Our Omega Mu brothers who served in the military are cherished and constant fraternal friends, and we would like to say thank you for the steadfast, purposeful commitment you made to our nation to defend those four freedoms we all believe in: “Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.” For those brothers who were killed in defense of these freedoms, they will always occupy a consecrated place in our linked fraternal heart because they exemplify the idea of superlative commitment, strength, and fortitude for the good to the end itself. The greatness of their collective purpose and will, on our nation’s behalf, will never be forgotten. By their “clear-eyed faith and fearless heart,” these brothers have left us a fraternal legacy that echoes what we often say about Omega Mu Fijis: “Perseverance and determination are omnipotent.” Their code of integrity, courage, duty, responsibility, and self-sacrifice on behalf of our nation is a powerful legacy that we will always be proud of as Omega Mu Fijis. Whether it was at New Orleans, Red River, Fort Blakely, Marianna, San Juan Hill, Santiago de Cuba, Chateau-Thierry, Verdun, El Guettar, Elba, Monte Della Vedetta, the Battle of the Bulge, Peleliu, Okinawa, Rabaul, Inchon, Pusan, Chosin Reservoir, Pork Chop Hill, Hue, Easter Offensive, Phu Cat, The Iron Triangle, Hamburger Hill, la Drang Valley, Bien Hoa, Khe Sanh, Rumaila, Al-Batin, Medina Ridge, Kabul, Kandahar, our Omega Mu brothers have demonstrated devotion to duty in defense of freedom and liberty. They are the stability of our nation, and we, the Omega Mu brotherhood, revere, honor, and salute their persevering and determined spirit within our great nation and our historic brotherhood. We will always honor the heroism of all of our brothers who have served in the armed forces from the Civil War to the present. Thank you. Omega Mu Veteran George F. Kehoe, 1927 Omega Mu Years The recently built Castle in 1925 Omega Mu Brother Hosea Buck "Fraternity songs, cards, and a fireside session were enjoyed by all." University of Maine Athlete World War II Captain Kehoe was a Senior Pilot, Combat Observer, and Flying Instructor in the Army Air Corps. He died on December 21st, 1938 “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
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From multiple angles, our Q.T.V. and Omega Mu brothers have enriched the civic life at the University of Maine, and we are fortunate to have had many hardworking, talented brothers throughout our history. The balance between our athletic involvement, intellectual pursuits, and campus involvement is compelling. What they accomplished in their respective pursuits at the university constitutes a wonderful achievement in our fraternal history. There efforts were good and laudable, and there efforts represented the very best of our core values of persistence and determination. It is, believe me, a wonderful achievement, on the part of generations of Omega Mu brothers, for the respective gifts that they gave for the civic good at the University of Maine. In our historically calm, customary fashion, 149 years and growing, it was a rich yield for the common good of the Maine community, All of them, through their various commitments and endeavors within the University of Maine community, improved and brightened up the quality of life of the university community with their enthusiasm and dedication to their respective University of Maine teams, organizations, and clubs. They each had uniques strengths as actors, artists, musicians, athletes, and journalists, and they all embodied the shared commitment to do something well for the University of Maine community. Fraternally integrity demands that, and we are proud of all of these brothers. Over the years, many of our Omega Mu brothers held leadership roles on various University of Maine newspapers and yearbooks. Their contributions in creating something good in the university community cannot be overstated. "Good" does not, in reality, do justice in acknowledging their positive contributions. Each of them performed a vital function for the University of Maine community. They had a willingness to work, the willingness to accept challenges, in order to be focused, informative journalist in order to create daily newspapers and yearbooks that were interesting and informative. Their leadership style was authentic, and their generous, laborious work deserve praise and recognition in our brotherhood. They collected information, organized information, checked and re-checked facts, shared ideas, read and re-read every article, and proofed and re-proofed every page in the yearbook. They always gave of their time and talent in attending to each of these elements in order to write commendable, informative, and properly edited newspaper articles, and in sifting through thousands of pictures and thoughtfully crafting, shaping, and editing yearbooks. Their hard work, in turn, was to produce something, whether it was the university newspaper or yearbook, that was well-written, well-edited, and journalistically constructive, interesting, meaningful, and significant, in the short or long term. With drive and persistence, what our Q.T.V. and Omega Mu brothers achieved, in their numerous leadership roles on various newspapers and yearbooks, was complementary to everything we fraternally applaud for all of or brothers who were positively involved in the University of Maine community. What they achieved had real, enduring worth and value for the University of Maine community. They were indispensable. They made lasting contributions to the social well-being of the university community in keeping students well-informed and enlightened. These Omega Mu brothers embodied our old fraternal truth in being perseverant and determined in being faithful and generous with their gifts. In other words, our journalist brothers are a testament to our collective fraternal spirit of genuine integrity, industry, dedication, creativity, and commitment in adding to our long-standing history of civic engagement at the University of Maine. And as we enter our 150th fraternal year as the oldest, most historically distinguished fraternal brotherhood at the University of Maine, we humbly acknowledge that we are the beneficiaries of God's sustaining grace, as well as the hard work human work and sustaining human grace of generations of Q.T.V. - Phi Gamma Delta brothers. We would not be here without their collective human work. Concrete results matter in life, and we continue to be here because of all of our brothers who have shaped and guided our brotherhood during our first 150 years. Because of the work of generations of brothers, in word and deed, we remain a fraternal brotherhood of historic power, durability, resilience, and significance at the University of Maine. This brotherhood will continue to be an open-hearted gift, a human grace, to generations of young men for another 150 years. In other words, with an equal balance of fraternal heart, mind, and body, they will continue to incarnate the truth of the following snippet of wisdom by Henry David Thoreau: "action from principle, the perception and performance of the right." Most importantly, we continue to thrive with the recent pledging of some wonderful young men. They are a good match, and they will accomplish a great deal because they will take fraternal pride in achievement, value thoughtfulness towards their Omega Mu brothers, and maintain a collaborative work ethic to keep the house in good order. After all, fraternal poise and discipline have carried us this far in our history. Therefore, our deep-rooted fraternal heritage is only going to deepen because of the present undergraduates, and they will continue to prove that the good of our Omega Mu fraternal life still matters. Again and again, from our Q.T.V. fraternal founding through today, persistence and determination has defined our fraternal character and our enduring history at the University of Maine. They are our basic values, the enshrining heart of Phi Gamma Delta, and the present undergraduate brothers will continue to embody these values and add to to our history with their robust fraternal enthusiasm. These traits create the true meaning of our fraternal life, and our fraternal future rests on our generationally shared commitment to these two words in order for our trailblazing fraternal history to continue to endure and evolve into our third century at the University of Maine. Our Q.T.V. - Phi Gamma Delta story is a proud single story, and we will always remain linked together because remain the premier fraternal brotherhood at the University of Maine, and that is something to celebrate. I share all this by way of saying that I hope that many of you will consider returning to our historically distinguished fraternal home, the Castle, this coming April to re-connect with many brothers during Pig Dinner. It will be wonderful, even a grace, to have as many brothers attend as possible because we will be celebrating our combined 150th Q.T.V-Phi Gamma Delta history at Maine, and our 125th Phi Gamma Delta history with considerable Omega Mu enthusiasm. Our fraternal history is distinguished, and it is worth being celebrated. There will be no shortage of pleasure at Pig Dinner this year in seeing the house full with generations of Omega Mu Fijis. It will be generationally moving, perhaps a unique historic grace, with a great deal of nostalgic reminiscing in the charm of the Castle. The Castle is a special place, and its many rooms, the Phoenix Lounge, and the front lawn internalizes the memories of every brother from 1925 to the present. We cannot think about being Omega Mu Fijis without thinking about the Castle. As the great scientist and author Lewis Thomas beautifully stated: "We leave traces of ourselves wherever we go..." Perge. Omega Mu Portrait Edward H. Cowan, 1894 Q.T.V. Years "At an early hour buck-boards began to bring the guests from Orono, Stillwater and Old Town. There were about one hundred present including members of the faculty and their ladies." "After entertainment consisting of of instrumental music, singing, and declamations, refreshments were served and the remainder of the evening was spent in sociability and dancing." "In due time all adjourned to the dining room where a generous treat of confectionary, assorted nuts and peanuts, bananas, apples and lemonade awaited them. With many jokes and rousing college songs as a spice, the treat was thoroughly enjoyed. The company departed at half past eleven, all voting is an exceedingly pleasant evening. As they left the members of the Chapter gave their society yell in which the visitors heartily joined." "Cowan, '94, President." E. H. Cowan, Captain and Leader "Infantry in Battle, ----Edward Henry Cowan" "Edward H. Cowan, '94, Editor-In-Chief." "Edward H. Cowan, Orono" “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 Our brothers careers have been productive, constructive, spirited, and prosaic. They displayed impressive skills, talents, and abilities They were, and we continue to be, a beautiful and lively expression of our enduring fraternal beliefs, and that underlying harmony is far-reaching in expectation for all brothers’, undergraduate and graduate. It is the core of what our fraternal founders asserted in 1848 and 1874 and 1899: to live active, commendable, and responsible lives, and to build up community. Clearly and compellingly, they added, and continue to add, positive value at the local, state, national, global, and fraternal level because they engaged life fully and responsibly. In short, they were authoritative pillars throughout life. They were-are exemplary in their citizenship, character, and their sense of dutiful responsibility, and, in many instances, they were leading voices in their career fields. They prove that success of any kind does not occur by luck or accident, and we remember them because they continue to provide that message for our time. Their spirit permeates our brotherhood, and it always will. We have long been, from one generation to the next, proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. We continue to cherish our fraternal friendships, our shared memories, and our evolving, forward-focused history at the University of Maine. These things, above and beyond everything else, are the underlying rooted connections that make us proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. Why, after all, should we believe otherwise? We have always exhibited a can-do fraternal spirit since 1874. And, to be sure, all present and future generations of Omega Mu Fijis will continue to do the same, with fraternal enthusiasm and commitment. As a brotherhood, we always see the path behind us and the way forward with equal clarity, and our future remains bright at 79 College Avenue because we fearlessly move forward, always guided by sound fraternal principles, and because of that we are an exceptional brotherhood because we remain committed and hardworking to assure that our Omega Mu brotherhood will continue to be the jewel at the University of Maine. As we enter our 150th fraternal year as the oldest, most historically distinguished fraternal brotherhood at the University of Maine, we humbly acknowledge that we are the beneficiaries of God's sustaining grace, as well as the hard work human work and sustaining human grace of generations of Q.T.V. - Phi Gamma Delta brothers. We would not be here without their collective human work. Concrete results matter in life, and we continue to be here because of all of our brothers who have shaped and guided our brotherhood during our first 150 years. Because of the work of generations of brothers, in word and deed, we remain a fraternal brotherhood of historic power, durability, resilience, and significance at the University of Maine. This brotherhood will continue to be an open-hearted gift, a human grace, to generations of young men for another 150 years. In other words, with an equal balance of fraternal heart, mind, and body, they will continue to incarnate the truth of the following snippet of wisdom by Henry David Thoreau: "action from principle, the perception and performance of the right." Most importantly, we continue to thrive with the recent pledging of some wonderful young men. They are a good match, and they will accomplish a great deal because they will take fraternal pride in achievement, value thoughtfulness towards their Omega Mu brothers, and maintain a collaborative work ethic to keep the house in good order. After all, fraternal poise and discipline have carried us this far in our history, and with fraternal unity and one common goal, our deep-rooted fraternal heritage is only going to deepen because of the present undergraduates. They will continue to prove that the good of our Omega Mu fraternal life still matters. Again and again, from our Q.T.V. fraternal founding through today, persistence and determination has defined our fraternal character and our enduring history at the University of Maine. They are our basic values, the enshrining heart of Phi Gamma Delta, and the present undergraduate brothers will continue to embody these values and add to to our history with their robust fraternal enthusiasm. These traits create the true meaning of our fraternal life, and our fraternal future rests on our generationally shared commitment to these two words in order for our trailblazing fraternal history to continue to endure and evolve into our third century at the University of Maine. Again and again, from our Q.T.V. fraternal founding through today, persistence and determination has defined our fraternal character and our enduring history at the University of Maine. They are our basic values, the enshrining heart of Phi Gamma Delta, and the present undergraduate brothers will continue to embody these values and add to to our history with their robust fraternal enthusiasm. These traits create the true meaning of our fraternal life, and our fraternal future rests on our generationally shared commitment to these two words in order for our trailblazing fraternal history to continue to endure and evolve into our third century at the University of Maine. To repeat, persistence and determination is the heart of our 150 years of fraternal success at Maine. Our Q.T.V. - Phi Gamma Delta story is a proud single story, and we will always remain linked together because remain the premier fraternal brotherhood at the University of Maine, and that is something to celebrate. I share all this by way of saying that I hope that many of you will consider returning to our historically distinguished fraternal home, the Castle, this coming April to re-connect with many brothers during Pig Dinner. It will be wonderful, even a grace, to have as many brothers attend as possible because we will be celebrating our combined 150th Q.T.V-Phi Gamma Delta history at Maine, and our 125th Phi Gamma Delta history with considerable Omega Mu enthusiasm. Our fraternal history is distinguished, and it is worth being celebrated. There will be no shortage of pleasure at Pig Dinner this year in seeing the house full with generations of Omega Mu Fijis. It will be generationally moving, perhaps a unique historic grace, with a great deal of nostalgic reminiscing in the charm of the Castle. The Castle is a special place, and its many rooms, the Phoenix Lounge, and the front lawn internalizes the memories of every brother from 1925 to the present. We cannot think about being Omega Mu Fijis without thinking about the Castle. As the great scientist and author Lewis Thomas beautifully stated: "We leave traces of ourselves wherever we go..." Perge. Omega Mu Portrait George H. Patten, 1882 Q.T.V. Years First Q.T.V. Chapter Hall, 1876, the present site of Coburn Hall. 1880 photo of our Q.T.V. brothers in front of the house, and George H. Patten is probably in this picture. Q.T.V. Brothers who graduated in 1882 Walter Flint Charles C. Garland Joseph F. Gould Alfred J. Keith Frank H. Todd Q.T.V. Reunion N.Y.U. Medical School George Patten received his M.D. in 1886, and he then he settled in Bar Harbor and became a well-respected physician. Reunions Omega Mu Brothers: Walter Flint, Charles C. Garland, Joseph F. Gould, Alfred J. Keith, James H. Patten James H. Patten is first on the right; Alfred J. Keith is to his right. “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 Omega Mu Voice Robert W. Doyle, 1972 Bob Doyle, 1972 Background: The events that took place in this country between 1963 and 1973 are almost surreal, particularly to a young man in the prime of his life with so little "life experience" under his belt. It was a decade of extremes, certainly. A decade of hope and despair ... of love and hate .... of belief and disbelief , of confusion and clarity. Why? University of Maine 1963-1973 The assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King,.... The Civil rights movement...Woman’s Liberation ... Easy Rider, Catch 22...The Beatles...The Stones...Dylan...Led Zeppelin...Color TV....Stereophonic sound....drugs....sex and rock and roll. President John F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy holding his rosary beads. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Gloria Steinem Easy Rider The Pentagon Papers..Watergate...Riots in Detroit...The Democratic National Convention...Black power...A man on the moon...Terrorist attacks at the Olympics ..500,000 "drug crazed" kids at Woodstock ....4 dead students at Kent State. Student marches, Protests and marches about almost everything .... Pentagon Papers Protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago 1968 Olympics Kent State "Four Dead In Ohio" AND of course The Vietnam conflict . The U.S.military....,,,, Running out of volunteers (young men , black or white...undereducated or underemployed..and looking for a new pool of willing or unwilling participants to fill the void.. This included white males at academic institutions....And thus the story begins The Draft I was living in the house on Dec.1 , 1969 and experienced an event that none there would ever forget ....... The draft lottery .... Birth dates into a jar and chosen one at a time........That number would coincide with a young mans birthdate and ultimately would determine his draft order status Numbers 1-366 would be chosen randomly ..... Many of us believed that if you were lucky that night ..... You would live ..... get a low number .... You would be drafted and go to Nam and likely die ..... "Get a low number...you would be drafted and go to Nam and likely die." I recall that everyone in the house was drunk that night ....Really drunk .....A happy drunk or angry scared drunk .... The first birthdate chosen .....SEPT 14..... Good so far!......I was lucky that night .....# 284..... The next morning .... Everybody hung over and asking only 1 question to each other.... "What was your number?" "What was your number?" “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 Truthfully, there is no fraternal brotherhood quite like Omega Mu at the University of Maine. We are proud of our history, and we are proud of the impressive number of fraternal brothers who played on many University of Maine athletic teams. With conviction and commitment, our Omega Mu athlete brothers brought a great deal of joy and satisfaction to the university community, creating many wonderful memories since the first baseball team was established at Maine State College in the 1870's. The worked together for the success of each Maine team, and the overall civic good of the University of Maine. The sheer number of Omega Mu athlete brothers is an unqualified triumph for the University of Maine. They each gave their best efforts on each team, and what they achieved perfectly compliments what we fraternally believe: drive and determination. It is a heady athletic legacy. Accordingly, their accomplishments claim our fraternal attention and respect. For the eminence of their athletic success; and, above all, for being our Omega Mu brothers, we are proud. Therefore, in the linked soul and spirit of our long fraternal history, we gratefully remember and celebrate our QTV and Omega Mu brothers who participated on many varsity athletic teams at the University of Maine. Their sacrifice of time was worth the effort for them and the student body at the University of Maine who watched them play. They created many warm memories since the early 1870’s. For the eminence of their athletic success; and, above all, for being our Omega Mu brothers, we are all very proud. Thoreau said it best: “What a difference, whether in all your walks, you meet only strangers, or in one house is one who knows you, and whom you know. To have a brother…How rare these things are.” How true that is, and we remain that way to this day. That is a proud fraternal legacy. Omega Mu Athlete Edward S. Lawrence, 1923 Omega Mu Years 1922 Intramural Basketball Champions in the library. "At 7 o'clock, a delicious dinner was served by the fraternity chef. The tables were attractively decorated with flowers......The dance orders of blue and white were in the shape of a lozenge." The First Winter Carnival At Omega Mu, 1922 "The Phi Gam house at the University entrance was the Arctic scene for a brilliant fireworks display. Rockets and bombs soared and exploded before an enthusiastic crowd who had come to witness the spectacle." University of Maine Athlete Edward S. Lawrence, Captain “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 |
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