{"id":6152,"date":"2012-11-30T11:02:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T16:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=6152"},"modified":"2014-01-25T18:10:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-25T23:10:00","slug":"tale-gating-at-homecoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=6152","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTale-gating\u201d at Homecoming"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
A large contingent of Theta Nu Sigma brothers returned to campus for Homecoming Weekend.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Theta Nu Sigma was the first social fraternity founded at the College, so it seems fitting that the group\u2019s tailgate party was one of Homecoming\u2019s more spirited mini-events.<\/p>\n

The architect of the boisterous affair, Ron Thomson \u201972<\/strong>, explained that during the fraternity\u2019s heyday it sponsored a host of social events on campus, and for years boasted a chorus and band known throughout the region. But by the 1970s, Theta Nu had become \u201csort of the antithesis of what every dean or administrator wanted on campus.\u201d Partly because of this, and partly because of a changing social scene, Theta Nu \u201cfaded into the sunset\u201d as an official college fraternity in 1980. \u201cBut we never lost our charter,\u201d Thomson made certain to point out.<\/p>\n

The brothers also never lost touch, and have been getting together ever since. Thomson said the fraternity has close to 200 \u201cactive\u201d alumni, although attendance that day looked in the neighborhood of 80 to 100 brothers. Asked how that compared to previous Homecomings, Thomson said it was higher than usual and credited Mike Grecco \u201964<\/strong> for bringing many 1960s-era \u201cold-timers\u201d back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called everyone I could get in touch with, and told them to call everyone they knew,\u201d Grecco explained. \u201cThere are guys here who haven\u2019t seen each other in decades, but within minutes of us talking it\u2019s like we\u2019re all 20 years old again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sitting nearby was one of those 1960s-era alums, Skip Norcross \u201963<\/strong>, who said he had driven up from his home in Clarksville, VA, the day before to see the 1963 football team be inducted into TCNJ\u2019s Athletic Hall of Fame. That comment caught the ear of passerby Bill Bange \u201963<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on the 1959 football team, you know,\u201d Bange interjected. Asked by this reporter what position he played, Bange replied, \u201cguard,\u201d then quickly added, \u201cit\u2019s an offensive position.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very offensive person back then,\u201d Norcross quipped.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Theta Nu Sigma members Ken White \u201964 (left) and Phil Tumminia \u201964 at Homecoming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was,\u201d Bange laughingly agreed, then sat down beside his old friend. As it turned out the two hadn\u2019t seen each other in years, but lending credence to what Grecco said about time slipping away when Theta Nu brothers are reunited, they were soon reminiscing about a July 1969 road-trip to Ocean City, MD\u2014a trip that didn\u2019t go quite as planned. \u201cThe astronauts made it back from the moon a lot faster than we made it home from Ocean City,\u201d Norcross laughed, referring to the Apollo mission that coincided with his and Bange\u2019s excursion.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the crowd, Bill Lewis \u201976 was reliving the \u201cglory days\u201d of Theta Nu\u2019s flag football team. \u201cWe were the best! Other teams simply stopped showing up to play us,\u201d Lewis proclaimed. Asked to share a favorite memory or two from his college years, Lewis recalled how the brothers used to decorate Allen Circle each Christmas\u2014with decorations \u201cacquired\u201d from around town. (Despite such hijinks, the brothers all went on to enjoy successful careers Lewis was quick to point out.)<\/p>\n

About then a photographer stopped by and attempted to assemble everyone for a group picture\u2014a task akin to herding cats, someone suggested. Luckily Dick Fowler \u201968<\/strong> was there to offer assistance. \u201cIf you have hair, take your hat off! If you don\u2019t, leave your hat on,\u201d Fowler shouted to no one in particular. \u201cIf you still have two good knees, kneel down in front!\u201d<\/p>\n

When as many brothers as could be corralled had been, and the photographer started snapping away, someone launched into the fraternity\u2019s song; within seconds nearly everyone was singing along. Truth be told: it wasn\u2019t a performance likely to rival those given by the Theta Nu choirs of the 1930s through 1950s, but the incident helped illustrate something Thomson had said earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur organization might not have been around on campus for 30 years, but the brotherhood we share is permanent,\u201d Thomson had explained. \u201cYou\u2019ve heard of the \u2018brotherhood of man?\u2019 Well, there\u2019s that and then there\u2019s this: the brotherhood of Theta Nu.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to see photos from Homecoming and Family Weekend.<\/em> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theta Nu Sigma might have disappeared from campus more than 30 years ago, but its members were out in full force at Homecoming this year. Plus, pictures from the weekend’s festivities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,60,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-corner","category-december-2012","category-on-campus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}