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FRAT FUN PART 4 THE BROTHERS OF MU LAMBDA CHAPTER Another group of brothers with whom I have had the privilege to associate, are the brothers of Omicron Eta Lambda. They are a special group of brothers who by virtue of the smaller size of the chapter are a very cohesive and unified group, or it is that way more often than not. Chapter meetings with these august brothers have been events all their own. In the early years of the chapter circa 1990, the chapter met on the campus of Howard University’s main campus in the school of Human Ecology building. The meeting room was a small auditorium that swept downwards via precipitous steps from the entrance to the stage. If you ran through the entrance unwittingly, you might easily plunge downwards into a steep decline of steps which might be hazardous to your health. A small platform at the entrance was where the brothers would locate the repast, so as you entered the room, the repast was the first thing that was evident. Two or more brothers every month provided the repast. Resplendent on the table were always several bottles of liquor ranging from Cold Duck and Boones Farm wine to more eclectic tastes, strategically located beyond the food. It was not beyond the realm of possibility to see Mad dog 2020 or Thunderbird on occasion. These brothers were, for the most part, still on an upward career ascent and their tastes did not rival Mu Lambda’s at this time. The brothers always arrived an hour before the meeting and congregated in the area of the repast. Often times the food would arrive late but since most brothers brought the liquor, it was always early and in abundance. There was much quaffing of oaken distillates and fruit of the vine prior to the call to order than was prudent, thus most often, many of the brothers would be in various stages of inebriation which sometimes lasted throughout the entire meeting! Imagine their descent down the stairs to their seats in this condition. The call to order was literally that, the quieting of a near riotous group by a President who was a teetotaler. Parliamentary procedures a la Roberts Rules or those invented were often invoked, obtuse and unrelated arguments were the order of the day and frequent hilarious outbursts were common. The odd overheated communication between two brothers both several
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ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INC
MU LAMBDA CHAPTER
sheets into the wind had to be occasionally mediated much to the delight of all! The beleaguered President then mandated that no alcohol be served at chapter meetings which resulted in such opprobrium and vituperation directed at him that he had to relent. He then ordered that the repast be served at the end of the meeting to attenuate the alcoholic distraction. This resulted in the shortest meetings in creation, ever held by any chapter in any fraternity! Somehow they got business done and quickly moved to destroy several quarts of alcohol as well as consume immeasurable quantities of the African diasporic highly revered gallus gallus domesticus, to the extent that Church’s Chicken almost had to close its doors! Greater brotherhood has never prevailed anywhere! Fortunately for me, Mu Lambda meetings were on the first Thursday of the month, and OHL’s were the third Friday, so I had time to recuperate from both! Around this time, I chose to purchase a seven seater Plymouth voyager van which quickly became the mode of transportation to regional conventions for the brothers of OHL. Always present were Brothers Norris Carey who insisted on riding beside me in the captain’s passenger seat. As a result he was dubbed, “The seeing eye dog!” Most often the other seats were occupied by Brothers Frank Porter, Ray Spears, Gregory Taylor, Sam Wilson. If one or two of those brothers were not attending the convention, others brothers like Bob Warren or Scott Dantley and on occasion Brother Zollie Stevenson would join us. No one wanted Brother Carey to pour them a drink, because it would be either a full eight ounce cup of straight liquor or 99% alcohol and 1% chaser. As driver this often presented a severe challenge and I would often not even complete one drink in a three hour trip! On one particularly memorable drive to a regional convention in Newport News, they drove their cars to my home in Springfield, Virginia and we all boarded the van. Before leaving, drinks were poured all around. Within five minutes of departure, Brother Wilson had left us for nirvana and slept thereafter, all the way to Newport News. Much heated fraternal discussion was a common component and after about an hour Brother Spears complained that his drink was disappearing very rapidly and he could not tell why. On close inspection, it was discovered that the bottom of his paper cup had become perforated and that whenever he poured a drink, most of it ended in his lap! After replacement of the cup and his feeble attempt to desiccate his genitalia, important discussions continued! Continued on the next page
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