Q: Why did you join Phi Sigma Kappa?
A: I was independent for two and a half years and in the fraternity for two and a half years. You can be so independent and then you say, 'Let's try the other way'. Socially, one semester in the fraternity was worth a full year or more as an independent. I enjoyed life as a Phi Sigma Kappa.
Sorority Girls Dancing Inside the Pyramid and Other Fond Memories
[Editor's Note: During an interview with Tom Morgan '54, he mentioned his friendship with Leo Johnson '58. We contacted Leo and wound up taking another great trip down memory lane.
Leo recounted the now-legendary tale of when Harry Carroll "floored Roosevelt Greer."
"They had these intramural boxing matches," Leo said. "I wasn't there at the time. Tom and Harry were buddies in this thing. When they found out that Harry would be fighting Roosevelt Greer -- one of the big tackles of all time at Penn State -- Tom asked Harry, 'Are you afraid of boxing Rosie?' and he said, 'Yeah, but I'll fight him anyway.' In short order Harry gave him a chop along the side of the jaw and floored him. The fight continued, but had to be stopped because Harry had twisted his ankle. Harry became famous for that. Not many people were able to knock down Roosevelt Greer."]
Here's brief Q&A interview with Leo Johnson.
Q: Why did you join Phi Sigma Kappa?
A: I was independent for two and a half years and in the fraternity for two and a half years. You can be so independent and then you say, 'Let's try the other way'. Socially, one semester in the fraternity was worth a full year or more as an independent. I enjoyed life as a Phi Sigma Kappa.
Q: Did you stay in touch with the chapter over the years?
A: I walked out in '58 and didn't go back -- which isn't to say I didn't enjoy myself. I did. But in the past year or so, I have been back a lot. Dick Doherty '58 called me about a year and a half ago about the physical condition of the house, which I have done a thorough examination of.
It brought back fond memories. And in talking with some of the actives, I must say they were gentlemen and cordial. They came up to me and introduced themselves. It was pleasant talking with them. They have top-quality students at the Phi Sig house now, as they have over the years, even when I was there.
Q: Do you have any favorite memories of your time in the house?
A: You remember the fun things. You don't remember studying all the damn time. I was in architectural engineering and there was one semester we had 42 hours of classes. I probably spent most of my waking hours up at Sackett and the rest of the time was sleeping and taking enough time to eat and socialize a little bit. But I still made time for partying every once in a while.
One of the fond memories was the spring carnival. They had a set-up of a bunch of tents and so forth, across Atherton from Rec Hall, out on the golf course. And what I did was make, out of 1"-by-3" pieces of wood, a real high pyramid and wrapped it in white bed linens. On top of it, Bob Bingaman '57 had carved out a rigid paper profile of a woman who was very healthy. As I recall the idea was to see how many people we could attract to come in to see the show. Out of all the fraternities we sold the second highest number of tickets.
Q: What was inside the pyramid?
A: The sorority girls -- we did this together with a sorority. Bob Bingaman told them just to get out and do something – move. They were supposed to dance a little bit, put on a bit of a show which I think they did.
Q: After being away from the house for several decades, what did you notice when you came back?
A: The biggest difference...the computer we had was called a slide rule. Today's computers...I'm getting a two gigahertz computer which I just ordered this past week. That will do what it would have taken 10,000 slide rules to do in '58.
Q: What else did you notice coming back?
A: Another pleasant thing was at Founders' Day...all of the guys from my class of '58 came back for it. Harry Jones, Dick Doherty, Cliff Merchant , Bob Koehler and myself. That proves out the hale and heartiness of the guys in my class. That was a lot of fun to see the old buddies and swap some war stories. After 10 or 10:30 p.m. most of the alums retreated back to their hotels or wherever they were staying, and the undergrads went to their party. When we were actives we certainly didn't go to bed at 10:30, but we started partying a little earlier than that.
Another thing that was very pleasant at the Founders' Day... A lot of actives came up and introduced themselves to me, as did other alums. It was a gentlemanly thing for these guys to do. It's important when the alums come around that [the undergraduates] are good hosts and make them feel welcome, which they did.
Q: Do you think you'll all come back for a Homecoming reunion?
A: I don't know. People are pretty busy and you have to play these things by ear. That's possible.
Q: What would you say to an alumnus who's been away a long time?
A: I recommend they make a return trip. It's sort of gratifies the ego in a sense, and it conjures up fond recollections. I would have to say the five guys who were back for Founders Day in my class certainly enjoyed themselves. They must have had a fine experience because we were the only class with a full contingent, and over the years they have participated in Phi Sigma Kappa interests.
Q: You're still a working architect, not even semi-retired?
A: I sort of tried retirement for a while, but I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything and kind of got bored. A lot of times guys retire and they can't quite find that interest factor to replace the drive they had when they were working. People shouldn't retire and turn into vegetables and alcoholics. All our lives we've been push, push, push, pushin'. You feel needed because projects and people depend on you. When you stop feeling needed, what do you do with yourself? That's just an observation. I'm no authority on the aging process. When I was 25 it was a very good year and I stayed at 25.
