1941 - 1950

In 1942, The Sword and Shield became the twice-yearly successor to The Quarterly, PA Theta's alumni newsletter.

On February 22, 1942, initiation into PA Theta included Henry L. Yeagley '44 (Bond #414) and Raymond T. Fortunato '45 (Bond #418).

With the advent of World War II, all fraternity chapter houses at Penn State were turned over to the U. S. Armed Forces to serve as living quarters for soldiers and sailors taking courses relating to the war effort. The PA Theta chapter house was used to house students in the U. S. Navy's V-12 training program.

The V-12 program was a boon to Penn State during the lean war years as well as providing desperately needed officers to the navy. The WWII draft and enlistments reduced enrollments at all colleges as young men were called to service, and by fall 1943, Penn State's regular enrollment consisted of only 1,764 women and 1,150 men.

The empty classroom seats were filled with trainees in several programs for the War Department: the V-12 program for the navy and marines, a flight crew training program for the Army Air Corps, and the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP).

The duration of the programs varied. At their peak in 1943, the programs had an enrollment of 2,600 students, which, together with the regular student population, brought total enrollment to 5,700 students. Even though all Penn State fraternities had been appropriated for military usage, the resulting housing shortage necessitated curtailment of freshmen admissions, forcing new students to enroll for at least one year at many of Pennsylvania's state teacher's colleges.

Occupancy by the V-12 program provided one substantial benefit to the PA Theta chapter house; in compliance with its own housing regulations, the United States government constructed the steel exterior fire escape between the two rear wings, a significant feature from both a safety and monetary viewpoint.

In addition to the military trainees, Penn State had contracts with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Hamilton-Standard Propeller Division of the United Aircraft Corporation, Consolidated-Vultee Corporation, and the Glenn L. Martin Company to train women in fundamental engineering skills.

Phi Delta Theta continued to be well represented on campus in the 1940s. Charles Mattern. '42 (Bond #391) was president of Skull and Bones senior honor society, John "Jack" Banbury '44 (Bond #423) was the starting halfback on the football team, and Charles Ridenour '43 (Bond #401) was a leader on Penn State's wrestling team in addition to being named intercollegiate champion.

The original tradition of Bowery Ball started as a Gay 90s costume party.

Following the end of WWII, the return of many older-and-wiser ex-GIs to Penn State introduced alcohol for the first time to PA Theta social functions. The basement "party room" was remodeled with knotty-pine walls, tile flooring, and a finished ceiling with recessed lighting fixtures. The room became known as The Memorial Room after a brass plaque was installed over the corner fireplace with the following inscription:
F?T
In memory of our brothers who gave their lives

This was followed by a listing of casualties of both World Wars from PA Theta;
In addition to PA Theta's brothers who died serving during WWI (see 1911-1920), the chapter's WWII casualties were George H. Wolford '32 (Bond #266), Henry Cartin '38 (Bond #357), Harold E. Fry '40 (Bond #374), Alpheus Clark '41 (Bond #385), and H. Edward Wagner, Jr. '41 (Bond #375). The closing phrase on the plaque – In coelo quies est, meaning "In Heaven there is Rest" – was an epitaph first used in the memoirs of Phi Delta Theta founder John McMillan Wilson.

In the first post-war initiation ceremony, the chapter welcomed four new brothers on October 27, 1946. As reported in the fall issue of The Sword and Shield, it was probably the first PA Theta initiation where all the new brothers were over 20 years old. This was because they were all World War II veterans returning to school.

In a special ceremony on November 16, 1946, Ernst Harboe was initiated (Bond #495) as the first non-USA-born and first non-USA-citizen member of PA Theta. Ernst had been in the United States on a pleasure trip in 1939 when WWII broke out, and he was forced to return to his native Denmark to join the Royal Guards under King Christian the 10th. Ernst, a master of five languages, served with the Danish armed forces until the Germans overran Denmark and then joined the underground resistance forces.

According to British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, the Danish Underground was the most efficient in the world, and – as Ernst himself described it – was capable of blowing up "railroad tracks almost as soon as the Germans could repair them." Ernst served in three different resistance groups – each assigned with different tasks – for more than five years before the war ended in 1945.

Effective for the fall of 1947, IFC passed a Code of Conduct prohibiting female guests from entering any rooms above the first floor of all chapter houses. It also banned consumption of any alcoholic beverages at any time females were present. Regardless of IFC's original intent, it did not enforce the code, and, in September, Dean Pearl O. Weston – the new Dean of Women – proclaimed that sophomore coeds, in addition to all freshmen, were banned from any fraternity house at any time. She also threatened the same policy for juniors and seniors if fraternities failed to follow the new IFC code.

Even Dean Warnock agreed that fraternities needed better controls, stating "I can't see that the fraternities have anybody but themselves to blame for this action." However, IFC convincingly appealed to both deans and in October, four weeks after its imposition, they consented to repeal the ban based on their opinions that the lesson had been learned. Following that, periodic visits by agents of the two deans were made to assure reasonable compliance of the code by fraternities.

Unintentionally confirming the validity of Dean Weston's and Dean Warnock's opinions of fraternities, a more severe form of pledge training was instituted by the ex-GI brothers, including more demanding and onerous duties and weekly – or even more frequent – lineups where Phikeias were grilled on fraternity facts and the full names of all brothers, sometimes in front of a roaring fire in the living room. Near the end of their year-long pledge period, the Phikeias fearfully awaited the arrival of "the Eagle" and the start of Hell Week. Some ex-GI Phikeias said it had some aspects similar to basic training in the Army.
• A relatively innocuous feature of Hell Week was the requirement for each Phikeia to carry an onion with him at all times and take a large bite of it whenever he saw a brother between classes on campus. Since Vidalia onions had not yet made their appearance in State College, Phikeias developed a way to fake a bite of the onion and mimic a chewing action. Most observations of brothers were at a distance, so this ruse worked a large majority of occasions.
• The open stairwell made a perfect venue for the "egg drop trick," a two-story drop of raw egg to supine pledges with open mouths on the first floor.
• Toward the end of Hell Week, Phikeias were given after-dark scavenger hunt assignments and told not to come back without the designated items.
• Additional Hell Week harassment of a Phikeia could be in the form of a totally absurd assignment, such as being instructed to walk across campus late at night to the Sheep Barn at Shortlidge Road and Park Avenue, sneak into the fenced yard, collect a basket full of sheep feces – dried, of course – and make a necklace out of them using a length of string and a paper clip as a needle.

However, in stark contrast to the foolishness and absurdity of Hell Week antics, social graces were plainly evident at PA Theta. Brothers and pledges politely waited outside the dining room draperies until the "2nd bell" chimes were rung. Table manners were taught to new Phikeias, seniors sat at the head of each dining table to strictly control the tone of conversations and general atmosphere by levying fines at their sole discretion. Formal dances – Miami Triad and Christmas – were big events. Phikeias were required to carry matches at all times and promptly offer to light an observed cigarette of either a brother or his date. Saturday afternoon Dixieland jam sessions were frequently as popular as the evening parties.

Phi Delt faculty deans included Edward Steidle, Pa Theta '11 (School of Mineral Industries) and Carl. P. Schott (School of Physical Education and Recreation).

On December 26, 1948, the Phi Delta Theta General Fraternity celebrated the centennial anniversary of its founding at Miami University in Oxford OH. Now an international fraternity, it had grown to 110 chapters and had distinguished itself as one of the strongest within the fraternity system. Phi Delta Theta was first in many areas, including being the first to establish a fraternity magazine as early as 1874.

Phis were abundantly represented throughout society including those holding state representative and senatorial positions, cabinet posts, and governorships. Benjamin Harrison, the 19th member to sign the Bond of Phi Delta Theta at Miami University and an early and active leader in the fraternity, had become the 23rd president of the United States, and Adlai E. Stevenson, Sr. (KY Alpha, 1860) served as President Grover Cleveland's vice president from 1893 to 1897.

In December 1949, PA Theta won the Interfraternity Council's Outstanding Fraternity Award. The award was based on extracurricular activity, scholarship, scholarship improvement, and athletics. IFC issues of the day were housemothers for all fraternity houses, pledge hazing, and wet bars in the fraternity houses.

The influx of World War II ex-GIs had diminished by 1949 and, following the completion of McElwain and Simmons dorms, freshmen women were again permitted to matriculate on the Penn State campus. This was followed in the fall of 1950 with the admission of male freshman students, many of whom moved into newly constructed men's dorms – Thompson, McKee, and Hamilton – in the West Halls complex.

First string Penn State football players were quarterback Vincent O'Bara '51 (Bond #524), and offensive linemen Arthur Betts '52 (Bond #546), and Edward Hoover '52 (Bond #547). Sophomore Phikeia William Leonard '53 (Bond #557) scored the winning touchdown in the 1950 Pitt game.

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