On first encountering Carl Redling and Pete Gannon, it is hard to imagine that the two had only just met. Sitting at a table in the back of the Wharf Bar and Grill in New York City, the two men are surrounded by black sweatshirts with the giant gold Greek letters ΣΔΦ and black football jerseys with the name “Sigma Delta Phi” written across the chest in the same gold lettering. Neither Gannon nor Redling sported the Greek garb, as both had just come from long days at the office, but Gannon was quick to share that he is never without his Sigma Delta Phi letters, referencing his tattoo. Gannon graduated from Iona in 1992, five years after Redling. The two never crossed paths at Iona, but are able to connect with each other as if they had gone through the Iona experience together. In many ways, they did. They were both brothers of the Sigma Delta Phi fraternity, and thanks to Facebook the two-along with 127 other brothers-were able to connect and bond over their experiences not only as Gaels, but as brothers. On April 28, over 100 Iona alumni and brothers of the Sigma Delta Phi fraternity gathered at the Wharf, which is owned by two Sigma Delta Phi brothers, to celebrate the 45th anniversary of “the greatest fraternity on God’s green earth.”

The coolest guys on campus

“Sigma Delta Phi was founded in 1967 as a local fraternity by four commuter students who were looking for a greater bond and stronger friendships with the men on campus that they did not have living off campus,” Gannon said. As the years progressed, the frat gained popularity with the Iona students and became one of the most popular-if not THE most popular-fraternity on campus. “We were like the Apple of Iona at the time,” said Gannon, describing their popularity. Iona was much different back then. “The Strip” of North Avenue (between Mayflower and Lincoln) was populated not by local restaurants like The Ave, The Beechmont or The Smokehouse, but by numerous bars serving as the main attraction for Iona students. Gannon remembers the bar scene of Iona, fondly recalling his own job as a bartender at the popular bar Bumper’s that served as a home to the Sigma Delta Phi brothers as many of them worked behind the bar in order to help pay for their Iona education. “Every Friday at 3:00 Bumper’s would give away free kegs,” Gannon said. “The brothers would then host epic parties with about 20 kegs and beer slides. All of Iona could be found at one of our parties.” The parties weren’t all debauchery, though. “We were like Animal House, but we did a lot of stuff for the community and for Iona as well,” said Mike Botte (’87). Oftentimes the fraternity would require party goers to bring a non-perishable food item to the party that would be donated to the local soup kitchen. The brothers are looking to continue their dedication to service as they collected monetary donations at the reunion to fund the set up of the Sigma Delta Phi Foundation which would seek to sponsor future charitable endeavors. After the Friday night fun, the party could easily continue Saturday morning with kegs and eggs at Glory Days, another popular bar from “The Strip,” that used to serve kegs and eggs every Saturday. Sigma Delta Phi was not the only fraternity having fun on campus, though. Each year all of Iona’s fraternities would compete in the annual “Chug a Keg,” competition. Wearing “Chug a Keg” T-shirts in a backyard of a former bar, 15 guys from the various fraternities would sit on each side of the table. The first team to finish a keg won, although participants were allowed to vomit twice before being disqualified. “It was a drinking competition, but it was really who could get away with the most. Everybody was cheating,” Gannon recalls. Today, the North Avenue of the Sigma Delta Phis has vanished. Bars like Bumper’s, Glory Days, Molly’s, Characters, Gary’s Barley Corn, The Church Key and Tammany Hall were closed following New Rochelle’s crackdown on underage drinking and unsafe conditions. The crackdown truly came into effect following the death of 18-year-old Iona freshman Kevin Lawless as a result of excessive alcohol consumption in 1999, two years before Sigma Delta Phi was disbanded. Yet, alcohol and the ability to throw “epic parties” are not the defining characteristics of Sigma Delta Phi, those characteristics can be summarized by brotherhood.

Once a brother, always a brother

Greek life has gotten a lot of flack over the recent years due to questionable hazing, initiation or “new member education” policies, but Redling defends initiation as an integral part of establishing the notion of brotherhood. “The initiation process teaches brotherhood, togetherness and unity. Working as a unit, the guys learn that the chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” said Redling. “The initiation process is a common bond that brings all members together. No matter who you are, or how you fit into the scene socially or what year you graduated in…initiation is the great equalizer.” Initiation is what creates that family mindset that brothers still possess today, Redling explains. “When the first brother you see [after Hell Weekend of initiation] takes the shirt off his back, gives it to you, hugs you and recognizes you as a brother. It’s a feeling you will never forget.” Like all families, brothers are there to help each other out, and, for college students, fraternity brothers provide a vast network of opportunities. “With such a great number of Sigma Delta Phi alumni, it was easy to network with brothers after graduation in order to try and find opportunities for the future,” said Gannon. As Gannon mentions, Sigma Delta Phi brothers hold prominent positions around the country, such as: Larry Downes (’79) Chairman of the Board and CEO of New Jersey Resources (NJR) and its principal subsidiary, New Jersey Natural Gas Company (NJNG); Richard Marcus (’76) former mayor of Culver City, Calif. and Ron DeFeo (’74), President and CEO of Terex Corporation, recipient of the Iona College Legacy Award and President of Sigma Delta Phi in 1974. After 25 years, Redling acknowledges that not a day goes by that he doesn’t miss his time at Iona and especially his experiences in Sigma Delta Phi. Yet, he said, “Every time we get together, even if we weren’t in school together, we pick up right where we left off.” The description of friendship between the Sigma Delta Phi brothers resembles the friendships that many current Gaels have with each other. The bonds made at Iona supersede the bonds of friendship- they are, instead, the bonds of family.