The year was 1904. The place was 1630 Neil Ave. It was then and there that seven Ohio State students gathered to create a legacy of brotherhood in agriculture – a brotherhood that remains today.
The “original seven” established the fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho. One hundred years later, the brothers are preparing to celebrate the centennial anniversary with the national convention to be held in Columbus this summer.
“It’s going to be the biggest thing AGR has ever had,” said Dave O’Diam, chapter president and junior in agribusiness and applied economics. “We’re inducting members of the century and honorary members of the century – people who have given back to the house and helped the guys or have served as great leaders in agriculture – people that believe in the same things we do.”
O’Diam said those beliefs have remained constant throughout the past century.
According to the Alpha Gamma Rho history records, the name was chosen because the letters represented the first three letters of the word “agriculture.”
“Our motive for binding ourselves together was to help each other in every way we could and defend one another if it should ever be necessary,” said founder Emerson Scott Poston in the Alpha Gamma Rho magazine, Sickle & Sheaf.
Poston said the seven founders were prestigious students of the College of Agriculture. One noted member was William Martin, who served as president of the Agriculture Club and the political leader.
Another founder, Burton West, was a star athlete on the OSU baseball team. Francis Allen and Martin’s participation in the livestock judging team also brought honor to the fraternity.
“Martin and Allen brought us fame when they came back with laurels from the Chicago International Judging Contest (in 1904),” Poston said in the article. “Martin was hailed the ‘Tom Sawyer’ among agriculture students. It was with pride that all the boys pointed him out to the freshmen as the best student judge in the United States for he had won the $100 prize.”
According to Alpha Gamma Rho history records, the first two pledges were initiated in 1905. While the first chapter house was located on Neil Avenue, the new members were taken to a “lonely wooded area” to be initiated. This area was on the corner of present-day Woody Hayes Drive and Iuka Avenue, where the chapter house now stands.
It was not long until Alpha Gamma Rho became a national organization. In 1908, several members met with the agricultural fraternity Delta Rho Sigma from the University of Illinois, and they decided to merge. The name Alpha Gamma Rho was kept and in exchange for relinquishing its name, Delta Rho Sigma became known as the Alpha Chapter – the first chapter.
Throughout the next decades, Alpha Gamma Rho developed strongly on a national level. The first national magazine, Sickle & Sheaf, was published in 1910 and the emblem, the Coat of Arms, was designed in 1911.
In 1915, the current chapter house was purchased, and in 1926, Alpha Gamma Rho nominated a Holstein cow for Homecoming Queen – she won.
The fraternity was inactive from 1943 to 1946 because of World War II, but the 1950s brought a golden 50th anniversary and a strong new membership.
Miriam Mikesell, Alpha Gamma Rho’s housemother, was dating her husband, Bob, when he joined Alpha Gamma Rho in 1953.
“Some things were very different then,” Mikesell said.
One difference is in the way formals were held.
“At that time, the boys would move out of the fraternity house, and the girls would move in the next day – it was a whole weekend affair,” Mikesell said.
An addition to the chapter house was constructed in 1957, and the OSU chapter hit the 1,000-member mark in 1972.
Mikesell became the housemother in 1990 and said she has loved staying involved with the fraternity.
“I’ve gotten to know so many super guys,” Mikesell said. “I get to see the rings before the girls do, and I hear about the break-ups. I iron shirts and patch jeans – all those things a mother would do.”
Alpha Gamma Rho has remained a strong force on campus. With 40 active members, it is the largest agricultural-related fraternity at OSU. With its many activities the members stay busy.
Each year, Alpha Gamma Rho hosts a steer show in the winter and a lamb show in the spring. It also hosted a corn hole tournament this year. Corn hole is a game which is similar to horseshoes except it is played with beanbags. The proceeds from the tournament benefited the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
The men of Alpha Gamma Rho also participate in intramural sports, including football and softball. They plan ski trips throughout the winter. One can make a sure bet that on any given night, a game of pool is being played in the upstairs game room they refer to as “the swamp.”
The 100th Anniversary National Convention is also high on the priority list for Alpha Gamma Rho. Improvements to the chapter house’s interior and exterior are in progress.
Last summer, lightning struck a tree, causing it to fall into the chapter house. The porch and an upstairs room were severely damaged and are still in the progress of being fixed.
“The house is going through a total re-makeover process,” said Shane Vetter, the chapter’s vice president of house and grounds and senior in agribusiness and applied economics. “We’re working on interior and exterior work, including fixing up the exterior after last summer’s storm.
“Since AGR was founded here in Columbus, it’s a big thing to have,” Vetter said. “It will be a big celebration to honor all of our past alumni for founding AGR and keeping it on its feet for all these years.”
Through all the changes the chapter has experienced in the past 100 years, O’Diam said some things never change.
“The house has gone through many changes,” he said. “But as far as the people and the ideals, it’s remained the same.”
