Here are comments from Brother Bill Pegler sent in on August 4, 2002:

Dear Friends:

I'm really glad to see the EB Board is aggressively exploring the return of EB to UofA.

Perhaps it was "something in the water" but a lot of the 50ies alums apparently enjoyed a very positive fraternity experience in ATO - what else could account for so many of us returning to the scene of the crime!! Something motivates them each year to apply an extra layer of Ben-gay - oil up the walker and overfill the O2 bottle in order to attend this gathering. Of grater consequence, look at the contribution of the brothers who settled in Tucson and have 'carried the baby' all these years. Perhaps it was a comradeship, which surpassed similar subsequent groupings in the military and industry. If it were possible to isolate and identify the character traits and motivations of this and more similar subsequent groups, perhaps these should be the criteria of the future ATOs we seek.

Because I was involved in rush for about three years, the following criteria seem to float to the surface of my memory:
· A concerted drive to attract guys from Southern Arizona - most of them will stay in or return to the area and have local contacts with influence. Don't wait till August rush….do a little high-school rush in May and keep the 'good ones' in a closet till formal rush.
· Shoot for the stars, but realize that it's the 'dopey-looking' dude who had character of personality and ambition that really stays the course.
· The selection process (pledge offers) was a chemistry thing - our intelligence sucked and perhaps success was really a function of pledging a large class - the better ones fit in, the others dropped out.

After reading the Board's criteria, I can only admire their ambition…. but it still appears to be a cruel world out there - you might want to lower the bar on GPA requirements and Freshman rush. For example, let's have a 'show of hands' - how many of you had a 3.0 either when you pledged or when you graduated? Nuff said.

As regards buildings….do you suppose it's possible to have a successful house that had very minimal bedrooms - perhaps a room for a few guys to be caretakers and a guest room to accommodate traveling Taus or a few members who needed a place to crash? The emphasis could then be on having an outstanding food operation and social rooms. Can anyone ever forget the meals Zeta put together?? As I recall, it was always a crisis to fill the beds - and this became more difficult with competition from University halls and - for the more affluent, private apartments.

Is it possible to obtain better intelligence on serious prospective pledges? While the window of opportunity is small, who not try to do a background check - regional alums personal interviews of HS teachers, associations where prospects were members…etc. Try to weed out these with a rap sheet.

See ya at homecoming.

Bill
Aka Sam '56