Gamma Tau Installation
The Gamma Tau Chapter of our Fraternity was installed at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday, December 19, 1970. The ceremony was held at the fine Capital City Club, 7 Harris Street, N.W., Atlanta, due to the gracious kindness of Brother A. Leigh Baier, Delta Delta ’63, who served as sponsor for the Installation. Albert C. Jacobs, Phi ’21, Vice President and Administrative Director, conducted the ceremonies, assisted by Earl J. Fretz, Tau ’64.
Fourteen were initiated as Charter Members of the Gamma Tau Chapter: Marion Carr Baggett ’73, Milledgeville, Georgia; Russell McCamie Crawford ’73, Brentwood, Tennessee; Ernest Manfred Dixon ’73, Atlanta, Georgia; Clyde Edward Graydon ’73, Milton, Florida; John William Navolis ’72, Sarasota, Florida; Ernest Ganhart Ovitz ’72, Galva, Illinois; Albert William Powell ’72, Forest Park, Georgia; Mark Thaddeus Poweski ’73, Jacksonville, Florida; Robert Allen Raines ’73, Titusville, Florida; Edward Richmond Thompson ’73, Beverly, New Jersey; Thomas Edward Tuten ’72, Bloomingdale, Georgia; Frank Henry Volger, Jr. ’72, Marietta, Georgia; John Cameron White ’73, Lakeland, Florida; and John Carlton Willliams ’73, West Palm Beach, Florida.
John Britt Holstun, ’72, Silver Spring, Maryland, could not attend the Installation and was initiated in January of this year. The Chapter considers him one of the Charter members.
Following the Installation a number of gifts were presented to the Gamma Tau by the Executive Council: a Constitution of the Fraternity; a copy of The Annals; an engraved gavel; a Minutes Book; a Guest Book; and a Song Book.
At a meeting of the Gamma Tau Chapter immediately after the Installation Thomas L. Aldrich, Epsilon Omega ’70; and A. Leigh Baier, Delta Delta ’63, were elected honorary members of the new Chapter.
Two members of the Executive Council attended the Installation: Robert W. Morey, Pi ’21; and John E. Fricke, Xi ’23.
The following Alumni were among those present: A. Leigh Baier, Delta Delta ’63; Michael P. Doyle, Epsilon Nu ’60; Earl J. Fretz, Tau ’64; Albert C. Jacobs, Phi ’21; Ronald W. Larson, Phi ’55; Cortland F. Luce, Jr., Gamma ’30; Alvo O. Martin, Omega ’48; Peter M. Martinson, Eta ’68; David Schoenfeld, Omega ’44; Captain Raymond Van Walkenten, USN (Ret.), Rho ’32; Archibald Walker, Beta Beta ’14; and Ronald D. Yeast, Omega ’59.
Paul Weinberg, Kappa ’44; and Richard D. Wold, Epsilon Omega ’73, were the only undergraduates who attended the Installation.
Present at the banquet were: Mr. Garry M. Bledsoe, Assistant Dean of Students, Georgia Institute of Technology; Mr. Stephen S. Drennen, President, Georgia Tech Interfraternity Council; and Mr. Donald J. Nesmith, Fraternity Advisor, University of Georgia.
At the Installation Banquet A. Leigh Baier, Delta Delta ’63, served as the highly competent toastmaster. Albert William Powell ’72 spoke briefly for the Gamma Tau Chapter. Greetings from the Georgia Institute of Technology were extended by Dean Garry M. Bledsoe.
The address at the Installation Banquet was delivered by Albert C. Jacobs, Phi ’21, Vice President and Administrative Director. His title was “Responsibilities of Psi Upsilon Brotherhood.” Among other things he said:
“At the outset may I express the genuine regret of Brother Jerome W. Brush, Jr., Delta Delta ’39, President of the Executive Council, that he could not be with us tonight. Only a last minute emergency prevented his attendance. On his behalf I extend his warmest greetings.
“Psi Upsilon is proud to install the Gamma Tau Chapter, our second in the South, following by six weeks that of the Nu Alpha at Washington and Lee University. For the Gamma Tau we have the highest expectations. We are proud to install a Chapter at this outstanding institution of higher learning which for over eight decades has stood for excellence in education, an institution which has recognized the meaningful service which fraternities under proper conditions can render Alma Mater.
“We are honored to install a Chapter in this great city of Atlanta in and around which over fifty Psi U’s reside.
“We are lastingly grateful for the splendid support and understanding cooperation which the administration of Georgia Institute of Technology, and particularly Dean Garry M. Bledsoe, have give us in the establishment of this new Chapter. Without their wise counsel and meaningful backing, we never would have succeeded in what for Psi Upsilon has been an entirely new experience–the rushing and pledging from scratch of a new Chapter. We are especially grateful to Brother Albert William Powell, Gamma Tau ’72, who commendably and most ably assumed the difficult task of establishing the Chapter and of finding a core of dedicated persons to join him. In Navy parlance I say ‘well done.’
“Yes, Psi Upsilon warmly welcomes this meaningful partnership of service with Georgia Institute of Technology.
“We are exceedingly proud to welcome into the bonds of our society fourteen splendid members of the Gamma Tau–four juniors and ten sophomores who reside in five different states. We greet you from the hearty and wish our Brothers of the Gamma Tau of today and tomorrow Godspeed, the greatest of success and enduring prosperity. May you never regret the fraternal bonds into which you have entered today.”
