[JonoBN41]

My first group of letters home went back thirty-four years and described the atmosphere of the early 1970s through the eyes of a freshman (me) joining a colony of Lambda Chi Alpha and that colony's subsequent chartering. Those were far-out groovy times, but what would it have been like to join a Theta Kappa Nu chapter just as they were becoming part of Lambda Chi Alpha?

To usher in the New Year, let's travel sixty-six years back in time to the pre-WWII days of the fall of 1939 and follow another freshman who's entering college between the time of the merger agreement and the actual badging out in October.

What was it like to go to college then? How much did various things cost? What was required of pledges? What books did students read? What movies were playing? What did they do for entertainment? And - most important of all - who did their laundry?

To find out, we shall follow a young man named Gordon. For privacy reasons, let's not worry about his last name and just say it's "M"; Gordon A. M. and his parents, Mr. & Mrs. M. Let's also not worry about spelling. If he spelled something wrong, so did I. The letters are transcribed as accurately as possible and any notations by me are in brackets, such as an illegible word [?].

There are about 30 letters, notes, receipts, and other documents so we can follow them a few at a time over the next couple weeks. I hope you enjoy the journey and his struggles to succeed.

To start off, let's see what college young Gordon will be attending. What Theta Kappa Nu chapter was this? What Lambda Chi Alpha chapter did it become?

In ZAX,
Jono