Sigma Pi at Rutgers...

[cad]

Ok, again, this is an old thread, but I was a Chi Phi - Squam. It is funny to hear the speculation regarding the fraternity.

The Mad magazine article was indeed the origin of the fraternity. There was no actual team, but the pledges needed to be able to recite the rules of that game from memory (all I remember at this point was the Pritz or ball was made out of untreated Ibex hide stuffed with blue jay feathers). Squamish is also a place in Canada. The frat had an official letter from them.

It was a really fun group of guys, and we did have a good relationship with alumni from both Chi Phi and Squamish. We had the best mixers with Gamma Phi, then ZTA. We had no problems with the other fraternities, and helped organize ROMP (Rutgers Only Major Party). That was a weekend where all fraternities were open to each other.

Read my other post for more history.

[Coach]

The previous posts clear up most of what has been asked. But one egregious (life & death) error was posted. The Theta Chi fatality was a theta chi pledge who fell down the stairs with a full keg at the Theta Chi house. This happened around 1998 while I was living across the street at the Chi Phi - Squam house.

43 Man Squamish was the basis of the social fraternity Rho Sigma Tau or Rutgers Squamish Team, or simply "Squam." This club started in the 1950s on the Bush campus and maintained a fun club for decades. Chi Phi's delta chapter at Rutgers was on campus since 1867 after being founded at Princeton in 1824 if memory serves. Chi Phi was housed in Pinehurst Manor, 95 College Ave, after 1910. In the late 70's some brothers were busted for drugs and the Chi Phi house was in trouble. They merged with Squam, whom the school administration would allow to maintain the on campus house. From then on all chapter pledges learned the traditions of and pledged the Chi Phi national fraternity and local Squam fraternity. Chi Phi was a typical greek letter fraternity aiming for achievement, brotherhood, social activities, and Squam was a more wild and crazy tradition of fun, humor, and toughness, to generalize both in broad strokes.

In 1996 Rutgers began "cleaning up" the Greek system, putting houses that threw parties on probation, banning kegs, intensifying inspections, etc. Most houses that were desired frats also became targets and served various social probations. Chi Phi was among those to get in some minor trouble which just reduced the size of rush and parties and pledge classes. Then in 1999 there was the busting of the Chi Psi house, a rival fraternity, with drug dealers caught and the house closed. The Sigma Alpha Mu house burned down. And a Chi Phi freshman pledge committed suicide jumping off his Busch Campus dorm after some other guy threatened to kill him for sleeping with his girlfriend. This was not a Chi Phi related tragedy except for the kid being a pledge, and being an unpermitted first semester freshman pledge at that. Chi Phi national fraternity revoked the charter and the house, owned by the chapter - not national - lived on without recognition by the University or Chi Phi national. The house changed the letters from Chi Phi to Rho Sigma Tau.

The Sigma Pi - Wrestling team incident was basically as reported. Though, many people don't know there was a full scale brawl between the Squams and the wrestling team that had occurred in 1997. About 10 wrestlers came to the house after a few brothers had messed around with them at a bar. Some brothers trying to passify the situation came to the front door. While one of our guys was talking, he got sucker-punched in the eye by a pretty jacked wrestler. He was knocked out and the 20 on 10 brawl resulted in the brothers beating down some wrestlers with no serious injuries. The next semester one of the wrestling team's best wrestlers pledged Squam and there was peace between the two houses for a few years.

The next time the wrestling team came for a fight, they brought aluminum baseball bats and you can read about the terrible outcome of that in the NY Times and other stories linked in this thread.

Squam was prohibited from campus and the house was occupied by the SDT and/or ZTA sorority(ies) afterwards. Not sure what goes on there today, but those that lived through the Squamish days will remember the bittersweet memories forever.

Long live the Great Pumpkin