1921 - 1930

By the early part of the 1920s, 47 fraternities had been chartered and recognized by Penn State, and almost half of all male students were Greeks, including the vast majority of campus leaders.

Throughout the roaring twenties, laws pertaining to the prohibition of selling and consumption of alcohol were enacted into law, and the PA Theta Phi Delts responded to this with closed parties in the coal room [part of the present-day basement "Memorial Room"]. There, the brothers would congregate and reminisce while consuming home made alcohol.

It was during this time that Dean of Men A. R. Warnock was concerned about the attitude exhibited by many fraternities and wrote, "their scholarship is not so good, their chapter management is not so good, and their attitude toward serious things has been characterized too greatly by indifference." He felt that many Greeks were "of the type that has no sustained interest in the better things of college life" and were having an adverse effect on brothers who took their studies more seriously.

In support of Dean Warnock's opinion of Greek fraternities, there was ample evidence of misconduct during house-party weekends, a decades-old custom of "importing" home-town girl friends in lieu of sufficient numbers of Penn State female students to date. Incidents with varying degrees of drunkenness, rowdiness, and sexual indiscretions were sufficiently frequent enough to introduce greater controls by the Interfraternity Council (IFC). Also during this same time, the Penn State board of trustees, in an effort to diminish its perception that male students were"girl crazy" – Dean Warnock's words – all undergraduates were prohibited from having automobiles, except in certain situations.

On February 28, 1925, Ralph D. "Cub" Huston was initiated (Bond #226).

In 1926, John Laird Holmes and "Frenchy" Foster donated land to the Borough of State College for the creation of Holmes-Foster Park, the town's first public park and playground.

In 1926, fraternity representation at Penn State had increased to 52 national organizations, the second largest number of Greeks after University of Illinois.

In 1928, the middle of PA Theta's front veranda was removed, and a two-story portico with stately and distinctive Corinthian columns was added. The design gave the house a more dramatic and majestic appearance, even though it clashed somewhat with the remaining portions of the original veranda, which was really nothing more than a wooden porch.

The wall separating the chapter room and the adjacent storage room in the basement was removed to create a larger chapter room, necessary because of the increased membership of PA Theta.
[Note: Unfortunately for the integrity of the structure, the removed wall had been a load-bearing support. Thus, over the next 70 or so years, the structure over that area gradually sagged, eventually creating some very noticeable out-of-level floors and ceilings from the first-floor to the third-floor.]

The large living room fireplace was renovated, and a brass plaque with the following inscription was placed over the mantle.
F?T
Founded at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
December 26, 1848
By Robert Morrison, John McMillan WIlson, Robert Thompson Drake, John Wolfe Lindley, Andrew Watts Rogers, Ardivan Walker Rogers
To you we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high
Pennsylvania Theta Chapter installed at Pennsylvania State College May 10, 1904
EiV avnp oudeiV avnp
We enjoy life by the help and society of others
The true member of Phi Delta Theta
exemplifies the Bond
In friendship sincere; as a brother devoted; in honor aspiring to the noblest culture; with conduct unblemished; revering God.
All for one, one for all.

The $5,000 mortgage from 1906 was satisfied on May 23, 1929. On June 15, 1929, a $10,000 [$108,000 in 2004 dollars] mortgage was acquired, and $19,000 [$206,000 in 2004 dollars] worth of bonds – to be retired over the next 20 years – were sold to PA Theta alumni.

In 1929, Beta Theta Pi relinquished its property on campus in exchange for Penn State's Fraternity Lots #1 and #2, directly across Burrowes Road from its 1894 chapter house. Lot #2 was reduced by 42 feet of frontage at its northern end, adjacent to PA Theta's property (Lot #3), that section of land being retained by Penn State for passage to its buildings west of the Beta and Phi Delt houses.

At a general construction cost (not including mechanical systems) of $125,000 [$1,340,000 in 2004 dollars], Beta Theta Pi's third chapter house at Penn State was then built with classic English manor styling, including lead-glazed windows, and continues to this day to be one of the finest examples of fraternity architecture in the United States.

The School of Mines and Metallurgy, had languished since its establishment in 1907, and Robert Sackett, Dean of the School of Engineering, wanted to dissolve the school, dividing its curricula between the engineering and chemistry-physics schools. President Ralph Dorn Hetzel rejected that suggestion and appointed Edward Steidle, PA Theta '11 (Bond #46), as its new dean. Dean Steidle came from Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he had reorganized the mining engineering curriculum, created research programs, and encouraged mining education support by private mining industries. Eventually, Dean Steidle's reinvigoration of the school led to studies beyond that of mining, including obtaining important grants for research in the fields of petroleum and natural gas. His efforts ultimately induced the Pennsylvania General Assembly to permit the Pennsylvania Secretary of Mines to serve as an ex officio Penn State trustee.
PA Theta alumni corporation officers were President John C. Cosgrove '07 (Bond #13), Vice President Al R. Knoch '30 (Bond #252), Secretary Archibald M. Holmes '30 (Bond #249), Treasurer D. M. Bulloch , and Director Donald M. Cresswell '18 (Bond #116).

Brother Carl S. Forkum (PA Gamma, Washington & Jefferson), who was instrumental in the founding of PA Theta, made several visits to the chapter during Freshman Week, accompanied by his daughter, Adelle, who was registering for the class of '33.

On May 24, 1929, a testimonial dinner was held at the chapter house to honor "Irving L. "Frenchy" Foster or, as recounted in the next issue of The Quarterly, "the Grand Old Man of Penn'a Theta. The Quarterly reported that he had taken ill "following an attack brought about by kidney trouble" shortly before that and was unable to attend the dinner.

In appreciation of his untiring service and commemorating Frenchy's 25 years as PA Theta's faithful and only chapter advisor since its founding, the chapter had prepared a silver trophy cup with the following inscription:
Bro Irving L. Foster
from Penna. T of F?T
in appreciation of
25 years of faithful service
as councellor and advisor
May 24, 1904 to May 24, 1929."

Frenchy was thought to be improving but, tragically for PA Theta, Penn State, and the State College community, the end came suddenly and Frenchy passed away on June 1, 1929, only eight days after the dinner held to honor him.

Following Frenchy's death, the July 1929 issue of the Penn State Alumni News said of him, "One of the oldest members of the faculty in point of service, Dr. Foster had been ill little more than a week. His service to the College extended over a period of 34 years. While serious, his illness was not thought to be critical, and death quickly followed his collapse following exertion. Burial was at Pine Hall [a village one mile west of State College]. Known familiarly to all his former students and associates as 'Frenchy,' Dr. Foster through his years of service was held in high regard throughout the entire College community. His activities extended far beyond the classroom, especially in the field of religion. His church and 'Y' work have had a most wholesome effect upon the community."

The silver trophy cup was presented to Frenchy's widow, but during the summer of 1929 – and as related in the next issue of PA Theta's newsletter, The Quarterly – "Mrs. Foster graciously returned the cup to the chapter and it now occupies the place of honor on the living room mantel, beneath a picture of 'The Father of Penn'a Theta.' "

In 1929, Old Main was determined to be unfit for continued use. It was demolished and its replacement – finished in 1930 – was designed to use the original stone. This was as part of a four-year building program, begun in 1928, that included (in order of construction) Service Building, Recreation Building [Rec Hall], Infirmary, Main Engineering, Grange Dormitory, addition to Pond Laboratories, the new Old Main, Mineral Industries, Power Plant, Botany, Frear [now Jordan] Dorm, North Liberal Arts, Nittany Lion Inn, Dairy and Creamery, and Home Economics at a cost of $5.5 million [$60 million in 2004 dollars].

The football game with Lafayette College, on October 26, 1929, was the prime event for Penn State's 10th Annual Homecoming weekend and, according to The Quarterly, chances for winning the game were regarded to be "most excellent." The newsletter also encouraged returning alumni to visit the many new buildings; Recreation Hall, Infirmary, new dorms, Engineering, Chemistry, Botany, Liberal Arts, and Mineral Industries buildings. Additionally, it commented that "everyone will want to see Old Main — or where Old Main formerly stood, for it is down to an open excavation now while contractors are busy pouring new foundations for the reconstruction."

Pat B. ("Young Windy") Cosgrove, son of charter member John C. ("Windy") Cosgrove, Sr., was initiated into PA Theta on November 25, 1929 (Bond #280).

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