, was one of the last P.O.W’s released by the North Koreans at the end of the Korean War.

Estabrooke Hall

Balentine Hall

Crosby Hall

Cloke Plaza, Crosby Hall back right.

Hart Hall

Murray Hall

We are only fraternal at the University of Maine that has more buildings and plazas named in honor of a our fraternal brother, or his spouse, on the University of Maine campus: Estabrooke Hall, Balentine Hall, Crosby Hall, Cloke Plaza, Hart Hall, and Murray Hall.

Oliver Crosby, 1876, self-possessed, and exhibiting incredible self-determination and persistence in his forward-thinking technological ideas, in a literal sense, transformed the world with his hoists, cranes, and derricks that he designed and created. Most significantly, his groundbreaking technological inventions played an impactful role in the creation of the Panama Canal, creating Mount Rushmore, and in building naval ships during World War I and World War II. Breathtaking achievements that are truly something to celebrate in history, and our fraternal history. 

Francis H. Bacon, 1876, designed the original marble case that preserved the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, in the National Archives in Washington D.C.

Arthur D. Serota, 1966, was the recipient of the University of Maine's Bernard Lown Alumni Humanitarian Award for his work in Africa. ​

Louis C. Southard, 1875, represented the Commonwealth of Massachusetts during the Bicentennial Celebration of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia. 

George P. Merrill, 1979, was the head curator of geology of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and The Department of Interior named a crater after him Arizona because he was the world’s foremost authority on meteors.​

Howard T. Engstrom, 1926, helped invented the Univac Computer.​

Frank E. Kidder, 1879, was the architect who designed Coburn Hall, Holmes Hall, the original Wingate Hall, as well as the first Phi Gamma Delta house. ​

Frank E. Danforth, 1946, holds the University of Maine record for the most sports lettered in: baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, indoor track, and outdoor track.​

Ralph B. Pond played for the Boston Red Sox.

A United States Navy ship was named in honor of our Fiji brother, Mark L. Hersey, and there are portraits of him in the Smithsonian Museum of Fine Arts in Washington D.C. He achieved the rank of Major-General during World War I. 

Charles L. Phillips, 1888, was a Brigadier-General during World War I. 

The capping off ceremony of the new engineering building included a historic shout-out to Oliver Crosby, 1876, when they included a Crosby Clip in finishing the building.

Robert F. Thurrell

Wilbur A. Bumps

​There are two rooms in the Memorial Union dedicated to two of our brothers: Robert F. Thurrell, 1915, left; Wilbur A. Bumps, 1874, right.

There have only been five occasions when a Phi Gamma Delta brother was the recipient of the North America Interfraternity Conference Gold Medal, and the fifth one was just awarded this past August to Eugene D. Cote, 1981, our Omega Mu Brother.​

Allen Roger, 1897, was the recipient of the prestigious Grasselli Medal in 1920 for his ground-breaking research in applied chemistry.​

Frederick D. Potter, 1879, a friend and colleague of Thomas A. Edison, was one of the original founders of the Edison Pioneers, an organization that was established to honor the work of Thomas A. Edison. 

The Castle is the only fraternal home at the University that has the singular historic distinction of being on the National Register of Historic Places. And we are the first fraternal brotherhood to celebrate our 150th anniversary at the University of Maine. ​

We will honor our fraternal heritage, our fraternal present, and our bright fraternal future, and the combined weight all three will lead to many toasts in honor all three during Pig Dinner. It is wonderful to appreciate the big picture of our fraternal history at Maine, and, without fear or hesitation, we will continue to fraternally persevere and celebrate many more anniversaries in the future, without question. The big picture of our history is only going to get bigger with our outstanding undergraduate brothers and the new pledges. That is to say, they will fully uphold our original Q.T.V. motto: “enjoyment, sociability, and the best interest of its brothers through life.” We all stand by this declaratory statement. Fraternally, simple and obvious, we are something special, and our fraternal legacy is going to continue to grow with generations of new brothers. With the same fraternal spirit of commitment, persistence, determination, and adaptability we continue on into our third century at the University of Maine. Our history is tied deeply into the history of the University of Maine, and we are as strong as ever with the wonderful undergraduate brothers now living in our historic fraternal home. They are only going to add to our treasured fraternal legacy, and that is truly special in our growing historic story at Maine.


So, during Pig Dinner this year we will all have time to consider our remarkable fraternal story, from our visionary Q.T.V. brothers toWe are ready to celebrate our two fraternal anniversaries during the weekend of April 19th-21st, 2024. It will certainly go down as one of the most important in our proud history at the University of Maine. All of us have seasons in our lives, and often they are events and traditions that are marked boldly on a calendar. And that makes me think of the writer of Ecclesiastes when he states, “To everything there is a season.” Of course, we all know that Pete Seeger and The Birds were inspired by this phrase to write and sing “Turn, Turn, Turn!” So, with that music in your mind, please circle the weekend of April 19th-21st and return to the Castle and be one of our proud fraternal number during our wonderful celebratory weekend. It will be a special time in our history. Fraternally, joyfully, we are ready to celebrate our 150th and 125th fraternal anniversaries at 79 College Avenue. 

“What if the space be long and wide,
That parts us from our brother’s side
A soul-joined chain unites our band,
And memory links us hand in hand.”
(Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)

Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82
Perge