Post by T J Gordon on May 13, 2011 12:36:05 GMT -5
www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2011/03/decades_after_rejection_74yearold_joins_zeta_beta_tau
A reminder that honorary memberships can be beneficial to fraternities also.
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Around the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house, he is known as “The Tortoise.”
It may have taken a while, but William Tow eventually finished the race.
Tow, 74, of Carrboro, was recently named assistant chapter adviser to the University’s chapter of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity — and he says he was born and raised to be a member.
After more than a 40-year wait, he finally became one.
Tow was denied entry into ZBT at the University of Missouri as a graduate student in 1963, an outcome that surprised him.
He said he thinks he was rejected because he was older than the rest of the members, the brothers thought he was “a northern Yankee” or because they were “just snobs.”
“They just ignored me,” Tow said.
In 2010, 48 years after his rejection, Tow decided on a whim to write to the fraternity’s national headquarters to ask if ZBT took honorary memberships.
On Feb. 14, 2010, after he submitted a resumé to the national office, Tow received a notice that he had been accepted as an honorary member. He was presented with a certificate and membership identification card.
What came next, however, Tow did not expect.
Members of the ZBT chapter at UNC called him — and wanted to meet him.
When Tow arrived at the fraternity house, a member told him that he had to go downstairs.
“(One of the members) was dressed in a ritual robe and knocked on the door, but when they started the ritual I didn’t know what it was,” Tow said.
“I go in the room and we went through a ritual and I said ‘Holy cow, I’ve just been initiated into the fraternity!’”
He said he assumes he is the fraternity’s oldest initiate.
Michael Black, president of the chapter, said Tow is always excited and happy to interact with the members, who appreciate listening to his good ideas.
“He has always told us that going through initiation was one of the highest honors in his life, only second to being married to his wife,” Black said.
Tow said he has had a lifelong connection to ZBT and its ideals through his father, who had a set of character traits he worked to pass on to his son.
“While I was reading the books about the fraternity I realized that all my life my father had practiced and taught me every precept of what it meant to be a member of ZBT,” Tow said.
“He did a very good job of impressing in me the importance of brotherhood in a fraternity.”
The fraternity appointed Tow to assistant chapter adviser on Feb. 14, the one-year anniversary of his membership.
He is responsible for jobs that ensure the safety and success of the UNC chapter, he said.
He meets with board members, chapter officers and members to make sure they meet national standards and maintains parental and alumni relations, he said.
He also makes sure all national and house bills are paid and serves as an adviser to the brothers.
“It isn’t a party organization,” Tow said.
“It is a place where you meet people who will be your friends for life.”
Wes Wollard, vice president of the fraternity, said Tow serves as an inspiration and a reminder of what an honor it is to be a member.
“It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day life of college and he embodies and reminds us of what it is to be a brother,” Wollard said.
Tow said that he does not feel the age difference keeps him from connecting with the younger brothers at UNC.
“They don’t look at me as an abuelo, which I could be for many of them,” he said.
“We listen to each other and I have a very good relationship with these guys.”
Tow said he attributes his youthfulness to advice he received from his father.
“If you think positively and hang around with young people, you will not grow old,” Tow said.
A reminder that honorary memberships can be beneficial to fraternities also.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Around the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house, he is known as “The Tortoise.”
It may have taken a while, but William Tow eventually finished the race.
Tow, 74, of Carrboro, was recently named assistant chapter adviser to the University’s chapter of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity — and he says he was born and raised to be a member.
After more than a 40-year wait, he finally became one.
Tow was denied entry into ZBT at the University of Missouri as a graduate student in 1963, an outcome that surprised him.
He said he thinks he was rejected because he was older than the rest of the members, the brothers thought he was “a northern Yankee” or because they were “just snobs.”
“They just ignored me,” Tow said.
In 2010, 48 years after his rejection, Tow decided on a whim to write to the fraternity’s national headquarters to ask if ZBT took honorary memberships.
On Feb. 14, 2010, after he submitted a resumé to the national office, Tow received a notice that he had been accepted as an honorary member. He was presented with a certificate and membership identification card.
What came next, however, Tow did not expect.
Members of the ZBT chapter at UNC called him — and wanted to meet him.
When Tow arrived at the fraternity house, a member told him that he had to go downstairs.
“(One of the members) was dressed in a ritual robe and knocked on the door, but when they started the ritual I didn’t know what it was,” Tow said.
“I go in the room and we went through a ritual and I said ‘Holy cow, I’ve just been initiated into the fraternity!’”
He said he assumes he is the fraternity’s oldest initiate.
Michael Black, president of the chapter, said Tow is always excited and happy to interact with the members, who appreciate listening to his good ideas.
“He has always told us that going through initiation was one of the highest honors in his life, only second to being married to his wife,” Black said.
Tow said he has had a lifelong connection to ZBT and its ideals through his father, who had a set of character traits he worked to pass on to his son.
“While I was reading the books about the fraternity I realized that all my life my father had practiced and taught me every precept of what it meant to be a member of ZBT,” Tow said.
“He did a very good job of impressing in me the importance of brotherhood in a fraternity.”
The fraternity appointed Tow to assistant chapter adviser on Feb. 14, the one-year anniversary of his membership.
He is responsible for jobs that ensure the safety and success of the UNC chapter, he said.
He meets with board members, chapter officers and members to make sure they meet national standards and maintains parental and alumni relations, he said.
He also makes sure all national and house bills are paid and serves as an adviser to the brothers.
“It isn’t a party organization,” Tow said.
“It is a place where you meet people who will be your friends for life.”
Wes Wollard, vice president of the fraternity, said Tow serves as an inspiration and a reminder of what an honor it is to be a member.
“It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day life of college and he embodies and reminds us of what it is to be a brother,” Wollard said.
Tow said that he does not feel the age difference keeps him from connecting with the younger brothers at UNC.
“They don’t look at me as an abuelo, which I could be for many of them,” he said.
“We listen to each other and I have a very good relationship with these guys.”
Tow said he attributes his youthfulness to advice he received from his father.
“If you think positively and hang around with young people, you will not grow old,” Tow said.
