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Highlights from 123 Years
of the Iowa Beta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity
Founded in April of 1885 as the
first ATO Chapter west of the Mississippi.
The founding fathers were six Simpson College students.
 ●The
first Beta Alpha initiate was Henry Loft who went on to become a
lawyer in Cherokee, Iowa.
●The first member of Iowa Beta Alpha to attend an ATO Congress was
Bill
Buxton, Jr. who went to Atlanta, Georgia in 1889.
●The first reported ATO Chapter House was on the site of the current
Kappa Kappa Gamma House in 1908.
●Iowa Beta Alpha has initiated 1,405 men since 1885.
● After
opening in 1885, this chapter, along with all other Greek organizations at
Simpson, was closed in the 1890’s because of strong anti-Greek
sentiments
within the Methodist Church in Iowa. Beta Alpha was reopened in 1905
with
23 members from a local fraternity called Alpha Iota Phi.
● ATO has been in at least six other houses prior to this current
house which
we moved into the second semester of 1963.
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Beta Alpha can lay claim to the only Simpson College
alumnus to win a Pulitzer Prize. Frank Luther Mott ’05
won the Pulitzer Prize in literature in 1939 for his book,
The History of the American Magazine, while he was
Dean of the School of Journalism at the University of
Missouri. |
National Fraternity Service and Recognition
●ATO’s at Simpson have
won five “True Merit Bowls” which means that
the
Chapter has been recognized at least five times as being in the top
10% of all
Chapters nationwide. The latest Bowl was received in 2004 at the
Atlanta
Congress.
●One Beta Alpha member has been recognized as the top undergraduate
member of ATO during his time at Simpson. Dr. Steve Van Buren ’91,
now
a surgeon in Marshalltown, received the Thomas Arkle Clark Award in
1993.
● Five members of this Chapter have served on either the ATO High
Council or its modern counterpart, the National Board of Directors.
Jim Spooner is currently serving as National Treasurer.
●Nine ATO’s from Simpson have served as
staff members of ATO, including
Eric Christensen’90
who served as Interim Executive Director of the fraternity from
1996-97.
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Wendell
Tutt |
●Two Beta Alpha members have been
honored with the ATO Worthy Grand Chief Award for their
outstanding volunteer service to the national fraternity. Wendell Tutt ’26 received the first-ever WGC award in 1971
and Bob MacKenzie ’67
received the award in 2003.
Simpson
Service and Recognition
●The Simpson Board of Trustees has had
many many ATO’s as members over the past 120
years. Currently there are six ATO’s on the college’s Board, including the
current Board Chair Steve Weeber ’62, and immediate past Chair,
Bob Downing ’60.
●Twenty-six have received the
Alumni Achievement Award
●Five have received the
Recent Alumni Achievement Award
●Eleven have received the
Alumni Loyalty Award
● Three have received the
Recent Alumni Loyalty Award
● 20% of the S Club
Hall of Fame members are ATO’s
● Three men are listed on
the Names that Live Forever at Simpson – Frank Luther Mott ‘07, Bill Buxton III ‘28
and Jim Weinman '46.
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Bill
Buxton III |
●
Buxton Hall and Bill Buxton Stadium
are named in honor of the Buxton
Family and Bill Buxton
III ‘24.
●Pote Theater in the Blank Performing
Arts Center is named after Harold Pote ‘12.
●The Varsity Locker Room in Hopper Gym
was named in honor of Harold
“Jug” Fawcett ’24.
●The
Weinman Apartments, known as "Weinman House," are named for Jim '46
and Maxine Weinman.
●The Coaches Locker Room in Hopper Gym
is named for Charles “Chick”
McCoy ’24.
●The Weight Room in the Wayne Carse
Fitness Center is named for Jymm
Oplt ’69 and Kathy
Oplt.
● The newly
remodeled Simpson tennis courts were named The Dick & Nancy Buxton
Courts. Dick was a '56 Beta Alpha initiate.
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