our audience?

[Erik P Conard]

Interesting school. Sponsored by the National Polish Alliance.
I was driving to Gannon in the spring of '58 after having picked
up groups at California, Clarion, Slippery Rock...and drove by this
gorgeous, pillared, fraternity house in this small town....the town
was Cambridge Springs, PA and the letters on the house said Tau
Sigma Pi. I was curious, stopped, went to the door, and engaged
in conversation. Learned TSP stood for a polish phrase which was
in English--"The Sons of Poland". Further learned there were two
locals, the "white frat" and the "red frat." The college only had
about 300 students; the local was old and stable. I answered some questions about national outfits and left, not too enthused
about the school due to its size. I did nothing that spring other than pick up Lock Haven, help with Shippensburg, and fail at the
Carnegie Tech, Duquesne, Pitt and Grove City. We later got
on most of these, but picking up the groups I did, in one month,
got Wilson Heller's attention....I went on later working my way back to Kansas, getting Marietta and a couple more...
That next fall, I was in the area and dropped by Tau Sigma Pi. The college was extremely interested in TKE as was the local. I
right then and there called Don Becker, PA poobah to become the
next TKE national pres...and Dick Hall...before I went any further
and got a yes from all. I right then and there affiliated the group,
had TKE from nearby Gannon come down...The other local was
interested in affiliating with a national...at once. I had visited with Ken Whitesitt in St Louis recently, and had a most congenial
reception...Sigma Tau Gamma. Sig Tau was interested in getting
out of the "teachers college" mold, so I called Ken...who tied up
the group on the phone.
Contacted Delta Zeta and eventually another one came on. It was a warm feeling, a nice pastoral setting, and a good chapter.
Unfortunately, the Polish Alliance did not come up with enough
funds to keep the college open. So, all of us went down the tubes...I was crushed, for here was a little ethnic entity, a piece
of the USA, a nice little college...kinda like Eureka...gone from us.
I do not know how the other groups were, but TKE has pleased
with the chapter and so was Sig Tau with theirs.
This was a tear jerker, and 33, you hit a soft spot in my heart.
Alliance...stood for the good...was good...and lost.

[33girl]

Thanks Erik. I love hearing history stories like that.

There's a huge Polish population in Pittsburgh (we have a neighborhood called Polish Hill, plus parts of Bloomfield & the South Side) so I'd bet there are at least a few Alliance alumni around here.

[FirstAndFinest]

My father-in-law is a Tau Sigma Pi from Alliance College (early 1950's). Since he gave us his old paddle, I've been trying to find out more about TSP. He thinks his chapter affiliated with TKE and that perhaps he's a member of TKE. His memory isn't really clear; he is in his last days of fighting cancer. How could I find out if he is a member of TKE? If there is a memorial ceremony (for either organization), is there someone we should notify once he passes, for his name to be included in that service?

[FUTeke]

I'm not familiar with Alliance College, but you should first contact the school, and then the alumni association. They do flash the TKE crest on their website so there's probably a chapter there. You can also look up chapters by state at www.tke.org . Many local fraternities, which is what I assume your father-in-law was in, got absorbed into TKE in the 50s and 60s.

However, if your father was not a member of the local when it became affiliated with TKE, he is not technically a member. You can contact the chapter though and ask them about honorary membership, but if he's near his deathbed, the process is probably too long for him to realistically become a member.

But yeah, contact the alumni at Alliance, it's definitely your best bet.

-Jiffy
Gamma Mu #646
Epiprytanis