Sigma Alpha Lambda fraternity

Villa Madonna College had its roots in the post-secondary education of young women to be elementary school teachers by the Benedictines of St Walburg convent in the diocese of Covington.

Later it admitted all women.

After WWII and the GI bill, it admitted men.

As group of those men formed a men's club and called it a fraternity.

I pledged in my sophomore year, not my freshman year.

It had a "house".  The original one was facing Madison on the east side, part of the group of buildings at 11^th.  The back of the building faced Latin School across the Cathedral parking lot.

There were a group of buildings at that corner on Madison.  At some point, the one on the end was condemned and torn down.  But it had been holding up the one next to it.  So one by one all the buildings came down.

The next one was above a medical office on 10^th or 11^th west of Madison but before the railroad tracks. I think it lasted one year. My senior year, it was the second floor of a building on Madison above 12^th street on the east side.

The first floor of that building was a small church of the evangelical variety.  I don't remember if it was ever done, but a one time there was a casual proposal to screw a speaker to the floor of a closet and attach an amp and a mike.  The goal was to "talk" to the assembly below as "God".

I was part of the crew that emptied that building.  It was Memorial Day.  For some reason there was no new building and the detritus left over could not be just left for the garbage people as is done today.  A pickup truck was loaded.  One of the brothers from Campbell county (tall, heavy set, can't remember his name) said he knew we could use one of the dumps over there.

But when we arrived at the dump, it was closed.  The fence was low but for some reason the stuff was not just tossed over the fence.  Instead he had a new idea.  We went to a one lane road with woods and no buildings on either side.  We heaved the stuff over the side.

Of course this road was a short cut used by police to get back to the station.  We were arrested and had our day in court.

I cannot hear the song "Alice's Restaurant" without having a flashback about this event.

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I don't know when the fraternity ended but it exists no more.

Requiescat in pace

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See also:   .College Road Trips.