Chi Sigma to Sigma Chi, 50 Years in the Making; Why Fraternities Still Matter

 By T. R. Shaw Jr., Central Michigan,‘82

            60’s on 6 was cranked up on my Explorer’s satellite radio.  Many thoughts were rushing through my mind while the flat, rural landscape of Mid-Michigan in late April went flying by.  A few flowering trees were starting to appear as Spring in Michigan was unfolding. It was a two hour journey I’d made so many times in my life, but this trip was special.

I was heading North to my alma mater, Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan for our much anticipated 50^th Anniversary of my beloved Sigma Chi Fraternity.  Many of us had been working hard on this event the past three years.  I directed the communications campaign in an attempt to reach as many of our alumni as possible.  I was looking forward to meeting the founding legends of Chi Sigma Fraternity, the original local I’d heard about for so many years.  Unique to our chapter, all of us are initiated into Chi Sigma before going forward with the Sigma Chi initiation rites.  It's a very special bond unique to our chapter.

The satellite music made me think of the 1960’s decade and what it must have been like on a college campus.  Sixties music was the music of my childhood, the music of my college era was disco…enough said.

 Chi Sigma was first imagined in 1960 when Paul Parets, ’64, pledged another fraternity and later withdrew because he wanted something more…true brotherhood. After turning in his pledge pin and thanking the group which admitted him, he had discussions with many like-minded friends, primarily from the honors dorm at the time where he resided.  The early concept of Chi Sigma was hatched with the expressed intention of assimilating into and becoming a chapter of the renowned national fraternity, Sigma Chi, which didn’t exist yet at CMU.  There was really no other choice.  As Parets mentioned in his remarks, Chi Sigma was created to be destroyed, it was a bridge to something greater, he remarked.

Chi Sigma ultimately gained recognition as a student organization and local fraternity in the Spring of 1964 against the backdrop of the new Federally-enacted Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Parets graduated that year and became a student teacher at the local Catholic high school, so he stayed close to the group.  

Paul Parets, '64 shared the stage at the end of the
evening banquet with current Sigma Chi 
Chapter President Evan Vallis, '17

Fraternities at the time were viewed with disdain in academia, being seen as elitist and discriminatory.  The timing seemed improbable if not impossible to develop into a permanent organization on campus.  They had a lot to prove and overcome!

Some of the thoughts in my head as I drove North were what kind of discussions the founders at CMU must have had in that era as a fraternity started and developed against a background of social unrest.  When it formed the group of achievers in the mid-1960’s literally swam against the social current to create something special.  As Dave Wolds, ’70, who served as an early chapter president said of the era; “The campus went from Motown to Helter Skelter culturally as the group developed during the time of the greatest social unrest in the 20^th Century,” he said.   Wolds also served as the CMU Student Body President in 1968 and worked with the college president and administration to help quell anti-Vietnam War protests and tension which was a common denominator on all college campuses.  Wolds went on to become the chapter’s only International Balfour Award Winner in 1970, the fraternity’s highest individual honor.

Nevertheless the new organization endured the taunts, sneers and slander of other fraternities and faced doubts from campus leadership.  Without a house, alumni base or any other amenity to offer, the task of rushing and creating new members seemed daunting.  All Chi Sigma could offer was passion, brotherhood and a big dream, in contrast to a world seemingly going mad.  For many like-minded men however, that was all they needed and a challenge they were looking for and many came to join the quest.

Permanent smiles were seen throughout the weekend
as brothers dug out their old apparel for the greatest
reunion in the history of the chapter.

 Within two years, Chi Sigma was drawing the very best students, leaders, athletes and visionaries on campus as the derision from other fraternities grew more intense.  The group even became victims of political and social sabotage which only strengthened their bond and determination.

During their colonization and application period, Chi Sigma leaders were invited to attend the 1966 Sigma Chi Leadership Training Workshop, a clear indication they were on the right track and things were looking positive.  As some of the attendees noted, discussion took place on Sigma Chi’s then exclusionary policy on Blacks and Jews.  The progressively-minded Chi Sigma’s looked at each other in total disbelief and shock as they heard this discouraging policy coming from the fraternity they were pursing.

In historical perspective that attitude was common and prevalent in almost all national fraternities at the time.  A sad part of our collective history.  At our 50^th Anniversary initiation, I was proud to notice the active chapter and young alumni group had dozens of African-American brothers in our ranks, a testament to our idealism and strength.

When they returned to campus that summer to share their stories, enthusiasm was slightly dampened.  But, this band of brothers reasoned if that attitude of intolerance was to change, Sigma Chi needed them, and they could change things from the inside.   It further fueled their passion and conviction that Sigma Chi was the right path to take, the cause became even more important now.

Nearly 90 Alumni Brothers braved a 45 degree
"Pure Michigan" Day at the Pohlcat Championship
Golf Course in Mount Pleasant.

Every step and task in the application process had been excruciatingly met and exceeded by this group of passionate young men seeking the White Cross.  The day finally came when Headquarters called following a board meeting and informed the Chi Sigma’s their admission to Sigma Chi had been unanimously approved.  The victory had been won.                                                                                          

As Parets put it in his narrative history of Chi Sigma, it was the end of the beginning as the “Darkness was Gone and Now Cometh the Dawn.”   On May 25, 1967 the Zeta Rho Chapter of Sigma Chi was installed at Central Michigan University and the dream and goal had been accomplished.  Seventy-Six Chi Sigma’s and alumni were initiated into Sigma Chi and began a movement that now has more than 1,050 CMU brothers strong.  Most of the original initiates were the first post-World War II Baby Boomers and first generation college students in their families.  Nearly all of them became teachers and educators as CMU was the premier teachers college in Michigan. 

Today, Sigma Chi is the longest continuously standing fraternity on the CMU campus. 

Ironically, the summer following installation, our nation witnessed the massive urban riots of 1967 and the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.  Sigma Chi’s infancy was overshadowed by the culture and unrest of the times.

 Parets signed the roll book that day in 1967 as an alumni and initiate #1 but says in all humility it was a team effort and a team achievement.  Now a retired music educator he spoke at the 50^th Anniversary, and gave the analogy of Sigma Chi being a huge wall.  He said “From a distance the wall looks sturdy and impenetrable.  As you get closer you notice the bricks don’t all match.  Some are worn, chipped, faded and cracked,” he said.  “The mortar around some of them is in bad shape,” he added.  “Yet, if we were to remove some of them, the wall would weaken and eventually collapse.  Sigma Chi was built on a strong foundation with imperfect bricks.  Our history and our bond is what keeps us all together,” he said.

Alumni from every era over the past 50 years made
their way to CMU for a weekend who's memories will
last a lifetime!

Over the weekend, more than 400 alumni brothers returned from all eras with the founding Chi Sigma’s representing the largest group.  Hugs, hardy handshakes, tears and back slaps were a common sight as many reunited a half-century after leaving college.  It was a powerful and emotional experience to behold. 

In the fifty years, Sigma Chi had not slandered, faltered or failed the visionaries who created it and pursued it.  To all of those early Chi Sigma’s who blazed the trail, we are eternally grateful. 

The Spirit of Sigma Chi is thriving at Central Michigan University.

T. R. Shaw Jr., is CEO of Shaw Communication in Battle Creek, Michigan.  He blogs at:  The Reluctant R(L)eader at www.read-mor.blogspot.com