Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Trophy taken during prank returned to Oregon State U. frat 50-plus years later
By Katy Weaver
OSU Daily Barometer Oregon State U.
May 22, 2008

It was a little bit dusty and had lost a some of its shine, but it surprised everyone nonetheless.

It was a Tau Kappa Epsilon trophy from 1957.

Wednesday afternoon, two gentlemen from Forest Grove found their way into The Daily Barometer office carrying a large golden trophy with an even larger explanation to follow.

It started when William H. "Bill" Beckett, 77, was attending the University of Oregon majoring in business and journalism in 1957. He was in the process of pledging to Phi Kappa Alpha, although admitted he didn't end up joining the fraternity after all.

"A bunch of young guys from the fraternity wanted to come [to OSU] to steal a trophy as a prank, and no one had a car so I drove them over," Beckett said.

"When we got there, they didn't want to go inside, so I ran in and grabbed a trophy."

However, after stealing the trophy, which at the time was a rotating intramural sports trophy between Tau Kappa Epsilon and two other fraternities on campus, none of the guys involved wanted to keep it.

"They were all afraid to keep it, and I had an apartment, so we put it there," Beckett said. "Later it ended up in the attic of my house."

Beckett found the trophy in his attic a few years ago and has wanted to bring it back for awhile now.

"Guilt got to me - I didn't want it!" Beckett said. "I thought it should be returned."

Paul Scandlyn, Beckett's longtime friend who accompanied him in their trip back to OSU, jokingly told Beckett that if he returned the trophy to the house himself, he'd probably "get beat up."

With the assistance of two Barometer staff members however, no one was harmed - they were just pleasantly surprised. Austin Russell, vice president of Tau Kappa Epsilon and junior in graphic design, answered the door.

"This is awesome!" Russel repeated over and over. It appeared that words could not really describe his surprise.

"At that time, my parents were only like four years old!" he said.

Other members of the house said they were glad they had something interesting they could put in their alumni newsletter.

"I'm sure someone will remember it," said Scott Franklin, a junior in German and education.

"It's like, 'Hey everybody! We won something 50-something years ago, but we got it back now!'"

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