There has been lots of press coverage of the fraternity hazing issue and calls for abolishing the Greek system at Dartmouth. I for one cherish my days as a member of Tau Epsilon Phi (TEP) and never experienced any vile hazing of the sort reported. I was very active in my house, learned much of great benefit in later life and made many close and lasting friendships. I therefore dedicate this column as a tribute to my fraternity (now defunct on the Dartmouth campus) and to my TEP fraternity brothers. To those whom I see often and with much pleasure: Harold Gordon and his wife, Joan; Alan Friedman and Diane; and Elliott Weinstein and Alice. I must now interrupt this tribute as I see the jazz band approaching. Marching behind the band this time are newly departed classmates Robert A. Krissel and W. Mott Hupfel Jr. Among our many other departed classmates I take special note of TEP brothers who have passed on, in remembrance of Hank Bloom, Al Levenson, Steve Pearlman, Howie Newman and Roger Tolins. Other fraternity brothers still with us—whom I see less frequently, only on special occasions such as reunions—Dick Margolese and Bob Grossman come to mind. The writing of this column has led to recent contacts with fraternity brothers in other classes besides 1956, and this includes Gene Matusow and Mike Sherb, both ’57s. I look forward to other contacts like this in the future. There are many good friends in the class of 1956 who were not in TEP, and since I am out of room I will have to work them into a future column. Lastly, most importantly, I first met my wife at TEP and close with a stanza from a 1996 poem titled “Ode to Marsha.”


“In a crowd at Tau Epsilon Phi,


The girl of my dreams caught my eye;


Her eyes of pale blue,


With hair auburn hue,


Compelling but modestly shy.”


—Joel D. Ash, P.O. Box 1733, Grantham, NH 03753; (603) 863-3360; joel@poeticlimericks.com