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Frat mom cleans house And 'Aunt June' Martin defends newly reinstated Alpha Epsilon Pi



Sunday, October 5, 2003
BY TOM GANTERT
News Staff Reporter





June Martin is quick to defend "her boys."

One of the fraternity brothers she oversees was just asked for his reaction when the national organization gave Alpha Epsilon Pi back its charter Sept. 20, four years after it was revoked for misconduct.

"Excuse me," Martin says, cutting off the interviewer. "They didn't give these young men anything back."

This fraternity, she says, has no connection to the former students who caused problems.

It's a new day for Alpha Epsilon Pi, thanks in part to the presence of Martin.

As the only house mother living in a University of Michigan fraternity house, she has played a key role in transforming one of the most notorious fraternities, located at 1620 Cambridge Road, into what some call considerate neighbors.

Unlike fraternities, all 15 sororities on campus all have house directors.

Martin won't divulge her age but will say she has three kids and her youngest child is 40. The fraternity brothers call the 4-foot-1112 inch Martin "Aunt June." She is like a grandmother away from home, says member Scott Hollander.

Fraternity life has come under scrutiny since a hazing incident last month at Sigma Chi led to one pledge being admitted to the hospital for treatment of kidney failure. Sigma Chi's charter was revoked by the national organization.

In December 1999, an Alpha Epsilon Pi pledge was injured when he was shot in the groin with an air rifle. That fraternity's charter also was revoked, and all its members were expelled from the fraternity. But the hazing incident was only one of numerous problems the fraternity had caused in its neighborhood.

Sidney Dunn, executive vice president of Alpha Epsilon Pi's national organization in Indianapolis, said if it was to be reopened, he knew it had to be cleaned up.

So he called Martin, a longtime colleague, to start the restoration. She was at a University of Texas fraternity chapter.

She's been a fraternity house mother for more than 20 years, having lived in three houses before coming to U-M's Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter three years ago.

Her fraternity career started in 1982, after she met a house mother who was looking for a replacement in Texas and she decided to give it a try because she likes young people. Members say she offers stability because she's like a grandmother to them. They still have parties, and when they do, Martin said she closes the door and turns her music up to drown out the noise.

She doesn't drink, but says she would consider attending their parties to do a little dancing "if they'd start dancing before midnight."

Susan Contratto lives across the street from the fraternity house. She remembers the bad times, before it reopened with the house mom. She said for about six years, there was loud music, sidewalks that weren't shoveled and parties that spilled into the street. She said they'd call the police for noise violations two to three times a weekend.

"One night, in the middle of the winter, they had a party in a hot tub outside," Contratto said. "There were people running and screaming from the house to the hot tub and then screaming back into the house. "This went on until 4 in the morning."

Today, Contratto is thrilled to say she hasn't had a problem with Alpha Epsilon Pi since it reopened in the fall of 2001.

She attributes a lot of it to Martin.

"As somebody who lives across the street, it is an entirely different place," Contratto said. "She cares a great deal and is committed to the young men in the house.

"She's warm and she's friendly. She goes out of her way to meet the neighbors. I think it makes an amazing difference. It is marvelous to see this chapter turn itself around."

Hollander said Martin's presence makes a difference, but says other fraternities may be reluctant to have a live-in house mother.

"They think it might interrupt the social life," he said. "There is a failure to see the positives. It is really a good thing to have."

Since her arrival, Martin has lived in the fraternity house in a two-room apartment. She manages meals for the 39 fraternity brothers and takes care of some of the day-to-day activities. She inhabits the house during the summer when the students are gone, and she sets up schedules for the cook and cleaning person. For her trouble, she gets free room and board.

She said her most important job is getting fraternity members back into their rooms after they've locked themselves out.

But Martin's value is not found in the mundane activities.

"We left the campus with such negative feelings," said Dunn of the Alpha Epsilon Pi national organization. "June has gone around and introduced herself to the neighbors. We wanted a house mother to add some stability and maturity."

Martin also credits fraternity members with changing its reputation, saying they are responsible neighbors.

When Hollander starts listing the benefits of having "Aunt June" as their house mother, he says stability, a caring face and then he pauses, searching for another example.

Martin leans over.

"Somebody to love you, huh?"