CALIFORNIA BETAS FORMER CHAPTER ROOM

The Chapter room in the former California Beta Chapter house with an unidentified Cal Beta undergraduate posed in the Presidents chair. Photo by Tryon Hubbard Phi Psi National President Tryon Hubbard visited the California Beta Chapter house at Stanford University Nov. 17, 2011, and sent the following report and above photo to the Phi Psi Historian shortly thereafter. One of the boys walked me up the hill behind the present Cal Beta house to the old Phi Psi house, which is now owned by the University and occupied by a co-op housing group. We wandered thru the house, which is not in great shape but must have been grand in the old days, and he took me up to the attic to the chapter room, which seems to have been left much as it was, sans mystic goodies. The shadow of a star on the wall is from something placed in the room recently.

California Beta has occupied this house at 592 Mayfield in Stanford since the fall of 2002.
See page 2 for more information.

Have a photo to share of the old Chapter house Brother Hubbard visited? Able to identify the undergraduate shown in the photo? Please send to phipsi150-owner@yahoogroups.com

The Stanford Review Volume XXVIII, Issue 1 February 14, 2002

Two Fraternities Awarded Row Houses

by Andrew Wright Staff Writer

On January 30, the Greek Housing Review Board decided to award new Row housing to two of Stanford's fraternities. In the fall of 2002, Phi Kappa Psi will move into 592 Mayfield and Sigma Nu will occupy 557 Mayfield in the fall of 2003.
To secure their housing, the fraternities had to submit lengthy proposals to the Review Board. Convinced of the group's commitment to the campus and strength as organizations, the Board granted the requests. When the Review tried to contact both Phi Kappa Psi and Sigma Nu for interviews, only Phi Kappa Psi responded. "We spent several months planning what we would do with a house, examining why we wanted a house, and explaining why we feel we've earned the opportunity to become a housed organization. The brothers put together a very detailed 92page application, with much input from the brothers, advisors and alumni," said Zachary Myers, a member of Phi Psi's Public Relations Committee. "I believe that we were accepted because the University felt that Phi Kappa Psi would add more to the campus and the Greek Community as a housed organization." The brothers believe that the fraternity's history sheds light on their purpose at Stanford. In 1976 the Stanford chapter of Phi Kappa Psi was re-founded (after a lapse of two years) by Carlos Hernandez, Allen Amen, and Mark Reinecke in response to the fact that Carlos was denied bids to join other fraternities on campus due to his ethnicity. From then on, the chemistry of Phi Kappa Psi has been very much about providing a different outlook on fraternity life; being very conscious of embracing diversity, tolerance and respect, of cultivating a gentlemanly, scholarly attitude, and of avoiding the "animal house" fraternity stereotype. Zach Pincus, Phi Psi's Public Relations Committee Chairman explained, "When we saw what Phi Kappa Psi was and what it stood for, our preconceived notions of fraternities were all pretty much blown away. And this is what excites us most about being housed -- the chance to take our sense of what a fraternity can and should be and really run with it, the chance to become a viable alternative for guys who never would have even considered joining a housed fraternity before finding out about Phi Kappa Psi." "I think," Pincus continued, "That we can not only keep the original spirit of the chapter alive in a house, but that a house will allow us to really focus our energies and make a real commitment to making life on the row better for not only the brothers of Phi Kappa Psi, but also for the rest of the Stanford community." Myers did not believe that the housing will change the goals of the fraternity. "Our aim in housing was not to take a new direction, but to expand in the direction that we have always worked towards. Our new facilities will allow us to reach out to the wider campus community in many ways, large and small, that were not previously possible. We will continue to work to bring diverse academic, artistic, social, and service activities to the campus at large in exciting ways that will be made possible by having a central facility." Some students have expressed concern about the general campus' loss (of) the desirable Row houses. Some upperclassmen are afraid of being placed back into their freshmen year dorms because of less housing options. In response to these concerns, the fraternities pointed out that Row housing is all about community contribution. Pincus explained, "Co-ops and theme houses have some level of draw exemptions (through priorities), which we all agree is pretty legitimate because they contribute back to the Row community and provide diversity. I think that Phi Kappa Psi will be able to 'earn its keep' too, by remaining involved and active in the Row." He went to further point out that there are over one thousand beds on the Row, and that his fraternity would occupy only 20 of them. "That really isn't a huge change, and hopefully is something that we will more than make up for with our involvement on the Row." (End)

Source URL: http://stanfordreview.org/old_archives/Archive/Volume_XXVIII/Issue_1/News/news2.shtml

This publication prepared by The Historian of Phi Kappa Psi 2